ThreatMetrix to Provide Location Detecting Solution to Businesses in Accordance with Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Regulations

September 3, 2014

The ThreatMetrix TrustDefender™ Cybercrime Protection Platform Will Help Institutions Meet the Treasury Office’s International Business Regulations

San Jose, CA – September 3, 2014 – ThreatMetrix®, the fastest-growing provider of context-based security and advanced fraud prevention solutions, today announced it will work with businesses to ensure they are compliant with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regulations that prohibit business transactions with embargoed or restricted countries or entities.

To be compliant with OFAC regulations, businesses must know the true location of their business clientele and customers, which becomes increasingly challenging for businesses such as banks, as customers frequently disguise their locations in an effort to maintain privacy and protect personal data, among other reasons. Unfortunately, cybercriminals frequently use proxy servers, TOR networks and other methods to hide their locations. Most companies use outdated technologies such as IP addresses to determine the customer’s location, but cybercriminals have sophisticated techniques to alter their IP addresses and make it appear like they are located in a friendly country by OFAC standards. Businesses can face fines up to $250,000 per incident or twice the value of the offending transactions, whichever is greater, for violating OFAC regulations.

“We’re addressing a major gap and solving a growing problem in the way business is conducted,” said Bert Rankin, chief marketing officer, ThreatMetrix. “Banks and institutions are significantly impacted when OFAC regulations are violated. France’s largest bank, BNP Paribas, for instance, was recently fined $8.9 billion. This doesn’t have to happen. Our SaaS-based fraud prevention solution is easy to implement and can provide measurable financial benefits to the businesses, in addition to protecting their reputations.”

The ThreatMetrix solution is built on the ThreatMetrix TrustDefender™ Cybercrime Protection Platform will help banks and other organizations significantly enhance their ability to comply with OFAC regulations by detecting location spoofing and identifying users’ true locations. The platform’s real-time trust analytics enable context-aware security, and combine device, identity, and behavioral analytics with collaborative feedback from millions of users across thousands of sites to accurately identify good users and block out cybercriminals, stopping organizations from unwittingly violating OFAC regulations.

The TrustDefender platform provides organizations with an accurate assessment of suspicious account registrations and transactions, and the ability to instantly determine if a request or transaction should be blocked, prohibited, accepted or held for manual review. Leveraging global intelligence from the world’s most comprehensive database, the ThreatMetrix® Global Trust Intelligence Network (The Network), the platform is able to detect hidden proxies, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and other methods used to conceal customers’ true locations.

ThreatMetrix utilizes real-time advanced device profiling and data from The Network to detect proxy use and evaluate the entire context surrounding each transaction. This includes:

  • Device analytics: Composed of uniquely identifying each device, determining its location, association with the user, and ties to criminal activity or hacker rings; detecting the presence of proxies, anonymizers, bots or malware; and exposing other anomalies that may indicate fraudulent locations, hacking or a compromised device.
  • Identity analytics: Pinpointing the end user’s association(s) with trusted entities, or any history or affiliation with crime, fraud, or hacking activities.
  • Behavior analytics: Analyzes normal login patterns such as login frequencies, locations, typical access times, login names, and devices used.

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