CIOLOOK comes up with its edition of Top 10 Leading Fraud Detection and Prevention Solution Providers. Featuring it’s Cover Story is – Kaspersky is to save the world. Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity company founded in 1997 with its roots in antivirus solutions. Its mission is simple: to build a safer world.
Top 10 leading fraud detection and prevention solution providers
1. ISSUE 02 | VOL 01
2021
Leading
Fraud Detection
& Prevention
Solution Providers
Top
USHERING
IN THE
FUTURE OF
SECURITY
Save Information
Save Money
Secured World
2.
3.
4. Curb your Risks
he current pandemic has put number of activities online
Twhich requires online platform to conduct business
smoothly. But phishing and fraud activities is an increasing
problem. Just like the technology evolves and updates these
hackers come up with new ways of frauds. So, the question arises
what about our valuable information like online payments, official
documents, and our personal data.
The number of transactions we make online and the number of
things now connected to the internet is immense. It becomes very
difficult to keep a track of all these transactions. That’s where
Cybersecurity and Fraud Prevention Companies comes into the
picture. They can beat these fraudulent activities conducted on the
internet with their state-of-the-art technologies. These helps
organizations, clients, and customers for their working as these
activities can happen real-time.
Fraud Prevention Companies ensures that your data is secured.
They collaborate with governments, and interacts with several
other companies to protect you against such threats, malwares,
and prevents any money laundering before taking place.
According to a research 40% of the companies do not have a
secured system integration at their workplace. Enterprises can
save their funds once they authenticate and detect these
fraudulent activities and have an ecosystem of cybersecurity.
In order to tackle today’s challenges of internet and digital
channels, authentication of security is vital. The companies are
stronger with the services of the cybersecurity companies offer. It
is not just about the industry but also any country’s national
security as well. Often, there are news about the confidential data
breaching and threating emails.
EDITOR’S NOTE
5. There are several fake accounts, hackers, scams operated worldwide, somehow somewhere even we’ve
experienced such things. It can be in the form of emails, messages or through social media. Now with the
pandemic hit, companies have experienced the need for cybersecurity. The business is focusing on
securing the data with the services offered by cybersecurity companies.
Companies who do not adopt to these changes will definitely fall behind the competition. In a world full of
technology and innovation the need of the hour is having the good cybersecurity and fraud detection tools
in the organization protecting the data, and serving the customers.
Understanding the need of these situation CIOLOOK comes up with its edition of Top 10 Leading Fraud
Detection and Prevention Solution Providers. Featuring it’s Cover Story is – Kaspersky is to save the
world.
Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity company founded in 1997 with its roots in antivirus solutions. Its
mission is simple: to build a safer world. The company believes in a tomorrow where technology improves
our lives. Kaspersky operates in over 200 countries with offices in 30 countries, so the effects of the
pandemic have naturally been wide-reaching.
Lastly, make sure to go through the in-house editorials written by the industry experts and the creative
articles written by our editorial team.
Go flip it!
Hitesh Dhamani
7. 28 36
Innovative Services
Digitisation in
Intellectual Property
Law Insights
Practical tips for IP Enforcement
in Hong Kong and China
Idprop
The First and Only Property Management
Platform Offering Biometric ID Verification
and Multiple Fraud Risk Mitigation Controls
MCG Consulting
Increasing Operational Efficiencies
and Driving Long-term Value
24
16
40
32
Anura Solutions
Enabling Businesses to Stay
Ahead of Fraudsters
Dixtior
Managing Financial
Crime Risk
9. Brief
Company Name
MCG Compliance
mcgcomply.com
MCP Insight
mcpinsight.com
DIXTIOR
dixtior.com
Idprop
prop.idcheck.tech
Dixtior is a Portuguese consultancy firm that seamlessly
combines the very best of two worlds. The company is
specialists in both economics and information technologies and
we apply our full range of talent to creating the perfect solution
for each client’s needs.
At MCG, the team believes that all securities markets are
holistically connected in today’s world.
MCP Insight are market intelligence and compliance specialists
with operations across Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and the
Middle East.
Idprop is the first and only Property Management platform
offering Biometric ID Verification and multiple fraud risk
mitigation controls.
Auraya Systems
aurayasystems.com
Auraya is a world leader in voice biometric technology with the
mission of empowering people and organisations to interact and
engage with convenience and security in all channels and
languages.
Angelo Gajo
Global Marketing
Communications Manager
Rui Vicente
CEO
Sara Statman
Founder & CEO
Anura Solutions
anura.io
Anura is an ad fraud solution designed to improve campaign
performance by accurately exposing bots, malware, and human
fraud.
Rich Kahn
CEO and Co-founder
Kaspersky Lab
kaspersky.com
Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity company founded in 1997.
Kaspersky’s deep threat intelligence and security expertise is
constantly transforming into innovative security solutions and
services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure,
governments and consumers around the globe.
Claire Hatcher
Head of Business
Development
Declan Pettit
CEO
FRISS
friss.com
FRISS is 100% focused on automated fraud and risk detection
for P&C insurance companies worldwide.
Ruud Van Gerwen
VP Marketing
Paul Murdock
CEO
Global Data
Solutions Limited
w2globaldata.com
W2 provide a wide range of screening tools and services to
help organisations to check who they are interacting with.
James Roberts
CEO
Kount
kount.com
Kount’s best-in-class fraud prevention solutions protect the
digital innovations of over 9,000 brands globally.
Emily Valla
Marketing
Featuring Person
10.
11. CLAIRE
Hatcher
Ushering in the Future of Security
“Fraud is an evolving concern, so it's of huge comfort to our clients and
their customers that the solution being provided molds and adapts
according to real-time threats. We are happy that our clients can detect
complex fraud and money laundering cases without affecting their
service productivity. This balance results in reputational benefits
through increased consumer trust and clear ROI.” – Claire Hatcher, Head
of Business Development at Kaspersky Fraud Prevention.”
Cover Story
12. customers through web and mobile digital channels.
