Date: Fri, 23 Oct 92 09:22:27 PDT From: Lawrence Schilling Subject: File 8--CSC "Anti-Telecom Fraud" Device Greetings. Another telecommunications security product. The technology here is way over my head, so much so that I really don't understand what this release is talking about. Nonetheless I'm tempted to ask: Is the need for security as great as these purveyors say and imply it is? Do these products solve problems or create them or both? Regards. Larry Schilling =START= XMT: 15:38 Thu Oct 22 EXP: 16:00 Sun Oct 25 CSC ANNOUNCES PRODUCT TO CUT FRAUD IN WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY EL SEGUNDO, CA (OCT. 22) BUSINESS WIRE - A new software product that combats fraud in the wireless telecommunications industry was announced Thursday by Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE:CSC). Called FraudBuster, the product was developed by Coral Systems Inc., a Longmont, Colo.-based applications software firm serving the cellular telecommunications market. CSC has exclusive marketing rights to the product and is supporting software development. According to John Sidgmore, president of CSC's telecommunications business unit, CSC Intelicom, ''Right now, about $15 million worth of cellular calls are being made in the U.S. each day -- and of that, fraud is draining about $1.5 million daily from carriers' revenues. FraudBuster is part of a series of offerings by CSC Intelicom and Coral to support wireless carriers with software that addresses needs such as billing, fraud and seamless roaming, which routes calls to a cellular user at any location. According to Coral President Eric Johnson, the teaming of CSC Intelicom and Coral gives wireless carriers access to the full breadth of technologies needed to support a nine-year-old industry that's slated to reach $100 billion by the year 2000. The industry's most compelling problem right now, said Johnson, is fraud. But a second top concern among carriers is how to keep up with fast-changing network technologies. FraudBuster, he said, was designed to address both needs. What makes FraudBuster unique, he noted, is its Unix open-systems architecture that integrates with today's cellular networks and evolving intelligent networks of the future. Proprietary and DOS-based systems, he noted, don't offer that flexibility. FraudBuster is also available now. The product is also unique in its use of artificial intelligence to track subscriber calling patterns. Using a complex set of algorithms, FraudBuster creates a behavioral profile of each subscriber, based on his or her historical usage patterns. Actual calls are then analyzed, and network operators are immediately alerted when calls that are markedly different from the norm occur. The problem with most systems on the market today, said Johnson, is their use of simple, across-the-board checks that don't take into account the unique habits of each user. What's more, checks themselves are too limited, reflecting a single variable -- such as number of calls -- rather than the complex array of factors that can accurately help carriers distinguish a real subscriber from an illegal one. By residing on a carrier's network and operating in real time, FraudBuster can quickly alert a carrier to problems. Carriers can also configure the product to fit their particular needs. For example, FraudBuster's algorithms can be easily tuned to increase its sensitivity to specific types of fraud occurring in a particular market. In addition to combating the most common types of fraud, including clone phones and tumbler phones, FraudBuster can detect new types of fraud as they develop. It can also operate in either a distributed or centralized processing environment. As part of a series of software products being offered by CSC and Coral to the wireless industry. FraudBuster can be used on a stand- alone basis or be integrated with other wireless software solutions such as Coral's Home Locations Register, which offers carriers seamless roaming and pre-call subscriber validation. With headquarters in El Segundo, Computer Sciences is the largest independent provider of information technology consulting, systems integration and outsourcing to industry and government. CSC has more than 26,500 employees worldwide and annual revenues of $2.3 billion. CONTACT: Computer Sciences Corp., El Segundo C. Bruce Plowman/Bill Lackey/Mary Rhodes, 310/615-0311. ------------------------------ Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253