The Bad Guys Don’t Sleep

The “bad guys” don’t sleep.

By “bad guys,” I’m referring to those attacking your network and those attacking your company’s bottom line with fraudulent behavior.

The bad guys don’t sleep, indeed—and in fact, I think they are more vigilant now than ever. Let’s think about it for a minute: one to two weeks ago, we were all in a hurry to get our employees to a safe environment, their home.

Well, many of us have done that by now. What is the ripple effect? I’ve previously written about customer and employee satisfaction. Now it’s time to be even more pragmatic.

The workforce and customers are already stressed. They’re already preoccupied with very basic concerns like food, shelter, health, and family. The company you work for may not have a good support structure for them to be in a remote environment long-term. For many, our thinking about disaster recovery and business continuity didn’t factor in the length of time we may be in this situation.

The bottom line here is that the “bad guys” know we’re in a stressful situation. Typically, a contact center accounts for 30% of the fraud that happens to a corporation. That’s during normal times! What about now, though? We can all agree it is likely higher!

During fraudulent interactions of any nature—whether they are calls, SMS, emails, or so on—in a more “normal” time, the “bad guy” is appealing to the compassionate and helpful nature most employees exhibit. Now, the relatability of stories that agents are hearing is greatly increased. They are experiencing the situations that fraudsters are fabricating.

Just a common phrase like, “I left my cell phone or my passwords at work and they won’t let me in.” can be a sign of a possible fraudulent call. We all know that once the password, email, or cell phone field is changed in the database, the “bad guy” has now gained access. By the way—this is the easiest way to take over accounts. There are other, much more sophisticated ways, but this blog isn’t meant to be a “How-To Guide for Bad Guys.”

If you have different lines of business, the “bad guys” will attack there, too. If they can get away with it once, they will do it multiple times over a day, week, or month. The damage that can be done is exponential. Yikes!

What actions can we take, both now and in the near future?

Now

Don’t delay! Heighten your agents’ awareness of the potential threat. Train them on a better process than the typical authentication questions. Inform them of the number of known breaches daily.

Next

Consider biometric authentication solutions. Voice biometrics is a big one, with a 95+ percent accuracy rate. Nowadays, people don’t have to say a certain phrase to be confirmed. It just happens within a few seconds of speaking to an agent, or the IVR. The additional benefit here is the 20 seconds saved on each call.  And for mobile apps? Not only are there solutions for voice, but also for fingerprint and facial recognition. These also come with more secure tools for validating items like “last 4 of your social,” where the numbers to the agent are hidden from them and just confirmed.

Take a moment to think of how this level of authentication can put your customers’ (and agents’) minds at ease, promote goodwill, and create a safer environment. Customers know your agents are at home. Let’s make sure they feel more secure! Corporations will receive the benefits of identifying fraudsters more quickly and effectively than ever before.

The time to take action is NOW!

 

WITH CONVERGEONE, NOW YOU CAN take action

At ConvergeOne, we don’t shy away from tough challenges. We are prepared to serve as your trusted advisor in ways we may not have before. This includes free solutions that quickly enable you and your teams to continue to serve customers and provide them with an excellent and secure experience.