US-based VeriSign, Inc., (Nasdaq: VRSN), which provides intelligent infrastructure services for Internet and telecommunications networks, has bought Israeli company Snapcentric, which provides online fraud detection solutions. Snapcentric has offices in San Mateo, California, and in Kfar Sava.
VeriSign has announced the VeriSign Fraud Detection Service, which will be based on Snapcentric's solutions, which use advanced anomaly detection technology. "The newly acquired technology will be a key addition to VeriSign’s suite of authentication solutions, providing an invisible layer of protection against online fraud," VeriSign's statement said.
Consumer banks and other financial institutions are struggling to comply with recent FFIEC guidelines, which state that user names and passwords are no longer sufficient for high-risk transactions. The VeriSign Fraud Detection Service will complement VeriSign’s existing authentication offerings to help banks achieve FFIEC compliance by authenticating consumers based on behavioral patterns.
"The VeriSign Fraud Detection Service will take a self-learning approach to fraud detection, adapting to customer usage habits unique to that individual. Using pattern recognition technology, it flags potentially fraudulent activities based on known types of fraud and behaviors not associated with the user. Because the service is self-learning, it can adapt to changing criminal behavior without manual intervention. VeriSign believes that this unique capability differentiates the Snapcentric technology from all competitive solutions in the marketplace," VeriSign said.
The acquisition of Snapcentric is being accounted for as a purchase transaction and is valued at $12 million. Revenue and earnings contributions from the acquisition will not be material to VeriSign’s 2006 financial results. All of Snapcentric’s employees in the US and Israel will become part of VeriSign Security Services. The transaction is expected to close later this quarter.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on February 12, 2006