It helps cut costs on alternative authentication
methods, closes gaps in security and provides
visibility of incidents and anomalies in its web
console. Now enterprises can save funds on second-
factor authentication and operational costs, meet
customer expectations by making the authentication
and login process more seamless, and detect
fraudulent activity in real time.
In contrast to other providers, Kaspersky Fraud
Prevention utilizes a full analysis of the device,
environment, passive behavioral biometrics, and
patterns, as well as the detection of any malicious
traces on the device. The Kaspersky team believes
that in order to tackle fraud, the approach should be
holistic. Therefore, the company is committed to
developing its fraud models to uncover patterns
across channels and threat vectors.
Best user verification
Kaspersky takes a holistic approach to fraud
prevention. Some vendors concentrate only on
device ID or behavioral biometrics, but Kaspersky
takes these factors into account along with 150
other parameters to determine if a session is
legitimate. For example, if someone logged in to a
particular user session using the Tor browser, other
systems may flag that user to be blocked. However,
there may be a legitimate reason for using that
browser. It's only when you analyze this behavior
along with other aspects of a typical user or group
behavior that a pattern emerges to show if
something suspicious is going on. Also, as scammers
have gotten better at persuading consumers to
provide sensitive information, such as one-time
passcodes (OTP), to complete their
access/transaction, the responsibility has fallen to
models to uncover signs that someone may be falling
victim to a social engineering attack.
A significant impact
Kaspersky operates in over 200 countries with
offices in 30 countries, so the effects of the pandemic
have naturally been wide-reaching. Employees have
G
iven the scale of activities we conduct online
and the number of things now connected to
the internet, there's no possible way to
monitor all the security threats. To make things
worse, fraud is also evolving, meaning criminals are
exploiting cooperation and communication to find
the weakest spots in corporate security systems and
attack them. To beat fraud and ensure a seamless
digital experience, Kaspersky is here to save the
world with cutting-edge technologies powered by
machine learning for accurate and proactive fraud
prevention in real time. Kaspersky is a global
cybersecurity company founded in 1997 with its
roots in antivirus solutions. Its mission is simple: to
build a safer world. The company believes in a
tomorrow where technology improves our lives.
Today, cybersecurity is about more than just
protecting devices. It's about developing an
ecosystem where everything related to technology is
immune to cyberthreats. That's why Kaspersky
expanded beyond its antivirus lab to provide
cybersecurity technologies across multiple threats.
With over 20 years of experience in cybersecurity, a
huge portion of the Kaspersky team is engaged in
R&D and detecting the latest malware and
cyberthreats.
Kaspersky Fraud Prevention
Kaspersky Fraud Prevention provides session-based
anti-fraud solutions for enterprises interacting with
Kaspersky Fraud Prevention is a division of
Kaspersky born out of the company's desire to
expand its mission to ensure that enterprise clients'
money is protected from scammers. Kaspersky
Fraud Prevention collaborates with banks,
e-commerce, e-government services, financial
service companies, and any enterprise that interacts
with their users via digital channels (web or mobile)
to develop solutions to protect against threats, such
as banking malware and Trojans targeting consumer
devices. It starts looking for threats even before the
user logs in. This serves as an excellent early warning
tool to prevent fraud and money laundering before
any money is moved, and to block access before any
damage is done.
13.
14.
15.
16. The next-gen platform
Kaspersky Fraud Prevention plans to continue
tuning its model to verticals beyond financial
services in order to draw on holistic fraud trends
occurring across verticals and channels. Thanks to
its focus on session-based anti-fraud, the
company is already fighting against fraud in
markets outside of financial services. Its holistic
approach encompasses over 150 different data
attributes, using machine learning techniques
across a variety of threat vectors, i.e., behavioral
biometrics, device and environment analysis,
behavioral analysis and malware detection.
Kaspersky plans to continue these efforts to
target fraud by analyzing more data attributes,
especially when it comes to next-generation bots,
passive biometrics, and social engineering
techniques.
Testimonials
Anvar Sidorov, Director of Partnerships at
Indacoin, provided his commentary: “The crypto
exchange has many unique features, but in
general, we share the main risks of financial
institutions: security of cards and payment
information, as well as security of personal
accounts and safety of client's funds. The
implementation of Kaspersky Fraud Prevention
helped to identify highly targeted fraud schemes,
identify dishonest users with advanced precision
and implement machine learning in the
verification system.”
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19. d fraud is growing at a rapid rate and is expected
Ato cost advertisers over $100 Billion in the next
year or two. Taking this dilemma into
consideration, an ad fraud solution company, Anura
Solutions, LLC, was formed to improve campaign
performance by accurately exposing bots, malware, and
human fraud. Its vision is to solve that issue for clients
in real time, with the analytics to give them the proof
they need.
Let’s find out how Anura is helping businesses prevent
fraudsters from accessing marketing dollars by
innovating game-changing technologies, in an interview
conducted between CIO Look and Rich Kahn, the CEO
and Co-founder of the company.
Below are the highlights of the interview:
Give us a brief overview of the Anura Solutions, its
vision, and its journey since inception.
Me and my wife, Beth Kahn, were digital marketers in
the early 2000’s. We were buying traffic and driving it
to a series of campaigns. We started noticing the ROI
was not where it should be and started combing
through log files to uncover a problem with fraud. I,
Rich Kahn, had dealt with ad fraud in the late 90’s so
had an idea of where to start. To solve the problem in
2005 I decided to sign up for an ad fraud solution. To my
surprise, one did not exist. So, as a developer, I wrote
my own.
The first version was simple, it took a few weeks to put
together and the ROI jumped! As time went on, I
continued to develop the solution and it became better
and better. Before I realized it, it was 2010 and we had
already invested over $5 Million in R&D into the
solution, with still so much more to do. As time went on
ad fraud solutions became a thing. By 2015, clients
started asking about using our solution for their own
campaigns. So, in 2015, we performed a year-long study
in ad fraud and realized the solution we built
outperformed the others in the market.
