Multimedia forensics: when technology prevents document fraud

We make no new discoveries if we tell you that we’re living in the age of data, and data has become a great asset for companies all over the world. That’s why the flow of data transmission is growing and is actually carrying some security challenges, such as fraud.

Phishing and document forgery are considered a serious problem that causes enormous losses to consumers, companies and institutions. According to the European Statistical Office (Eurostat), Spain is the EU country with the highest number of phishing victims registered, which represents 7% of Internet users. In addition, 4% have suffered financial losses in the last 12 months due to the wrong use of their bank card data or phishing techniques.

In the U.S., 1.5 million people suffered identity theft during their banking processes, which represents 7.5% of the population over 16 years old in this country, according to some reports published by the Statistic Brain Research Institute. Document manipulation is now simpler due to the democratization of technology and the advance of multimedia editing programs that make forgeries difficult to detect.

If we add to this the fact that more and more users and clients do not have to be physically present when buying new products and services, the probability of document manipulation – meaning, the modification of data in ID documents or other kind of files -results in fraud, increases. As a result of a consumer research of over 100 fraud managers, the TransUnion report reveals that the risk of fraud in companies is increasing. In fact, 76% of those fraud managers have already experienced or expect to experience a significant security hole in the next 12 months.

Financial and insurance companies, the most vulnerable entities

Digital onboarding -online customer registration for remote access to products and services like bank account, for example- provides great advantages for customers and businesses such as easy shopping and customer growth. But it also carries out users verification and fraud security problems associated with document manipulation due to users don’t have to be present at the registration or deliver documentation physically.

For this reason, insurance companies and banking with online processes already need biometric mechanisms to authenticate and verify the thousands of ID documents and other files that they daily receive in digital processes.

Technologies and techniques to provide documental security

In the last few years, information masking and multimedia security research is growing and gaining importance. Companies and consumers are aware of the massive amount of sensitive information available on the Internet and the need to protect that data. Now this research and technology innovation is being transformed into advanced solutions to help companies protect multimedia files (including video, image and audio) and ensure their security.

Techniques such as digital watermarking show the illegal use of a digital service by an unauthorized user in addition to multimedia forensics techniques, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (for example) makes possible the detection of manipulations and forgery more quickly and easily.

Gradiant has been developing for ten years technology related to the protection and identification of different types of files to provide multimedia security in different areas, such as the authenticity of printed documents with Signed or the traceability of printed documentation to identify the person responsible for the custody of a document in filtration cases, with Shadow.

To help companies prevent fraud, Gradiant has developed, in collaboration with the GPSC group of atlantTTic research center of the University of Vigo, a solution based on image forensics that detects modifications made in identity documents, photographs or other files such as payrolls and invoices. These forensic tools are already a real need for companies and institutions, due to the democratization of digital document editing software that makes high quality forgeries available to anyone.

At Gradiant, we believe that the key to success in development based on forensic technology is linked to three major concepts: security, convenience and availability, so we integrate these principles in all our developments: 1) reliability -through the fusion of multiple evidences-, 2) comfort for the security manager when he is interpreting the results provided by the tool, and 3) universality, the tool have to work with all types of identity documents, nationalities, etc. so we integrate these principles in our developments.

Gradiant premieres forensic technology to prevent fraud at CES 2019

Gradiant opens 2019 taking part at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2019, the international fair with the greatest impact for the telecommunications sector and the consumer technologies industry. From January 8th to 11th, Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) hosts this annual event that has become the most important global appointment to present the latest innovations in the technology market.

Gradiant has been selected to have its own space at Eureka ParkTM (Sands Expo, Level 1, Hall G, booth 52917), a specific area within the CES that will bring together the 800 most promising world’s tech companies, centres and start-ups of the year that can provide the solutions innovative technologies.

Hand in hand with the ICEX, this is the second time that Gradiant attends Consumer Electronic Show. In the upcoming edition, the technology centre is showing new technology solutions to detect fraud and manipulation of ID documents and images oriented to digital onboarding and Know Your Customer (KYC) processes.