Guardian Analytics Positioned in the Visionaries Quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Web Fraud Detection

LOS ALTOS, Calif., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Guardian Analytics, a provider of online fraud prevention software for the financial services industry, today announced it has been positioned by Gartner, Inc. in the Visionaries quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Fraud Detection. In the report, Gartner analyst Avivah Litan emphasizes the need for organizations to look for vendors and technology that can fend off increasingly sophisticated and unpredictable attacks. Litan also highlights the growing demand for solutions to provide self-learning predictive models that discover fraud on their own.

"The web fraud detection applications of 2007 and 2008, which provided basic user login analysis and invoked questions and answers when a login came from an unknown PC, are no longer good enough for enterprises experiencing serious fraud attacks that are used to take over customer accounts," said Avivah Litan, vice president and distinguished analyst, Gartner, in the report. "Gartner recommends that late web fraud detection adopters buy technology that can defend against more-sophisticated attacks, even if they are not yet experiencing them."

From its inception, FraudMAP®, Guardian Analytics' fraud prevention solution, has employed predictive analytics as the foundation of its risk-scoring engine to maximize detection and minimize alerts. Guardian Analytics' proprietary behavioral analytics engine, Dynamic Account Modeling™, models all individual online account holder activity session by session, from login to logout, to detect suspicious actions and flag behaviors inconsistent with predicted account holder behavior. Powerful visual analytics enable fraud and security teams to focus on and investigate the most high-risk activity to proactively stop the fraudulent transfer of money. Guardian's unique approach benefits financial institutions that seek more accurate detection, actionable analysis and increased visibility into suspicious online activity in their fraud prevention strategy.

The timely report follows numerous alerts published by the FBI, NACHA, FDIC, and FS-ISAC in late 2009 warning financial institutions of the dangers of online banking. These alerts drew attention to the sophisticated methods of today's cybercriminals including ACH money mule scams, which the FBI estimates cost U.S. businesses more than $100 million, and more recently, man-in-the-browser attacks. These sophisticated schemes are designed specifically to defeat and even circumvent traditional security solutions already in place at banks and credit unions.

"As the report highlights, organizations need to take a proactive approach to fraud prevention and deploy advanced solutions to stop today's advanced fraud attacks," said Terry Austin, CEO, Guardian Analytics. "We believe our placement in the Visionaries quadrant recognizes our proven and unique predictive analytics-based technology and our unfailing commitment to helping our customers defend against sophisticated and fast moving cybercriminals."

About the Magic Quadrant

The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 2010 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Guardian Analytics

Headquartered in Los Altos, Calif., Guardian Analytics is focused on the prevention of online account fraud. The company's real-time risk management approach to fraud detection, forensics and risk monitoring is built on strong analytics and predictive models of individual behavior. Leading financial services institutions rely on Guardian Analytics to protect individual account assets and the integrity of their online channels. Founded in 2005, Guardian Analytics is privately held with venture funding from Foundation Capital. For more information, please visit www.guardiananalytics.com.

(1) Gartner "Magic Quadrant for Web Fraud Detection" by Avivah Litan, January 26, 2010.

SOURCE Guardian Analytics