So, in 2016 the engineering team overhauled the
dashboard, did some beta testing and launched Anura’s
first standalone version in 2017. Shortly after that,
Anura put out a whitepaper reporting the largest fraud
find in history…estimated at over $3 Billion a year in
fraud in Google’s Play Store. From that point on, Anura
began to grow.
Please list the popular solutions/services that make
your company standout from the competition.
Anura offers one product, an ad fraud solution. What
sets us apart from other solutions is our accuracy,
thoroughness and analytics.
Anura’s accuracy doesn’t rely on numerical probability
or confidence scores that leaves you guessing what to
do and can lead to false positives. Anura gives you a
definitive answer. If we mark the visitor as BAD, we are
100% confident, it is not a real visitor. Our clients
report that they cannot find false positives. We call this
“the better than 5, 9’s accuracy” (99.999%).
Anura is so thorough, our clients are reporting that we
find 200% - 300% more fraud than any other solution
they have tested.
Analytics, is the proof of fraud. Anura gives the most
detailed analytical dashboard in the industry. We don’t
hide behind “a black box”, we give a huge amount of
data so our clients know exactly where the fraud is
coming from.
| February 2021 |
17
20. What is your opinion on the necessity for businesses
to align their offerings with newer technological
developments, especially when it comes to Security
and Intelligence?
Businesses need to align themselves with the latest
technologies in order to keep up with constant security
threats that are continually being developed. While
doing this, this will help them protect themselves and
their clients as well as helping them grow as well.
At Anura, we solve the cybersecurity issue of
advertising fraud. We are able to help our clients grow,
by accurately identifying fraud. This in-turn helps to
produce better ROI’s for their campaigns, which lead to
overall growth.
As an established business leader, what would be your
advice to the budding entrepreneurs aspiring to
venture into the Cyber security industry?
Cyber security, ad fraud, or anything that deals with
hackers and fraudsters my advice is ABL…Always Be
Learning. This industry is evolving every day and new
attacks are constantly being developed around the
globe. If you are entering this industry, you will need to
continually be learning from others as well as your own
data. The more you learn, the better you will be in this
industry and the better you can serve your clients.
It’s important to work closely with our competitors, or
at least the ones that want to share and collaborate. I
would introduce yourself to a few of your competitors
and strike up a relationship with them to have a
sounding board about the industry. You don’t need to
share secret sauce, but it’s good to have that
relationship.
How do you envision on sustaining your company’s
competency in a cutthroat and volatile world of
business? Where do you see your company in the next
five years?
Fraud is not going away, and it is growing exponentially.
It is expected to be more than a $100 billion problem by
2023. Ad fraud is the largest growing form of organized
crime, second to narcotics, so in five years it is going to
be erupting at an enormous rate if it isn’t mitigated.
With one out of every four marketing dollars being lost
to fraud, businesses need to realize that fraud is here
and coming directly for them. I say all this to show you
how big the problem is, and with a problem that big,
there will be fierce competitors.
Our goal to keep our competency against our
competitors is to focus on the problem…fraud. Keep
our eye on the ball and make sure we continue to do it
better than anyone in the market. That is not easy, but
we have a plan and plan to execute that to the best of
our abilities.
Over the next 5 years Anura plans to continue
dominating the market with the best-in-class solution.
We plan on growing our market share and helping more
and more clients. Most of our clients have used other
solutions before, but are now raving fans of Anura. We
are building our solution to become a gold standard in
the industry and with enough clients using Anura, plan
to start “flattening the curve” when it comes to fraud as
a whole.
Our mission is to
increase our clients’
growth by
improving
marketing results
through accurate
and effective ad
fraud mitigation.
‘‘
‘‘
| February 2021 |
18
21.
22. Save
INFORMATION
Save
MONEY
nnovation and Technology continue to grow
Ithroughout the industries. Now, with the pandemic
affecting nations worldwide, companies have
started to adapt to online changes. Remote working,
work from home, online teaching, and virtual meetings
are the changes that have come-up with. While work
from home has saved employers and employees from
huge losses, it welcomes unprecedented risks.
The Problem
Since everything is connected with the internet, it
becomes easy for fraudsters to conduct fraudulent
activities with the data. So, confidentiality and security
become crucial while operating things over the
internet. There comes the need to provide security and
help in protecting the information online.
The Solution
That is why there are companies which helps to tackle
this situation with their deep experience in regulating,
monitoring, and managing control over such fraudulent
activities. They help customers securing these phishing
activities, scams, viruses, and hackers. It helps clients
and customers to focus on their goals without such
hurdles. Having a team of tech experts helps to stay
updated with the latest technical know-how securing
the data. These fraud detecting companies are capable
to provide its services and expertise in preventing
fraudulent activities to any part of the world.
Skip the Hustle
The problem of data and financial crime has been there
for a long time. With the technology being transforming
the companies, the fraudsters are also transformed in
their way to conduct such malicious activities. They
come up with new ways to hack the systems and using
our valuable information for their own greed. At times,
even the governments confidential data is being theft
by other countries fraudsters. And, there have been
cases of illegal bank hacking and a big amount of money
laundering being done as well.
If only you have a secure structure protecting the
system you can be saved from these terrible losses. The
fraud detection companies are putting more attention
to these money laundering issues providing support
and improving the system to prevent your businesses.
This makes people believe in the digital transformation
and gives the safety of conducting business online.
Think and Act Wisely
Internet is a never-ending process. It will continue to
grow and develop around the globe. And, to ensure
smooth conducting of the businesses online, companies
| February 2021 |
20
24. will have to deal with hackers and fraudsters. It is good
to have a secure and safe business without the fear of
fraudsters. It becomes the responsibility of the people
as well to align their business with the latest security
technologies which will help them to protect
themselves from any such attacks. Ultimately, it is
important to collaborate with the services and
guidance of the fraud detection providers.
Concluding Words
The future of the world is cutting-edge technologies
and to expand our businesses, companies need to
protect from all types of scammers. There will not be
any pressure to grow globally because of the safety
provided by the fraud prevention solutions.
