3G Operators Risk Losing Up To 5% in Revenues To Fraud 3G complexity will fuel unprecedented rise in criminal activity, warns Cerebrus Solutions

Cerebrus Solutions, the leading developer of neural network technology to help mobile operators stem revenue leakage, today launched C3G. C3G is an evolution of Cerebrus Solutions core technology CerebrusRE, for combating 3G fraud. C3G gives 3G operators a way of immediately clamping down on fraudulent activity by giving them a clear view of the most fraud prone areas of their business.

London, UK - Cerebrus Solutions, the leading developer of neural network technology to help mobile operators stem revenue leakage, today launched C3G. C3G is an evolution of Cerebrus Solutions core technology CerebrusRE, for combating 3G fraud. C3G gives 3G operators a way of immediately clamping down on fraudulent activity by giving them a clear view of the most fraud prone areas of their business. 3G operators could lose up to 5 per cent of turnover a year to fraud* due to the increased complexity and value of data passing through 3G networks, unless they put effective fraud control measures in place.

Unlike legacy fraud systems that only use rules-based algorithms to detect fraudulent user behaviour, C3G has at its core advanced neural network technology that learns to recognise new patterns of criminal activity as they appear. This ability to learn is critical in a 3G environment because operators must be able to identify and tackle new and more sophisticated fraud scenarios as criminals become familiar with the new technology.

The potential for revenue leakage, such as fraud, on 3G networks is significantly increased due to subscriber access to Mcommerce services and premium multimedia content. An average 3G user will typically generate ten times more transactions than a 2G subscriber, because of additional data usage, the sheer volume making this kind of fraudulent activity significantly harder to detect.

Examples of 3G revenue leakage addressed by C3G:

•Cross-Over Fraud -- when a fraudster sends a Trojan", a type of malicious or harmful software code, to legitimate 3G subscribers. The Trojan causes the mobile devices of subscribers to automatically make premium rate calls that inflate revenues on the fraudsters own service. An example from Japan: a Trojan was released which caused users handsets to automatically dial the emergency services.

•IP Attack -- when hackers break into the IP portion of the Operators 3G network with the intent, for instance to steal or corrupt content.

•Extortion -- when a hacker threatens to bring an operators network down or expose business critical information unless they are paid an agreed amount of money. There are reported cases of this from the internet world, concerning the exposure of clients credit card details.

•Revenue Inflation Fraud -- similar to voice PRS fraud, the fraudster uses illegally acquired subscriptions to generate data transactions that inflate revenues on his own service. An example could be the generation of hits on web advertising banners.

•Content Sell Fraud -- when the fraudster replicates and re-sells premium content, such as video or music files, at a fraction of the normal rate.

•Mcommerce Fraud -- when a subscription is acquired in order to make multiple purchases with no intention to pay.

•Credit Control -- when a user inadvertently spends excessive amounts on 3G services before they realise and are unable to pay the bill.

C3G incorporates information on subscriber user behaviour, information provided by mobile phone retailers connecting and upgrading customers, and data provided by content and Mcommerce partners charging customers for access to value added services. C3G analyses this complex cocktail of information and drills down to the most fraud-rich subsets of data. This improves the efficiency of an operators fraud teams and allows staffing levels to be kept down. C3G has been designed to scale from 0.5m to up to 1bn transactions per day in order to manage the increased number of transactions generated by 3G subscribers.

3G operators are under immense pressure to recoup the vast sums paid for 3G licences," said Mike Waddell Vice President of Product Management at Cerebrus Solutions. However large chunks of their revenues will be lost unless they are equipped to tackle fraud. The potential revenue losses involved mean we must second-guess the enemy before they do too much damage. Cerebrus self learning neural network technology is the only effective way to head off advances in criminal tactics."

C3G, which also combats next-generation fraud committed on 2.5G networks, will be available in all major regions and countries including Europe, the United States, Canada, Africa and Asia-Pacific through Cerebrus Solutions sales channels.

About Cerebrus Solutions

Formed in 1997 to operate as Nortel Networks Fraud Solutions business unit, Cerebrus Solutions became an independent company in 2001 with the support of key investors Argo Global Capital LLC and Agilent Technologies Inc. Its core technology, CerebrusRE, is a unique hybrid solution that combines advanced neural networks with established rules and thresholds to identify new, unpredictable patterns in subscriber behaviour. CerebrusRE is constantly being updated for use with new platforms and in new markets including pre-paid, IP telephony, GPRS and 3G. www.CerebrusSolutions.com