The global slowdown has forced companies to monitor cash outflows more carefully, says a software company.
Hedley Hurwitz, MD of Magix Integration, says over the past six months he has noticed companies putting budgets in place to monitor employees for signs of fraudulent activity.
Previously, he explains, companies would simply let the insurance company foot the bill. “Almost every week, we see companies being damaged by the unscrupulous actions of their employees who often act in collusion with outside parties,” Hurwitz says.
The company provides software which is installed at network-level and monitors transactions made by staff, giving a real-time view of what they are doing in various channels. He says this is limited to transaction-level and does not interfere with private correspondence.
Real view
Hurwitz says an insider in a firm knows how to manipulate the system. According to Magix, research shows more than 70% of fraud inside organisations is committed by employees.
The software can be installed without the employee's knowledge and seeks the same behaviour as auditors and forensic investigators, but on a real-time basis.
“You can't use traditional data warehousing... you need to know right now what is happening,” he notes.
This is useful, says Hurwitz, in situations such as one where a fake supplier was created and paid for orders never delivered, and was then deleted off the database. A month-end audit would not pick this up - but by monitoring in real-time - the culprit was identified.
Magix Integration is a Microsoft solution centre sponsor, and has been distributing and supporting US-based Lieberman Software's Random Password Manager solution in SA since May, and Safend's product range since 2006.
Reputation damage
Steven Ambrose, MD of World Wide Worx Strategy, says it is likely that fraudulent transactions will pick up during a recession. “When people are in financial stress, there is more chance that they will take chances that are not strictly legal.”
However, he says this is not likely to spur companies on to install software to save paying excesses on an insurance claim. “People don't try and minimise losses to insurance companies,” Ambrose adds.
Possible damage to a company's reputation, however, could encourage them to install software, he notes.
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