Fraud and Fraud Prevention goes hand in hand, there is
no way to secure all threats. The fraud detection
providers are a boon for customers working on the
weakest spots of the system. They are the ones who are
improving the lives of the customers and the companies
by protecting the devices against all types of malware
and cyberthreats.
Through this write up we have tried to shed a light on
different aspects of the fraud problem. The common
conclusions are that with advancement in technologies
and extreme developments in digital uses, fraud is
increasing. The rise of fraud increased especially on the
Cyberspace, and ability to response these threats are
not much impressive from the police, organizations, and
other individuals.
With these rising number of frauds, the future will see
different ways of confronting fraud. The role of the
cyber fraud protectors will change in many ways and
more saviors will step forward to prevent fraud and
defend with wide range of measures. To fight with these
modern crimes, there is also a need for better data
indicators, more knowledge, accuracy, and preventive
measures.
| February 2021 |
22
25.
26. T
he philosophy of “Think local, act global” can
transform and evolve any company’s life. It is this
adaptability that supports Dixtior’s philosophy
of “Think local, act global”. Dixtior is a Portuguese
consultancy firm, specialist in both economics and
information technologies creating the perfect solution
for each client’s needs. The company is primed to take
the business and information technology expertise to
any part of the world.
Dixtior has the talent to be able to respond to any
challenge and make the difference that counts. By
innovation and open to new ideas in new markets, the
company is sociable by nature and likes to establish a
close relationship with the clients. And, no better
person to lead and inspire the company is Rui Vicente,
Chief Executive Officer of Dixtior. Rui is very
passionate about his work and fully dedicated to
getting something done the best way possible whatever
it takes.
Transformation at its Heart
Dixtior was born in 2013 with the main goal to become
Managing Financial Crime Risk
| February 2021 |
24
27. one of the top companies providing financial crime
compliance software in the world. Its journey started at
the headquarters in Lisbon, but after twelve months it
was already working abroad. The organization started
developing DCS solution having into consideration all
the needs from compliance teams across the world.
DCS has now implemented in banks and fintech's
across three continents, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Prevention, prevention, and prevention. Those are the
three most important actions that Dixtior implements
to prevent money laundering. It hopes to achieve the
goal of being a globally recognized company in the fight
against Financial Crime.
Talent to Create the Perfect Solution
DCS and DCS Lite are the two solutions provided by
Dixtior.
DCS is a full and comprehensive software that uses
Artificial Intelligence, Assisted Machine Learning, and
Neural Networks to improve the quality & accuracy of
the generated alerts. The team’s approach to the
financial crime problematics is what makes the
difference between Dixtior and the competitors. DCS is
an end-to-end solution that allows compliance teams to
have a holistic view of the menaces that they face
instead of a siloed approach.
DCS LITE is a cloud base SaaS that allows companies
not to carry the burden in infrastructure management
at the same time that allows compliance teams to have
a quick hand on the solution, the implementation of a
DCS Lite is made in less than 4 weeks. This includes a
full parameterization of the software to the specific
needs of each client, from banks to currency exchange
companies or cryptocurrency traders, payment
services, or any other financial company that needs to
deal with Financial Crime Compliance in a full picture
or just transaction monitoring or KYC or even just case
management or merchant risk evaluation.
The Best of 2 Worlds
“The pandemic brought more attention to security due to
the changes that happened in the work environment and
practices across the world and economic sectors. But to be
honest, the problem is not new its only more known and
| February 2021 |
25
28. everybody is more aware. Post pandemic will bring
companies to take decisions that they did not take before
because they wore afraid of making investments without
knowing what was coming on”, admits Rui.
Dixtior is prepared to support any company that needs
to improve their systems to combat Financial Crime
and are willing to give a huge step away in the way they
prevent their business from these menaces
Rui expresses, "Every organization is part of society and
does not exist without society. This means that I can’t
understand any company that doesn’t have a true concern
with its surroundings and doesn’t have an effective action
to promote social responsibility”.
Shaping the Future
Post pandemic will bring companies to take decisions
that they did not take before because they were afraid
of making investments without knowing what was
coming on. Dixtior is prepared to support any company
that needs to improve their systems to combat
Financial Crime and are willing to give a huge step away
in the way they prevent their business from these
menaces.
Proactive and Friendly Leader
Rui Vicente has extensive experience in Risk
Management. He is very proactive and very easy to
work with the utmost professionalism. Rui possesses
excellent leadership skills and is able to motivate and
inspire people around him. He possesses enviable social
skills which allow him to find his way in challenging and
multicultural environments.
‘‘
‘‘
| February 2021 |
26
29.
30. Digitisa
Intellectua
With more than 28 years of experience in
commercial and intellectual property law, Sue
assists clients with all aspects of trade mark and
branding. Also, she brings a wealth of
knowledge to her clients ensuring that they
achieve their goals. As a result, Sue is
passionate about helping clients achieve their
goals and always goes the extra mile to
understand their business.
With more than 18 years of experience, Rachel
has a proven track record of providing senior
level IP advice. Rachel has a wealth of
knowledge in trade marks and beyond. Using
this, combined with her willingness to gain a full
understanding of her client’s strategic goals,
she is able to provide senior level IP advice. She
has worked with a number of clients across all
industries which has strengthened her
knowledge and skill base beyond the norm.
Rachel
McDonald
Sue Irwin
Ironside
| February 2021 |
28
Innova ve Services
31. ation in
al Property
rior to COVID-19 various intellectual property
Pservices were well on their way to digitising
many services. The increase in innovation
facilitated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been on the
rise for a number of years.
Digitalisation is often referred to as the fourth
industrial revolution. IP offices around the world have
been taking a look at how to streamline services using
technology to its maximum potential.
COVID-19 has accelerated this process. Many offices
have had to adapt to the changes but have taken this on
board and created new and effective ways of tackling
some of its mundane tasks.
The digitalisation changes have been across a full range
of industries. What may have taken some companies
years to adapt to new electronic processes, has been
done in record times.
