IBM Launches New Software And Consulting Services To Help Organizations Tackle Fraud And Financial Crime

IBM Big Data and Analytics Help Stop Fraudsters in their Tracks. (PRNewsFoto/IBM)
IBM Big Data and Analytics Help Stop Fraudsters in their Tracks. (Photo: PRNewsFoto/IBM)

Posted by Heidi Schwartz

IBM has introduced new software and services designed to help organizations use Big Data and analytics to address the $3.5 trillion lost each year to fraud and financial crimes. Through sophisticated business expertise and analytics, organizations can take a holistic approach to address the financial losses caused by fraud while protecting the value of their brands.

IBM has launched its “Smarter counter fraud” initiative, drawing on the expertise and innovation from more than 500 fraud consulting experts, 290 fraud-related research patents, and $24 billion invested in IBM’s Big Data and Analytics software and services capabilities since 2005. The initiative sets out to help public and private organizations prevent, identify, and investigate fraudulent activities.

This announcement comes at a time when a new generation of criminals are using digital channels – such as mobile devices, social networks, and cloud platforms – to probe for weaknesses and vulnerabilities. The pace of this threat continues to accelerate – identity fraud impacted more than 12 million individuals in 2012, resulting in theft of nearly $21 billion, and each day the U.S. healthcare industry loses $650 million due to fraudulent claims and payments.

To address these complexities, IBM is delivering new software that allows organizations to gain better visibility and take a more proactive, holistic approach to countering fraud. This includes the ability to aggregate Big Data across a variety of internal and external sources – including mobile, social, and online – and apply sophisticated analytics that continuously monitor for fraudulent indicators. The new offerings feature advanced analytics that understand non-obvious relationships and co-occurrences between entities, new enhanced visualization technologies that can identify and connect fraudulent patterns closer to point of operation, and machine learning to help prevent future occurrence based on previous attacks and behaviors.

Leading analysts estimate that market demand for fraud and risk solutions is quickly accelerating. According to Gartner*, 25% of large global companies will have adopted big data analytics for at least one security or fraud detection use case (up from 8% today), and will achieve a positive return on investment within the first six months of implementation by 2016.

“IBM is applying many of the same tactics, techniques, and procedures used by the intelligence and law enforcement communities to help commercial organizations take a holistic view of this growing and pervasive threat,” said Robert Griffin, Vice President, IBM Industry Solutions. “These technologies allow line of business leaders to adapt quickly to emerging threats across the entire organization. Our new initiative puts Big Data and Analytics into the hands of those tasked with defending their organizations from financial losses, protecting the brand, and delivering exceptional customer service.”