In just seconds, artificial intelligence can recognize whether a login to a platform is secure thanks to voice biometrics, which is considered much more effective than a traditional password and much more accessible than fingerprint or facial recognition, which requires devices with probably more advanced technology.
As identity authentication becomes imperative to prevent the theft of key information, voice biometrics will continue to evolve in the coming years and is expected to continue to drive innovations in crime fighting to become a US$4.8 billion market by 2028, according to various analyses.
Voice biometrics is revolutionizing identity authentication by serving as a complement to a whole battery of solutions based on artificial intelligence and automation to prevent fraud in digital services of all kinds, as fintechs increasingly integrate them into their operations.
According to a global survey by consulting firm PwC, by 2022, 46% of organizations acknowledged having experienced some form of fraud, corruption or other economic crime in the past 24 months.
The survey, which was applied to 1,296 executives in 53 countries, shows that external perpetrators such as hackers, customers themselves, organized crime, vendors or suppliers, are among the main perpetrators of fraud (43%), above external perpetrators or collusion between external and internal sources.
As a matter of fact, according to PwC, "organized crime groups are becoming more specialized and professional, with targets, incentives and bonus structures. Bad actors are also collaborating, increasing both the volume and sophistication of attacks."
This so-called criminal economy is challenging organizations to make greater efforts to shield themselves from these threats that are generating serious economic as well as reputational repercussions for companies of all sizes, so the efforts of all players must be proportional, as analyzed by Preventor, a firm specializing in anti-fraud solutions.
Among the different solutions applied today in the industry, Preventor highlights those related to voice biometrics, which represent a barrier to these external agents who, also using artificial intelligence tools, can falsify a person's digital identity through images, sounds or other patterns.
But because each person's vocal tract is unique, these tools are one step ahead of criminal organizations in identifying unique voice patterns that ensure the protection of users of a digital service. The most common forms of impersonation can include recorded voices or voices falsified by artificial intelligence to make it appear to be the real person.
Practical cases of adoption of these solutions can range from random numeric password phrases to confirming financial transactions with messages that require validation through voice biometrics to validate them.
Fraud prevention is among the top priorities of business leaders around the world today, and 70% acknowledged that concern about these issues has increased in the past 12 months, according to the Global Identity and Fraud Report 2022 from information services company Experian.
According to this report, based on information gathered from 1,849 companies and 6,062 consumers in 20 countries, this growth responds to an "increase in fraudulent activity in all corners of the world", including phishing, synthetic identity fraud, deepfake, among others. In this context, specialists have identified a diversification of these attacks with strategies such as mobile malware, with which hackers can even circumvent two-factor authentication.
The impact of fraud is two-way, with both businesses and consumers being affected in multiple ways. At the current rate, losses associated with this type of attack are expected to reach US$44 billion by 2025.
In the U.S. alone, consumer losses related to these events reached US$5.8 billion in 2021, a 70% increase over the previous year, according to Federal Trade Commission figures cited by Experian.
Of the consumers affected, 58% of those surveyed by Experian said they were victims of online fraud, 57% to identity theft and 53% to the takeover of their accounts due to these attacks, according to the report.
With this, anti-fraud solutions become essential to resist these threats, as awareness of protecting your customer base, reputation and critical infrastructure grows, keeping pace with the number of cases related to these crimes around the world. This shift in priorities is also beginning to be reflected in investments in these types of technologies that enable organizations to be much more competitive.
A report by research firm The Insight Partners shows that verticals such as healthcare, e-commerce, logistics, telecommunications, defense, energy, and travel and hospitality offer opportunities for the voice biometrics industry to continue increasing its participation in different productive sectors.
The voice biometrics industry is moving towards integration with other technology solutions, so the bet of companies is also to develop a type of cloud-based end-to-end suite to advance their digital and fraud protection capabilities, according to the report.
With this, the voice biometrics industry is expected to grow from US$1.319 billion in 2021 to US$4.823 billion in 2028 in the face of "its growing acceptance in various industries, such as entertainment, cloud computing, social networking and building security."
Amid an accelerating pace of digitization, the adoption of voice biometrics is an armor to expand customer-facing digital services with greater security, while customers benefit from greater immediacy, reliability and a better customer-centric experience, Preventor notes.
