Background

A multi-layered approach known as "context-aware security" is the most effective strategy for fighting both insider and external cyberthreats, says Gartner analyst Avivah Litan.

The concept is all about making your systems smarter, Litan told the audience at the 2014 Chicago Fraud Summit Chicago. The challenge, as she sees it: "Right now, there's not a lot of situational awareness in our security systems, so they're pretty linear. We can't tell a good action from a bad action, in many cases, because we lack that situational awareness."

Example: If a staff member is accessing credit card data, and that's a routine part of their job, the activity may not be seen as a cause for concern. But if alerts show that the person has accessed the credit card data 2,000 miles away from their desk, and they're doing this at 3 in the morning, then that would look unusual and that would raise a red flag.

The use of context-aware security is not yet common, Litan says, because most security vendors have just begun building into their systems a few of the many necessary capabilities, starting with device ID and location.

Register for this session to learn more about the concept of context-aware security and the trends Litan foresees in the coming months.

All 2014 Fraud Summit Chicago recordings:

• 2014 Faces of Fraud
• Big Data Analytics & Context-Aware Security
• The Secret Fraud Eco-System and How to Put Threat Intelligence to Work
• Account Takeover 2014: Evolving Schemes & Solutions
• Mobile: Fraud's New Frontier
• Customer Awareness: What Works in Fraud Detection, Prevention
• Payment Card Fraud Response: Taking on the Processor
• Payment Card Fraud & the Future of Secure Payment
• Managing Insider Risks: How to Detect and Respond to Malicious and Unintentional Threats
• Identity Theft vs. Identity Fraud
• Fraud Outlook: Evolving Threats and Legal Minefields