Innovation continues to grow in digital businesses.
Technology firms have seen their value skyrocket.
Update on Legal Services Industry post the pandemic
We have been amazed at how quickly our firm (and
other firms in NZ) and clients were able to adjust to
working from home. At the time of going into lockdown
we found there were around 2 weeks where everything
went very quiet. We wondered whether that would
carry on and then we got busier and busier. We realised
that was the time it took for those we engaged with to,
at record speed, get themselves all set up to work from
home.
We feel that the adjustment was fast, for some it was
what they had wanted for some time – to have more
flexible working arrangements and to be able to work
some time from home.
With the juggling of families at home, parents carrying
out teaching duties of their children and managing
work commitments it was a big challenge, that we have
found for the most part that those we know and work
with have managed to cope with. We have been lucky in
NZ that we come from a small country and we are far
away from the rest of the world, that we have a Prime
Minister who was prepared to make a quick and fast
call to close our borders and manage Covid as tightly as
we can. We have had with around 24 hours’ notice
mostly, gone back into several short term lock downs
but we have had minimal time in lock down compared
with the rest of the world. This has not made us
complacent and as a country we are vigilant and
careful.
Work has continued via online media. The use of Zoom
and team calls for us has become the norm. These are
undertaken with our staff, clients, colleagues. We listen
to webinars and podcasts. We enjoyed being part of the
INTA Virtual conference and had great and effective
business meetings, committee meetings, catchups
colleagues and some speed meetings with colleagues
we had not met before.
For us , we had embraced being able to spend some
time working from home before the first Covid
lockdown. To have to work from home fulltime for us
was an easy transition. It has shown us how important it
is to work off a good system – we use Equinox and find
it fantastic. … It has also shown us that no matter what
| February 2021 |
29
32. age we are that as a Practitioner you have to invest in
ensuring that you have good technical/ computer skills.
We have embraced social media with our marketing
and have been posting almost all content via that
channel.
IP Secrets and Know-how
We have been asked by several of our clients what is
the difference between Confidential Information, Trade
Secrets and Know-how. There is a lack of
understanding in business around the differences.
In our experience, these terms are used most often in
the context of negotiations or in discussions in relation
to collaborations, investment decisions, sale of a
business, investment sales, collaboration of technology
and in Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA’s) to name a
few, it is crucial that those that protect IP as well as
those that purchase and licence IP understand the
differences.
Confidential Information, Trade Secrets and Know-how
are very much part of the thought process in deciding
whether to seek patent protection or not.
Confidential Information
Confidential Information is information you wish to
keep away from general public awareness. It is
something that does not appear in the public domain
and would involve procedures and documents around
how it is shared with third parties.
Confidentiality Agreements would be used to manage
Confidential Information and they will often be for a
limited time frame especially in areas of technology
development, where technology moves and changes
rapidly.
Trade Secrets
Trade Secrets are a type of Confidential Information.
Trade Secrets are the specific information you want to
keep to yourself and is usually what is fundamental to
your product or service. It is what gives you your
competitive edge, your commercial and economic
advantage in the marketplace, i.e. the KFC recipe.
Trade Secrets could be a technique, method or
manufacture, a formula, marketing information,
designs, patterns, compilations of information.
Trade Secrets are crucial to identify as they have a
value and provide a commercial advantage to your
business. It is crucial to ensure that there is
documentation in place controlling who knows the
Trade Secret to maintain its secrecy.
Secrecy must be maintained. It is essential that
processes need to be put in place to ensure that the
Trade Secret is kept secret. It is not a registered
Intellectual Property right.
Trade Secrets are Confidential Information but not all
Confidential information is a Trade Secret. This is not in
our experience commonly understood.
Know-how
Know-how is how you know to do something. It is the
knowledge you personally acquire and develop. This
knowledge travels with your employees and can be
difficult to restrain the use of. Contractual restraints
are usually employed to do this. We often find that
businesses do not have appropriate clauses in their
Employment agreements that make it clear as to
ownership of IP that is developed in the course of one’s
employment.
It is important as a business owner that you understand
who holds the knowhow in your business
| February 2021 |
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33.
34. Managers, Owners, Concierge, and
Tenants, with useful alerts such as
arrears, compliance notices,
emergencies and messaging.
IDprop covers the full spectrum of
Property Management: Self-
Storage, Residential, Single & Multi-
Family, Affordable Housing,
Community Associations, Student
Housing, as well as Commercial
Property.
Systems have multiple security
layers and built-in controls for
access management, permissions,
and fraud risk mitigation. For
example, only someone authorized
may wire out funds, add a new
owner/property or approve Supplier
IDprop
IDprop
The First and Only Property Management Platform Offering Biometric ID
Verication and Multiple Fraud Risk Mitigation Controls
IDprop SAVES
YOU TIME AND
MONEY, IS
SIMPLE TO USE
WITHOUT
TRAINING AND
REDUCES
BUSINESS AND
FRAUD-RELATED
RISKS.
“
“
Below are the interview highlights:
Give us a brief overview of IDprop,
its vision, and journey since
inception.
IDprop provides an all-in-one,
cloud-based property management
solution, covering Leasing,
Accounting, Invoicing, Online
Payments, Arrears Management,
Maintenance, Compliance,
Operations, Inspections and
Appraisals. The suite also includes a
CRM for Lead Management and
handles Vacancies, Bookings, Tenant
Progression, Background Screening
with Biometric Identity Verification,
E-Signing, Contracts, as well as
separate Dashboards for Property
An Interview conducted between CIO LOOK and Sara Statman, the
Founder & CEO of the company sheds light on how IDprop allows
businesses to automate workflows, meet regulatory requirements,
improve the customer experience and generate significant cost savings.
| February 2021 |
32
35. Fees. In addition to “Ease of Use” a core theme across
all modules, is Fraud Risk Mitigation, which is why we
were delighted to be invited to contribute to this CIO
Look edition.
Please list the popular solutions/services that make
your company stand out from the competition.
