SentryBay boosts fraud prevention service

SentryBay now has the ability to track illegally traded customer data

Identify theft prevention firm SentryBay has announced a new tie-up with identity theft database provider Lucid Intelligence in a move which it hopes will expand the capabilities of its Active Fraud Monitoring Service.

Lucid's ever-growing database contains user data which is being bought and sold on the black market, offering a unique snapshot into the activity of identity fraudsters.

By integrating it with SentryBay's fraud monitoring service, the firm will be able to alert its customers, many of which are financial institutions, if their staff or customer data has been traded illegally.

Lucid founder Colin Holder explained that there has been a huge increase in the amount of personal data being bought and sold illegally on the internet.

"At the end of 2008 we held 58 million occasions of personal data being sold on. By the beginning of December 2009 the figure stood at 138 million," he said. "This reflects approximately 60 million individuals, as many are either phished or have had their data sold and purchased more than once."

Marcus Whittington, chief operating officer at SentryBay, argued that breaking the supply line of illegally traded data early in the chain is key to defeating the criminals.

"SentryBay software already secures data as it is entered. By partnering with Lucid Intelligence, we can proactively extend that protection throughout its use," he added.

"Lucid provides the next key step in the process. If any data has been stolen - from any source - companies and individuals can be alerted to prevent corporate and identity-based fraud."

Just last month, SentryBay told V3.co.uk that over 4,000 apparently legitimate web sites are selling on subscriber or user data without the knowledge of their users.