LexisNexis & Promon team up on mobile fraud defence

LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Promon have formed a strategic alliance to strengthen fraud prevention in mobile apps. The partnership combines identity intelligence with in-app protection for organisations operating at global scale.

The alliance brings together LexisNexis ThreatMetrix digital identity, device and behavioural intelligence with Promon Shield and Promon Insight, which protect mobile apps and collect telemetry from within them. The combined offering is aimed at financial institutions and other businesses that rely on mobile channels for customer transactions and engagement.

As more activity moves into mobile apps, fraud teams have faced a shift in attack methods. Attackers are increasingly targeting the app environment itself through malware, overlay manipulation, device tampering, reverse engineering and automated abuse.

That shift has pushed organisations to look beyond basic user verification and assess whether the mobile environment in which a session takes place can be trusted. The alliance is intended to help clients link app-level signals with identity, device and transactional risk data when making fraud decisions.

LexisNexis said its Dynamic Decision Platform will orchestrate the combined tools across the mobile customer journey. In practice, clients can use in-app telemetry alongside digital identity intelligence to identify suspicious behaviour and decide whether to allow, challenge or block activity.

Promon Shield is designed to protect applications from tampering and manipulation while gathering telemetry from inside the app. ThreatMetrix, meanwhile, assesses digital identity and device risk and supports fraud decisioning.

Together, the companies said they cover billions of app installations and digital identities worldwide. Their customers include companies in financial services, payments, insurance, healthcare, digital banking and other sectors with significant mobile activity.

Mobile threat shift

The alliance reflects a broader change in fraud prevention, with the integrity of the app session becoming as important as the user's credentials. Criminals who once focused on browser-based attacks or account takeover are also trying to manipulate the software environment on a customer's device.

These methods can let attackers interfere with transactions, mislead users through fake overlays, or alter app behaviour in ways that conventional fraud tools may struggle to detect. By combining app protection with risk intelligence, the companies aim to reduce those blind spots.

Promon, based in Oslo, focuses on mobile application protection and works with customers in financial services, healthcare, gaming and the public sector. LexisNexis Risk Solutions, part of RELX, serves customers in more than 190 countries and territories with analytics and decision tools for risk assessment.

Both companies are positioning the partnership around the growing need for trusted data from the point where a mobile interaction occurs. The approach is intended to improve the quality of signals used by fraud teams rather than relying only on external indicators of risk.

In a statement on the alliance, Daniel Kollberg, Chief Executive Officer of Promon, said: "Promon has always believed that strong mobile security is a critical foundation for digital trust.

"As fraud increasingly targets the mobile app and device environment, organizations need clearer insight into whether each session can be trusted. We are bringing Promon Shield, mobile risk detection, behavioral insights and tamper-resistant telemetry into one of the world's leading fraud intelligence platforms, helping organizations protect customers, reduce fraud losses and deliver safer mobile experiences."

Grayson Clarke, Chief Commercial Officer of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, said: "Fraud prevention is increasingly dependent on understanding the full context of a digital interaction.

"Promon's app protection capabilities complement the insights delivered through our LexisNexis Risk Intelligence Network, helping customers strengthen the signals they rely on to better detect fraud across the mobile environment."