Mastercard has acquired NuData Security in a move to boost fraud prevention as it prepares for payments from multiple devices connected to the Internet of Things
The Internet of Things is creating a more digitally-driven and digitally-connected world, with an estimated 50 billion smart devices to be in use across the globe by 2020. However, the explosion of connected devices has provided a goldmine for hackers exploiting notoriously poor security practices to inject malware and hijack appliances.
Mastercard says the acquisition will strengthen its efforts around device-level security and authentication, enabling near real-time collaboration between issuers, merchants and processors.
NuData’s flagship NuDetect product identifies authentic users from potential fraudsters based on their online, mobile app and smartphone interactions, flagging those that represent the highest risk. The technology assesses, scores and learns from each online or mobile transaction to enable merchants and issuers to make near real-time authorization decisions.
The company recently struck a deal with Early Warning to provide real-time fraud detection for the roll out of the Zelle mobile P2P payments in the US.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.