Part of maintaining a strong corporate image is ensuring your customers are protected from all types of security threats. This is true for any organization as the health of their brand is often closely linked to their business success. That said, a recent study by TD Bank found that even with fraud cases on the rise, only one percent of small business owners surveyed said falling victim to fraud was a top business concern.

This casual, unwary approach toward security continues to boggle my mind, particularly in today’s highly volatile business environment. But while three-quarters of the small businesses polled said they are incorporating steps to protect their computer systems from fraudsters, Fred Graziano, head of the commercial and small business banking at TD Bank, said companies need to keep up with the latest available fraud preventative technologies and criminal tactics used by more sophisticated fraudsters. (more…)

With fraud more pervasive than ever, one would think organizations and their financial institutions are taking every precaution to prevent malicious activities like corporate account takeover and fraud. But a recent study found that over the past year, there has been little to no improvement in small and medium-sized businesses’ ability to prevent fraudsters from stealing money from small business accounts that have been compromised.

In the article, “Independent Study Reveals Corporate Account Takeover Fraud Continues to Plague SMBs and Banks,” the 2011 Business Banking Trust Study found that SMBs have struggled to make progress in stopping payments fraud as 56% of businesses said they had experienced fraud within the last 12 months. While 61% said they were victimized more than once over that period, 75% of businesses participating in the study said they experienced online account takeover and/or online fraud.

With mobile banking growth rates on the rise, these findings are alarming to Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute, which commissioned the study. With 38% of respondents saying they access their company’s banking accounts from mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs compared to 23% in 2010, Ponemon doesn’t anticipate things turning around for SMBs anytime soon.. (more…)

The Merchant Risk Council (MRC) represents the largest and most influential constituency focused exclusively on making eCommerce more safe and secure. iovation is a proud sponsor of the Merchant Risk Council and brings you this interview and podcast with Executive Director, Tom Donlea.

Listen to the Podcast >

iovation: This is Scott Olson on behalf of iovation. I am here with Tom Donlea, the Executive Director of the Merchant Risk Council. Hi Tom.

Tom Donlea: Hi Scott.

iovation: Tom, as the Executive Director of the Merchant Risk Council, you lead this trade association made up of merchants, vendors, e-commerce management professionals, and law enforcement. I imagine this role gives you a great deal of insight into the key issues facing online merchants. After having just completed the Merchant Risk Council semi-annual platinum meeting and now preparing for the upcoming conference in March, is there one topic you would say is getting more attention than others?

Tom Donlea: Yes, Scott. I think for the MRC it has clearly been the economy. A lot of our merchants are increasingly focused on managing their costs and minimizing losses. They are getting a lot of pressure, so they are coming to the MRC with some very specific requests; three in fact. The first thing is they are looking for benchmarking data. They want to look at their costs, the resources they are using, and investments that they should put toward managing fraud risk. (more…)