Reverse Authentication for Contact Center Fraud Prevention

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current methods for authenticating contact center agents are not fully fraud-proof, as hackers can easily hide their identities, leading to phishing attacks and data theft, which compromises customer information and hampers contact center efficiency.

Innovation Solution

A system and method that uses a reverse authentication procedure, where users record and store secret authentication messages or questions and answers during registration, which are then verified before accepting calls from contact center agents, ensuring the authenticity of the caller.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If traditional authentication methods are used to verify contact center agents, then the authentication process is simple and quick, but the system is vulnerable to fraud and identity hiding

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveauthentication reliabilityVSAvoidauthentication system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent inverts the traditional authentication approach by having the user (call recipient) authenticate the agent (caller) rather than the agent authenticating the user. This is achieved through reverse authentication where the user provides authentication credentials to verify the agent's identity, fundamentally reversing the conventional authentication flow to combat fraud effectively

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

Solution Approach 2:

The system introduces an intermediary authentication module that mediates between the user and the contact center agent. This module captures authentication credentials from the user, transmits them to the contact center system, and relays authentication results back to the user, providing a structured intermediary layer that enhances security without completely redesigning the communication flow

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Object-affected harmful factors

If reverse authentication procedure is implemented to verify agent authenticity, then fraud risk is reduced, but the authentication process becomes more complex

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefraud riskVSAvoidauthentication process complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary authentication actions by capturing the user's authentication credentials (such as secret phrases or security questions) during the call setup phase, before the actual communication begins. This preliminary verification ensures that only authenticated agents can proceed with the call, preventing fraud before it occurs

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The authentication system leverages the user's own knowledge (security questions, secret phrases) as the authentication mechanism. The user themselves provides the authentication credentials from their knowledge base, making the authentication self-service based on personal information that is difficult for fraudsters to obtain

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

3Loss of information

If authentication verification is added to validate caller authenticity, then customer information security is improved, but call processing time increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecustomer information securityVSAvoidcall processing time

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The authentication verification is performed preliminarily during the call setup phase, capturing credentials and transmitting them before the main communication begins. This ensures that security verification is completed in advance, so that once authenticated, the actual call can proceed without delays

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system rushes through the authentication process by capturing credentials quickly during call setup and using efficient transmission methods. The authentication verification is streamlined to minimize the time added to the overall call duration, allowing legitimate calls to proceed rapidly once verification is complete

Inventive Principle:

Principle #21Skipping (Rushing through)

Data Source

PatentUS10951759B2System and method to authenticate contact center agents by a reverse authentication procedure

Publication Date: 2021.03.16 AVAYA INC

AI summary

An authentication system to validate the authenticity of call center agents by using a reverse authentication procedure. The authentication system includes a verification module that verifies the authenticity of agents calling from the call center. The verification module retrieves reference answers in response to the user-provided query questions from a media server. The media server may be located inside the enterprise network. These reference questions and their corresponding reference answers are provided by users when registering with the enterprise network.