Nuance Communications announced Nuance Gatekeeper biometrics solution for authenticating customers and enabling fraud detection.

Available as a fully scalable cloud service, the solution allows enterprises to confirm the identity of customers and detect potential fraudsters over voice and text channels using an unparalleled set of characteristics and traits about an individual.

With data breaches on the rise, and usernames and passwords compromised, it is simple for fraudsters to get access to most any individual’s personal information, rendering traditional knowledge-based security methods obsolete. A recent Nuance survey found 1 in 4 people have fallen victim to fraud in the last twelve months, each person losing an average of $2,000 due to inefficient passwords.

“Biometrics provide the power to secure individuals based on who they are rather than what they know. If hacked, data in the form of biometric templates is far less valuable than stored passwords because they are almost impossible to replicate,” said Dan Miller, Lead Analyst, Opus Research. “Organizations of all sizes are fighting to stay ahead of fraudsters and the increasing threat posed by synthetic impersonation. Companies find cloud-native security models to be more attractive because they are accessible, scalable and offer access to real-time updates to the newest fraud-fighting algorithms.”

Nuance was named “undisputed market leader” by Opus Research for its industry-leading biometrics technology and Nuance Gatekeeper now allows organizations of all sizes to seize the power of that biometrics technology to validate customers’ identities in a secure and frictionless way, across any channel they engage. More advanced than any previous version of Nuance Security Suite, Gatekeeper allows organizations to benefit from both increased security posture and customer convenience today, while enabling a future-proof implementation model. Key updates include:

  • A cloud-native platform that speeds deployments across cloud and on-premise delivery models
  • The Nuance Lightning Engine, the industry’s fastest AI-powered voice biometrics engine, that needs as little as half a second of audio to authenticate and start personalizing a customer engagement
  • Nuance ConversationPrint that uses new AI techniques to develop a personalized model of how we type or speak. The system can detect possible fraud when sentence structure, grammar and vocabulary being used do not match the real customer’s model
  • Behavioral biometrics that builds models based on an individual’s unique behavior patterns including how they use a keyboard, move a mouse or swipe apps on a touchscreen. If the behavior model does not match a registered individual, such as when a fraudster hijacks a chat session, Gatekeeper can flag suspicious activity and escalate to a fraud specialist
  • Flexible integration to cloud and legacy contact center infrastructures

Gatekeeper takes advantage of modern cloud native architecture that allows it to be more secure and reliable, offering enterprises a dynamically scalable and continuously improving solution that minimizes time-to-value while ensuring organizations stay several steps ahead of fraudsters. It comes on the heels of Nuance announcing an expansion to its Intelligent Engagement Platform, opening up access to conversational building blocks inclusive of Security and Biometric Services for authentication and fraud detection.

“Biometrics is the future of identification and we see it as the golden ticket for organizations that want to enhance security for customers without negatively impacting the engagement experience,” said Brett Beranek, GM Security Business, Nuance Enterprise Division. “With Gatekeeper, we offer more advanced layers of protection to organizations big and small by bringing AI to the forefront and combining traditional biometrics methods with some that are newer to market – and all of it is now accessible in a cloud-native environment.”

Nuance technology is being implemented by more than half of the world’s largest financial institutions today, and 8 of the 10 largest global telecommunications companies. Over 400 million consumers make more than 8 billion successful authentications yearly using Nuance biometrics – and organizations have saved more than $2 billion in fraud costs after implementing the technology. The technology was recently named “Best Application of AI in Financial Services” at the AIconic Awards, presented by Forbes.