Ÿ Biometric Identity Screening to protect against
identity fraud: This includes facial recognition, a
liveness check, and authenticating identity
documents
Ÿ A special 2-Factor Authentication login app that is
almost hack-proof as the PIN is never transmitted or
stored. It is entered onto a special keypad so even a
keylogger could not detect it and should a device be
lost or stolen, the login would fail after a few
incorrect attempts
Ÿ This provides clients with a secure invoice portal to
mitigate phishing fraud (see below)
Ÿ Multiple internal and external fraud risk mitigation
techniques (see below)
Ÿ Automatically short-list and select the cheapest
supplier and approve all costs before booking or
invoicing
Ÿ User-friendly dashboards with alerts, analytics, and
automated communication
Ÿ Cost-effective online payments and sector-specific
accounting (GL, AP, AR & Trial Balance)
As the Founder & CEO, where in your opinion are
organizations most susceptible to internal and
external fraud risk, and what solutions have you
implemented?
In Property Management internal fraud may occur if an
employee, without restricted access, adds fake
properties, with fake tenants, sets up fake accounts or
shell companies as owner, and uses this to wire out
funds.
Another key area relates to third-party suppliers
charging outsized hourly or fixed fees, or applying
excessive mark-ups for equipment or spare parts. How
might these bids be accepted? A property manager
could be bribed or coerced into selecting higher bids
and taking a cut of excess profits.
These kinds of risks are present across industries, in
particular when large cash-flows are at stake and are
often committed by mid-level employees with sufficient
knowledge of systems and processes.
At the tenant screening stage, should fake identities
pass, all screening would be meaningless, while realtors
and landlords would have no way of identifying the real
tenant. The property could be used in subletting scams
where evictions are much harder. It may be stripped
bare or let to illegal immigrants, with each scenario
causing legal headaches. The safest way to mitigate
these risks is through Biometric Identity Verification
using a liveness check, facial recognition and
authenticating official documents – only then will
employment, credit and criminal checks relate to the
real tenant.
Id prop implemented multiple fraud controls in its
maintenance solution. First only someone senior and
authorized can approve: a) Suppliers being added to the
portal b) Min to max fixed-rates and
daily/evening/weekend fees c) Quotes for fixed-rate
jobs and spare parts. Next, when a job is required, the
system only displays the 3 lowest cost suppliers
covering the repair type and location. Bookings are
automated and by requiring tenant feedback, this adds
in a further layer of control, to ensure the job took
place.
To protect against fake properties being added, or to
approve an owner, building or property, being added,
multiple checks are in place and only someone
authorized may add these to the system. To mitigate
wire fraud in general, it is essential that only certain
staff with authorization have access to approve and pay
invoices. Our systems include such controls. But
regardless of sector, very similar controls should be in
place and where possible these should be automated.
Phishing Fraud is an increasing problem. Let me share a
true story. A respected builder visited a client and gave
a verbal quote, which was accepted. However, the
D
| February 2021 |
33
36. builder’s system had been hacked. The hacker knew the
client’s name, address, email, and price – emailed the
client a fake invoice with the builder’s name and logo
but the hacker’s bank details – the client paid and was
left out of pocket.
Email is not a secure form of communication and should
not be used to send out invoices. IDprop’s secure login
means all invoices inside the portal originate from the
real vendor. We will soon be launching IDpay as a
secure portal for all sectors to send and receive
invoices and arrange secure payments.
The current pandemic certainly pushed many
businesses to increase their online foothold, which
means an even greater reliance on cloud solutions,
online operations, and payments. Client identification is
also moving from in-person to online, all of which
require new tools and security systems.
However, this must be placed in perspective. Ten or
twenty years ago, HR Departments would typically
hold a copy of staff passports, in their local systems. If
those systems did not encrypt data and were hacked,
that data would probably have been stolen. This is no
different from today, regardless of using in-house vs.
cloud-based solutions.
Whether developed in-house or purchased from a
third-party, businesses should ensure they consider
how fraudsters may attack their business and
incorporate suitable measures to protect their data and
business as a whole.
https://prop.idcheck.tech
| February 2021 |
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37.
38. IP Enforcement
in and
Hong Kong China
Practical tips for
Overview
It is estimated that legitimate businesses suffer annual
losses of over US$250-750 billion in lost sales as a
result of counterfeit and pirated goods from China and
Hong Kong alone. Intellectual property enforcement is
therefore critical to fostering innovation and protecting
businesses from infringers and counterfeit activities.
As China and Hong Kong are separate jurisdictions with
different sets of legal systems, the IP frameworks and
the corresponding IP enforcement practices between
the two jurisdictions differ. It is prudent for business
owners to understand their positions and artilleries for
enforcing their IP rights in these two jurisdictions.
This article provides an overview on the various IP
enforcement options and practical tips for effective
enforcement in Hong Kong and China.
Enforcement of IP rights in Hong Kong
Issuing Cease and Desist letter
In essence, a Cease and Desist letter is a warning letter
to warn the infringers to stop its infringing activities
and / or take remedial action by a certain deadline,
Apart from founding Ella Cheong & Alan Chiu,
Solicitors & Notaries (formerly known as Ella Cheong
Law Office), Ella Cheong also founded Ella Cheong
(Hong Kong & Beijing) and additionally, at the
invitation of the Singapore government, the Singapore
firm of Ella Cheong LLC and a supporting office of Ella
Cheong IP Services Sdn Bhd in Malaysia. She regularly
gives talks on all aspects of IP. She has also authored
many articles on IP issues. Ella was inducted into the
Global Hall of Fame (IAM) in 2018. The latest edition of
World Trademark Review 2019 identified her as an IP
Legend and a luminaire.
About the Author:
| February 2021 |
36
40. failing which the IP right owners may take legal action
against the infringers.
This approach is particularly useful for trademark
infringement in Hong Kong, given that both registered
and unregistered trademarks are protected under the
effect of the Trade Marks Ordinance and the common
law position of passing off (misleading business
reputation/goodwill) respectively under Hong Kong
law.
