Silver Tail Systems' software monitors Web traffic to merchant sites in real-time, looking for anaomolous patterns of activity and tell-tale signs of malware or bot-activated payment sessions.

Johan Gerber, group head, global network products for MasterCard, says: "With the increased sophistication of these fraud attacks, merchants are finding it more difficult to distinguish between good customers and criminals. Our relationship with Silver Tail Systems allows us to extend beyond the traditional fraud detection methods and provide merchants with a strong defense against fraud, while improving the consumers' online experience."

The relationshiop between the two is limited initially to the US marketplace, but may be expanded to cover international markets in the future.