With fraudsters increasingly going for account details rather than just credit cards, NuData Security is highlighting the importance of user behaviour analytics in online fraud detection solutions.

The size and scope of online fraud and exposure of personally identifiable information is growing, according to global data from NuData Security, highlighting concerns about how the drive towards digital channels poses a rising threat to sectors including wealth management.

Takeover of accounts with personally identifiable information is beating credit card fraud, according to the report. Of the over 500 million account creations analysed in May through July, NuData Security flagged more than 57 per cent as high risk or fraudulent, compared to the 28 per cent flagged in February through April, indicating a striking jump in account creation fraud.

The company identified more than 270 million fraudulent or high-risk behaviour events in May through July. China was the top source of such events over the three months, followed by the US and then Saudi Arabia, the UK, Malaysia and Brazil respectively.

“Unlike previous ecommerce industry breaches, recent attacks are growing in size and targeting more valuable PII, which may include information such as social security numbers and bank account information, among other data. A data breach has a ripple effect that reaches far beyond the breached organisation. Businesses must protect themselves from fraudsters who know more about their customers than they do,” NuData Security said in a statement.

“The good news is that harnessing the power of behavioural attributes and biometrics helps authenticate the genuine user. Behavioural analysis serves as a means of understanding how legitimate users truly act, reducing the impact to victims of the data breach,” said NuData Security's chief executive, Michel Giasson.