This is an efficient and low-cost means of enforcement
since the IP right owners may protect their right in a
timely manner without the burden of complex and
expensive court proceedings.
In addition, the issuance of a Cease and Desist letter is
usually a pre-requisite for litigation, given that both
parties must attempt to resolve their dispute amicably
before commencing litigation, or else there might be
cost consequences if the matter subsequently proceeds
to court proceedings.
One must note that in relation to patent or registered
design infringement in Hong Kong, special caution must
be given when issuing a Cease and Desist letter since a
groundless threat to bring proceeding for these types
of infringement is prohibited by law. Therefore, IP right
owners should beware of inadvertently making
groundless threats or risk having to pay compensation,
and only issue Cease and Desist letter when there is
clear evidence showing that the infringement has
occurred.
Hong Kong Customs Recordal
The Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department is
responsible for enforcing the criminal aspects of
infringement of IP rights and has extensive power of
search and seizure against infringers. It assists IP right
owners to enforce their rights through border
enforcement and market investigation measures. It can
seize counterfeit goods from anywhere in Hong Kong,
not only in the harbour or border areas.
In order to enforce IP rights against infringers through
Hong Kong Customs, the IP owners must (1) provide an
affidavit on copyright ownership (for copyright
infringement) or a copy of the trademark registration
certificate (for trademark infringement), (2) provide a
sample of each of the genuine and infringing products,
and (3) appoint a Qualified Examiner who can
distinguish between counterfeits and genuine products.
Once a Customs Recordal is complete (no official fee is
required), and that the Customs has verified the
competence of the Qualified Examiner as a credible
expert witness in future criminal prosecution court
cases, the Customs will proceed to raid and
administratively enforce against the infringers.
Commencing civil litigation in Hong Kong court
IP right owners may commence civil litigation
proceedings against infringers. The courts in Hong
Kong are sophisticated and well equipped to handle IP
cases since there is an Intellectual Property Specialist
List created in Hong Kong courts where all trials in
relation to IP will be listed before judges specialized in
the area.
The robust courts of Hong Kong are keen to grant
injunctions to put a stop to infringement activities in a
timely fashion. In addition, the damages awarded to the
winning party is relatively high compared to other
jurisdictions.
However, a typical court action in Hong Kong can take
up to 3-5 years, and the legal costs incurred could be
high. That said, the winning party would usually be
awarded damages and portion of the legal costs. It is
also not uncommon for both parties to reach
settlement once an injunction is granted.
One should note that before commencing civil litigation
in Hong Kong, both parties will be requested by the
court to conduct a round of mediation, failing which
there will be cost consequences.
Enforcement of IP rights in China
Unlike Hong Kong, unregistered IP rights are protected
only by law on unfair competition and/or well-known
trademarks, which are both very hard to prove under
Chinese law. Hence, IP rights must be registered in
China as a pre-requisite for any enforcement options in
China. We highly recommend that any party doing
business in China (whether by way of manufacture,
retail, or trade in any other way), register all its IP
Rights (including patents, copyrights and trademarks)
as soon as possible to prevent other parties from
registering the identical or similar IP Rights).
China Customs Recordal
China Customs is responsible for prohibiting the export
and import of goods from and to China that infringe IP
rights, and IP rights can be recorded with them. Once
an IP right is recorded, if the Customs find suspected
| February 2021 |
38
41. infringing goods on record during their routine check,
Customs will suspend the goods and notify the relevant
IP right holder of the suspected infringement. If the IP
right holder confirms the infringement, applies for
detainment of the goods and pays the requisite deposit
as a guarantee, Customs will formally detain the goods
pending further investigation. Once it is proven that the
detained goods are indeed counterfeits, Customs may
confiscate the infringing products and impose penalties
on the consignor or consignee.
Alternatively, if IP right owners discovers that the
goods to be imported or exported are counterfeits, they
may also apply to the Customs for the detainment of
the goods. To do so, IP right owners should provide
evidence showing the goods are indeed counterfeits
and deposit a guarantee equivalent to the value of the
detained goods.
China Customs Recordal is very timely and cost
effective with the official fee for filing Custom Recordal
to be RMB 800 (approximately US$100). Unlike Hong
Kong Customs, there is no requirement for an
appointment of Qualified Examiner in China, and all the
application and submission of evidence can be done
entirely through the web. Therefore, China Customs
Recordal is one of the most effective IP enforcement
methods in China.
Administrative actions
The key Chinese administrative bodies are the
Intellectual Property Offices (IPOs) for patent cases,
the Administrations for Industry and Commerce (AICs)
for trademark cases, and the Copyright Office for
copyright cases.
These administrative bodies are empowered with a
wide range of enforcement powers against infringers,
such as raiding infringers’ premises, seizing and
destroying infringing goods, imposing injunctions and
issuing fines against the infringers.
Administrative actions are relatively speedy and cost-
effective, but IP right owners will need to instruct legal
representatives to file the application with supporting
evidence of ownership of the IP right, as well as
evidence of the infringement.
Online take down notices
Under Chinese law, internet providers are liable for IP
infringement if they are notified of the infringement
activities and fail to take down the links to the relevant
website. Therefore, most internet providers in China
have their own set of policies in place for such kind of
take down notices.
Generally, they require the provision of (1) evidence
showing the complainant is the IP right holder, (2) the
links to the infringing activities, and (3) business license
of the IP right holder.
Online take down notice is a very cheap and efficient
way to tackle online infringements in China as the
procedures are relatively straight-forward.
Commencing civil litigation in Chinese courts
There are IP courts in China in Beijing, Shanghai and
Guangzhou respectively that are specialized in handling
IP cases. The usual remedies sought are wide-ranging
and can include injunctions, destruction of infringing
goods, damages and order for delivery up. In addition, a
typical IP action would take place in the span of 1 to 1.5
years in general, from the issuance of proceedings to
the handing down of judgment, which is relatively quick
as compared to its Hong Kong counterpart.
