8x8 Launches Omni Shield to Fight SMS Fraud

8x8, an integrated cloud contact center, unified communications, and communications platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) provider, today announced the 8x8 Omni Shield solution to fight fraudulent SMS activity.

8x8 Omni Shield, an SMS fraud prevention communication API, is part of the 8x8 CPaaS portfolio, which integrates communication channels, including SMS, voice, chat apps, and video.

SMS fraud is the automation of delivery of high-volume, high-cost SMS messages that cybercriminals can monetize by having the messaging charges billed to unsuspecting organizations.

"The impact of SMS fraud and the toll it takes on both customer experiences and brand reputation, can be astronomical, not to mention incredibly costly. To meet the needs of our customers, we are constantly evolving our 8x8 CPaaS portfolio as we evaluate customer pain points and develop solutions that will deliver substantial business value," said Stephen Hamill, general manager of CPaaS at 8x8, in a statement. "Delivering a solution that is truly game-changing for our customers is our goal, and we are thrilled by early adopter results for our new Omni Shield solution, including an 80 percent reduction in fraud traffic."

The 8x8 Omni Shield solution, enriched with pre-built communication APIs, is seamlessly integrated with real-time messaging across web and mobile applications and proactively detects and prevents fraudulent activities through automated fraud alerts, real-time notifications, live traffic monitoring, and instant phone number assessments. Capabilities include the following:

• Monitoring that decreases and blocks most artificial inflation of traffic (AIT) attacks and might reduce monthly messaging expenses that arise from unwanted AIT activity.
• Real-time traffic analysis that tracks, detects, and triggers alerts of potential fraud.
• Automatic detection and cancellation of messages from known fraudulent numbers.