IBM unveils new enterprise analytics portfolio to combat cybercrime

IBM has launched a new enterprise intelligence analytics solution designed to harness vast amounts of data in order to combat cybercrime.

The tech giant said on Monday that the new solution, dubbed IBM i2 Enterprise Insight Analysis (EIA), is high-speed analysis and criminal investigation software which can "find non-obvious relationships masked within hundreds of terabytes of data and trillions of objects in just seconds." The system fuses together data from multiple sources, which allows the enterprise a better understanding of threats as well as increased visibility -- which in turn can improve the security of a company.

In the West, we now produce vast quantities of data. Both consumers and businesses use mobile devices, smart appliances, the Internet and networked gadgets which increases the volume and diversity of data to protect, as well as weak links which can be exploited by cybercriminals. As a result, IBM has developed EIA in the hopes that large volumes of data can be quickly analyzed to discover weaknesses or potential crime. For example, a national retailer may not have realized that customer credit card data has been stolen and sold on -- but transaction patterns stitched together could reveal the crime.

"The solution unravels these hidden connections that can be divided by as many as six degrees of separation between disparate sources -- from corporate records and social media chatter to data accessed by remote sensors and third-party applications," IBM says. "As developments unfold, EIA provides always-on recommendations that proactively alert analysts to new related abnormalities at the speed of attack."

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimates that cybercrime costs the global economy $445 billion each year.

Based on IBM Power Systems, IBM i2 Enterprise Insight Analysis can complement existing structures through out-of-the-box functionality, as well as:

• Enhanced visualization capabilities: Multi-dimensional visual analytics;
• Open, modular architecture that scales as needs change;
• Interoperability inside and outside the organization: The system's open design allows for the easy sharing of threat data.

Bob Griffin, general manager at i2, Threat and Counter Fraud, IBM commented:

"While most organizations understand how big data can help prevent the ever increasing threat of cybercrime, they are so overwhelmed by massive data volumes that they can’t act fast enough to turn it into meaningful intelligence to stop criminals.

With IBM i2 Enterprise Insight Analysis, we’ve changed the ability of investigators to find that illusive needle in a haystack that helps them detect a cyber-attack. This provides any organization with always-on analytics that turns massive amounts of data into real-time insights in a way that simply wasn’t possible before."

IBM has invested $24 billion to date in Big Data and analytics, and has acquired over 30 companies with specialization in this industry.

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