To prove IP infringement in court proceedings in China,
all the evidence in support must be notarized by a
notary public. In practice, this means the process of
obtaining the evidence, including the test purchase of
the infringing items, must be witnessed by a notary
public. This will add difficulties to providing sufficient
notarized evidence to satisfy the burden of proof in
Chinese court proceedings.
Moreover, many of the local court judges and juries in
China are often not sophisticated in IP law, and a fair
result may only be obtained once the cases are
appealed to a higher or even top level courts (most
notably the Michael Jordan case, where the US
basketball player Michael Jordan successfully obtained
favorable results against a long-lasting trade mark
squatter in China only when the case had been
appealed to the Supreme Court of China).
Conclusion
In conclusion, business owners who are carrying
business in Hong Kong and in China must ensure to
register all their IP rights in both of these jurisdictions
since the legal system are independent from each other.
In Hong Kong, this would be for trade marks, patents
and registered designs (no copyright registration is
available). In China, this would be for patents,
trademarks, and specifically including copyright.
| February 2021 |
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43. MCG Consulting
Increasing Operational Efficiencies and Driving Long-term Value
s we all have heard that ‘prevention is always
Abetter than cure’ so in the world of digitalization
it becomes essential to prevent the frauds
before they happen. As they say ‘failure is costly’ so are
the frauds. Therefore, taking due care in detecting
frauds earlier and then preventing them before they
occur is very important as it is costly to being victim of
frauds. It’s always better to be cautious than to be
complacent. Any business demands authoritative
sources to assemble regulatory data requirements
most efficiently and productively.
MCG Consulting is one of the few companies that
provides both regulatory compliance services and
assistance in software development. At MCG
Consulting, its team believes that all securities markets
are holistically connected in today’s world. The
company has deep expertise and extensive global
experience. Its industry knowledge spans regulatory
reporting, regulatory data management and
distribution, transaction monitoring and analytics,
compliance management, and identity control. Paul
Murdock is the Founder and Managing Director of
MCG Consulting. Paul has amassed over 25 years of
experience specializing in finance and compliance
within the financial services industry.
Cost-effective Technology Solutions
MCG Solutions™ are globally localized, data-driven
intelligent solutions to help companies navigate the
complexities of the FinReg Industry. MCG Consulting
partners with various vendors to offer its clients cost-
effective technology solutions while at the same time
focusing on the business use cases of those solutions.
Personalized and Forward-thinking Compliance
MCG Consulting identifies and mitigates compliance,
regulatory, and financial risks on the compliance side
and helps clients devise personalized and forward-
thinking compliance plans to deliver long-term value.
While on the technology side, MCG Consulting's
technology experts help clients upgrade to next-
generation software systems cost-effectively and stay
updated with the latest innovations.
Delivering Innovative and Seamless Solutions
MCG’s team of Chief Compliances Officers have deep
expertise and extensive global experience spanning
regulatory reporting, regulatory data management and
distribution, transaction monitoring and analytics,
compliance management and identity control. These
officers help navigate the complexities of the evolving
financial landscape and deliver innovative, seamless
solutions that increase efficiencies achieving exemplary
results.
Transforming Challenges into Opportunities
Paul believes the pandemic has accelerated the need
for companies similar to MCG in the “work from home”
environment. This unprecedented time has created
unprecedented opportunities; however, it is not
without risks. All devices connected to the internet
must be even more adequately secured with the
appropriate endpoint solutions because not only is it
essential to secure office devices, it is also essential to
secure personal devices as well. Uncertain or
unprecedented time calls for win-win, decisive,
constructive, innovative, and unprecedented solutions.
Innovative leaders like to transform challenges into
opportunities.
Utilizing Latest Technologies
At MCG, it is its team’s belief that the future of digital
technology is only in its infancy. Its team expects
exponential growth in digital technology across all
platforms and everyday life in a post Covid-19 world.
Paul adds that, “The pandemic has significantly
impacted the adoption rate of technology. A prime
example of the rate of technology change and impact is
Zoom video conferencing, it has been a game changer.”
Paul says that with the accelerated rate of technology
change, it becomes even more evident for businesses to
| February 2021 |
41
44. align their service offerings with new technology. Paul
believes that specifically to Security and Intelligence it
is most essential to keep abreast of the latest
technology in the marketplace. MCG Consulting is
constantly reviewing new technology offerings to
ensure its clients have “best in class” technology to
solve their problems. MCG works with leading
providers in its industry to ensure its clients have the
latest solutions to solve their business problems.
Giving Back to Society
MCG Consulting acts with intention and cultivates an
environment of progressiveness. Prioritizing the
greater good and building local communities around
the company is one of its core values. MCG strongly
advocates giving back through charitable works. MCG
sponsors educational and scholarship opportunities for
African American, and Latino males within the Metro
NY area.
Delivering Best Experience to Clients
Paul advises aspiring entrepreneurs in the security
industry to stay abreast of the latest technology
impacting cyber security industry and put the business
interest of the clients ahead of one’s own. Paul believes
that this strategy may take time to pay off but
eventually it will. The core of the MCG Consulting is
that it continues to ensure that its clients have the best
experience it can while working with company’s highly
competent professionals. Most importantly, MCG is a
business partner in helping clients to solve their most
complex business problems by providing uniquely
customizable professional service advice. MCG expects
the company to continue to grow in this competitive
environment. MCG’s clients appreciate what it brings
to the table.
Competitive and Professional Team
"From the first interaction, it was obvious that MCG was
the firm that could deliver. The detailed ancillary discussion
reaffirmed that this team is technically head and shoulders
above the competition." — Chief Compliance Officer,
Refinitiv (a Blackstone private equity group/Thomson
Reuters company).
"MCG has out-of-the-box thinking, extensive industry
knowledge, and employs a high level of professionalism." —
Managing Partner, Interactive Learning Group.
MCG’s award-winning
compliance,
regulatory, and ntech
solutions increase
operational efciencies
and drive long-term
value to the clients.
“
“
| February 2021 |
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