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Call center security breaches are a silent but deadly form of fraud, and it’s unfortunately still on the rise. While many usually think of such places as banks to be prime targets for information theft, unbeknownst to many, call centers are now being singled out. Whether it’s a high profile case such as the one highlighted by reporter Mat Honan or everyday citizens just like you – these incidents happen far more than we’d like to think.

Not only this, but these criminal cases also severely affect the call centers that are victimized. While all businesses take the standard precautions of securing their Internet connection to their internal data bases or networks, sometimes this is simply not enough. In the clever words of Network World (News - Alert) reporter Brandon Butler, “Call center fraud has recently become the hack-de-jour for fraudsters.”

In light of this, NICE Systems, a contact center software and fraud prevention company, is hoping to fill in these gaps with its innovative voice recognition technology in the form of a new voice biometrics solution. If this is all that it’s chalked up to be, as suggested in many such reports, it could work as thoroughly as testing a fingerprint – or at least according to NICE’s Director of Solution Management, Ori Bach.

So what makes the company so confident in this solution? Reportedly, the system can cross-reference callers against list of documented or identified criminals. In other words, it would make it much easier to sift through the sand to find which are rocks and which are gems. Additionally, the system works to analyze caller rates and even talking patterns and emotions of callers. It can be noted that while we all have fallen prey to the ever-irritating call center cycle of unanswered questions, fraudulent callers are infamous for screaming and purposely pitching a fit to get what critical information they want, when they want it.

The voice biometrics technology was already being put to good use by NICE, but the company figured it could also do wonders in the contact center business – and with good reason. While there can obviously be some glitches in the system, such as weak connections and cell phone interaction, it’s still looking like a promising new strategy to crack down on call center fraud.

Of course, only time will tell.

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