Product Overview: At-Bay Stance Fraud Defense

Introduction

The Fraud Defense feature is a proactive tool designed to help users monitor email communications and detect potential fraud. By analyzing email structure, domain reputation scoring, and sender analysis, this feature provides two types of alerts when suspicious or fraudulent emails are detected: one within your At-Bay Stance Application and the other via email alerts. While the feature currently focuses on alerting, it empowers businesses to respond swiftly and mitigate risks before any significant damage occurs.

Key Features

1. Suspicious Email Structure Detection
   The feature analyzes the structure of incoming emails for signs of suspicious activity. It looks for irregularities such as unusual formatting, deceptive headers, missing or mismatched sender information, or other structural patterns commonly found in fraudulent emails. Alerts are triggered when potential fraud is detected.
2. Domain Reputation Scoring
   Each incoming email is associated with a domain reputation score. This score is derived from historical data, known associations with fraudulent activity, and external threat intelligence. Emails from domains with low reputation scores are flagged, and alerts are sent to inform the user or security team of the potential risk.
3. Sender Email Address Analysis
   The system cross-references sender email addresses with known databases of compromised or malicious email accounts. Emails from high-risk addresses are flagged for review, and alerts are generated for further investigation.
4. Real-Time Alerts & Notifications
   The system offers two types of alerts to ensure your team stays informed:
   • At-Bay Stance Alerts: Suspicious emails are flagged in your At-Bay Stance Application, where the designated security team can review them directly, assess the risk, and take appropriate action.
   • Email Alerts: In addition to alerts within the At-Bay Stance Application, the system sends email notifications to the designated recipients (such as security teams, compliance officers, or end-users) for immediate awareness of potential fraudulent activity.

Benefits

• Proactive Risk Detection: Detects suspicious email activity early based on structural anomalies and sends alerts, helping users respond before any damage occurs.
• Enhanced Security Awareness: Alerts within the At-Bay Stance Application and via email help keep security teams and end-users informed of potential threats, raising awareness and promoting vigilance.
• Real-Time Alerts: Receive immediate notifications of potential fraud, whether within the At-Bay Stance Application or through email alerts, empowering your team to investigate and act quickly to protect against email-based attacks.
• Reduced False Positives: The feature is designed to minimize false positives, ensuring legitimate emails are not unnecessarily flagged while suspicious emails are reliably detected.

How It Works

1. Email Structure Monitoring:
   The system continuously scans incoming emails for structural indicators of fraud, such as irregular formatting, strange headers, or unexpected attachments. These elements are typically used by fraudsters to deceive the recipient. The detection algorithms analyze these structural patterns to identify potential fraud.
2. Reputation Scoring:
   Each email’s domain is assessed for its reputation using a score derived from a database of known bad actors, phishing sites, and external threat intelligence sources. A low reputation score will trigger an alert.
3. Risk Scoring & Alerts:
   Each email is assigned a Risk Score based on its structure, domain reputation, and sender behavior. Emails that exceed a predefined threshold for risk are flagged, and the system generates two types of alerts:
   • At-Bay Stance Application Alerts: Flagged emails are presented within the At-Bay Stance Application, allowing for detailed review and investigation.
   • Email Alerts: The system sends notifications to designated recipients via email, ensuring timely action can be taken.

Use Cases

1. Phishing Attack Detection
   A customer receives an email that appears to be from their bank, asking for personal information. The Fraud Defense feature flags the email due to unusual structural patterns in the email header and formatting. The system sends an email alert and also presents the flagged email in the At-Bay Stance Application for the team to review.
2. Business Email Compromise (BEC) Detection
   An employee receives an email purportedly from the CEO requesting a transfer of funds. The system detects the email’s high risk based on irregular sender address structure and unusual domain behavior. An email alert is sent, and the flagged email is displayed within the At-Bay Stance Application for further investigation.

Conclusion

The Fraud Defense feature helps users using Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace stay vigilant against email-based fraud. By analyzing email structure, domains, and sender reputation, the system provides two types of real-time alerts (within your At-Bay Stance Application and via email) for suspicious activity, allowing users to respond promptly and prevent potential fraud. Although the feature currently focuses on alerting, it plays a vital role in helping users proactively protect themselves from evolving email-based threats.

Ready to enhance your email security? Start using the Fraud Defense feature today and stay one step ahead of email-based fraud.