BlackBerry unveils enterprise behavioral biometrics, Featurespace adopted by NatWest

BlackBerry has unveiled a new user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) solution for continuous biometric authentication and real-time identity verification to prevent security breaches.

Called Persona Desktop, the new tool uses AI and machine learning, and is built on the BlackBerry Spark Platform to analyze users’ interactions with their devices to determine security risk.

Actions that exceed the risk threshold instantly cause alerts to be sent to the cloud, which in turn prompts the user for second-factor authentication.

To prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to the endpoint, Persona can use typing biometric data such as keystrokes and mouse gestures to sense a different user and send alerts or lock the device.

These actions are automatically triggered at the endpoint and do not require a network connection or interaction with the cloud.

“It has long been a puzzle why we place sophisticated endpoint security platforms on devices but allowed a simple username and password to easily bypass that protection,” said Frank Dickson, program vice president for Cybersecurity Products at IDC. “We have long advocated for embedded user authentication while not impacting user experience, applying modern technology to continually validate a user. Building authentication into the endpoint places a strong cybersecurity control at a critical control point; it’s a no brainer!”

BlackBerry Persona Desktop is available as part of BlackBerry Cyber Suite, a new solution offering advanced security features for both mobile and desktop devices.

ARIC Risk Hub adopted for financial transactions

NatWest is using Featurespace’s ARIC Risk Hub for enterprise-wide transaction monitoring and payments fraud detection with behavioral biometrics, the companies announced.

The banking firm started its partnership with Featurespace in late 2019 and completed a global deployment of ARIC Risk Hub earlier this year.

Featurespace claims that within 24 hours from the deployment of the solution Natwest observed an increase in the value of fraud and scams detected and a consequent decrease in false-positive rates.

Powered by Adaptive Behavioral Analytics, Featurespace’s ARIC Risk Hub also provides anti money-laundering (AML) screening and capabilities to protect customers from threats posed by Authorized Push Payments (APPs).

Much like BlackBerry Persona, ARIC can monitor individual behavioral activity in real-time.

This allows financial institutions to individuate fraudulent behavior and prioritize alerts of suspicious activity with greater accuracy, while also reducing the number of genuine transactions declined.

Article Topics

authentication  |  behavioral biometrics  |  biometrics  |  BlackBerry  |  cybersecurity  |  Featurespace  |  real-time biometrics