On-demand security applications provider ThreatMetrix and CyberSource, a vendor of electronic payment and payment security services, are teaming up to build new, advanced identity protection applications on the CyberSource Decision Manager fraud management portal.

CyberSource's (NASDAQ: CYBS) Decision Manager suite offers more than 200 pre-integrated fraud detection tests and services, a business rule editor and analytics that help companies manage and detect fraudulent activity.

Los Altos, Calif.-based ThreatMetrix uses a Software-as-a-Service model to deliver applications that provide digital fingerprints of online transactions and profiles the behavior of the device being used by an online buyer.

Company officials said the new identity protection application will used to detect suspicious orders by, for example, identifying when a potential cyber thief is trying to hid an IP address or whether or not the device attempting the transaction is also engaged in questionable behavior such as spamming or firewall scanning.

"Staying multiple steps ahead of fraudsters is a business imperative," Cory Siddens, product manager for CyberSource's Decision Manager unit, said in a statement. "By partnering with ThreatMetrix, we've added another key detector to our fraud management portal -- enabling merchants to better profile the true identity and behavior of devices being used to make purchases on their sites."

CyberSource's Decision Manager system profiles an inbound order using the ThreatMetrix fingerprinting technology and other pre-integrated validation tests before automatically sorting the order for fulfillment, rejection or review, according to the business rules written by the merchant.

Detecting and stopping identity theft and online fraud ranks as the two of the top security priorities for enterprise CIOs.

Earlier this month, Javelin Strategy & Research reported that more than 11.1 million adults in the U.S. had their identity stolen last year, costing consumers and businesses more than $54 billion.

"We're pleased that CyberSource has turned to ThreatMetrix in its ongoing effort to provide merchants with the most technologically sophisticated and comprehensive fraud detection solutions," ThreatMetrix CEOReed Taussig said in a statement. "Our complementary solutions help merchants minimize the need for manual review and reduce fraud losses."

In January, Lincoln Financial Services and Lincoln Financial Advisors acknowledged that more than 1.2 million customers' personal data was compromised after hackers used an employee's username and password used to access the financial services providers' portfolio management system.

According to CyberSource, 7 percent of e-tailers with more than $25 million in annual sales are using device fingerprinting software and another 47 percent said they planned to implement it by the end of 2009.

Larry Barrett is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals.

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