Best of Show: BehavioSec
“Nice! BehavioSec is the most interesting bit of fintech so far today, but the day is still young! #finovateasia”
–Paul A. Chapman via Twitter (@pchap10k)
As a specialist in the field of biometric authentication, BehavioSec has leveraged its “continuously authenticating” algorithms to provide security solutions for e-merchants and mobile commerce.
And as a crowd-pleasing presentation of security technology, BehavioSec’s keystroke and gesture pattern-based authentication demonstrates just enough of the “wow” factor to make audiences feel they are seeing tomorrow’s technology today.
To see the video of BehavioSec’s Best of Show winning demo, click here.
Why They Won:
- Removes friction from the end user’s experience
- Uses biometrics in a practical way that doesn’t require expensive, additional hardware
- Adds a layer of security that transcends beyond the traditional PIN
Bottom Line:
- BehavioSec emphasizes removing the burden of security from the shoulders of end users, and gives technology the ability to improve over time due to continuous authentication provide a unique solution in the security space.
Interview with Neil Costigan, CEO, BehavioSec
Finovate: When you won Best of Show at FinovateSpring 2012, you said the single most compelling benefit of BehavioSec’s mobile security solution was “transparency” and a “fantastic user experience.” What has been the most significant development in BehavioSec that has led to winning Best of Show again a year later?
Costigan: I think our success in the market throughout 2013 has led to a “feedback loop” where we have really gained customer suggestions to enhance the technology.
I think it shows that we listen and improve, and that we speak more from real world experience now.
Finovate: Also a year ago you talked about how your technology helped “identify abnormal behavior” and that you hoped to expand the solution by offering to help customers decide “appropriate next steps aligned with the level of risk.” Have you continued down this path?
Costigan: Yes, we’ve opened up our APIs and formats and added the idea of policy triggers. We’ve also integrated more with the ecosystem that is around us.
Finovate: A point of emphasis for BehavioSec seems to be removing the burden of security from the shoulders of the end user. Why is this important?
Costigan: In security, the ‘user’ is actually the weak link. Make the security too much of a burden and the end user tends to ignore it, or subvert it for their own convenience. Think of password managers being like the user propping up a big safe door with a chair. The user expects the bank, payment service, or eCommerce site to solve the security issue, not be a part of it.
Finovate: What are some of the advantages of innovating in a country like Sweden? In what ways are Northern European markets different from those in other parts of Europe when it comes to security issues?
Costigan: Actually it can be a burden!
I’m not from the Nordics myself. I’m Irish. So I find this new market fascinating, how different it is from the rest of Europe.
What I have picked up over the last few years is that there is little to no fraud here. Hard to be selling anti-fraud solutions to people who don’t need them! I am half-joking.
The Internet removes these barriers. I believe this Northern European market is a trendsetter for a technology update. What works here tends to mirror what will happen elsewhere. Our references here are taken as a good bellwether of what will happen in other markets.
Capital Access Network 
joining Emida, David worked for iSend where he helped build the company’s in-kind international payments business.
