5 Methods to Enhance Contact Center Security
Laura Fitzgerald
author • 25th April 2025 (UPDATED ON 04/25/2025)
11 minute read time
Contact centers have become prime targets for fraud in our increasingly digital, AI-driven world. Attackers exploit weaknesses to bypass security and access customer accounts.
Legacy authentication methods like knowledge-based questions and one-time passwords (OTP) are no longer reliable defenses. Fraudsters can harvest personal data from breaches and are adept at answering security questions correctly.
Another game-changer is the rise of deepfake-enabled fraud. Advances in generative AI allow scammers to create impersonations that may look and sound nearly indistinguishable from the actual person.
All of this begs the question: How can agents trust who’s on the line if a customer’s voice can be faked? This evolving threat environment underscores why contact center security is more critical than ever.
The importance of contact center security + statistics
As we mentioned in the introduction, the fraud industry targeting contact centers is evolving rapidly, with a surge in fraudulent attacks in recent years, especially in the finance and retail sectors.
In a recent survey, 90% of financial service firms reported increased fraud attacks on their contact centers, with some seeing an 80%+ spike compared to the prior year (TransUnion Report).
Our Voice Intelligence and Security Report found that cybercriminals passed contact center KBAs 80% of the time, while genuine callers only passed 46%. OTPs are likewise vulnerable; fraudsters have tools to intercept or “phish” OTP codes. This weakness exposes contact centers to account takeover scams and social engineering.
Using AI, attackers can clone a person’s voice to impersonate customers or even executives over the phone. A UK energy firm learned this the hard way when a fraudster used an AI-generated voice of the CEO to trick an employee into transferring $243,000.
To counter modern fraud threats, contact centers should implement multiple layers of defense. Here are five effective methods to bolster your contact center security:
1. Use multifactor authentication (MFA)
The first step is to strengthen caller authentication by requiring multiple verification forms. Multifactor authentication (MFA) means a caller must prove their identity in two or more ways—for example, by providing something they know (e.g., a PIN or answer to a personal question), something they have (e.g., a code sent to their device), or something they are (e.g., their voice).
This layered approach vastly improves security because an imposter would still lack the others even if one factor is compromised. No single factor is infallible, so combining factors dramatically raises the bar for fraudsters.
Modern MFA solutions for contact centers often work behind the scenes to minimize customer friction. Instead of lengthy Q&A, the system might automatically check the caller’s voice against an enrolled voice profile and analyze device signals, only escalating to an agent if something doesn’t match. This not only improves security but also speeds up service for legitimate callers.
For example, Michigan State University Federal Credit Union recently implemented a passive voice MFA system and cut their caller authentication time by 50% – from 90 seconds to 45 seconds. Learn how they achieved this. In about 40% of calls where the caller’s voice profile fully matched, authentication dropped to just 12 seconds, an 86% reduction.
Upgrading legacy authentication to MFA is a crucial foundation for contact center security. Layering verification methods helps ensure you’re speaking to the right person and thus stops many fraud attempts at the front door.
For another real-world example, see how M&T Bank transitioned from legacy authentication to a cloud-based MFA solution to protect its callers.
2. Implement fraud detection software
Even with strong authentication, some fraudulent calls will slip through, so a real-time fraud detection system is essential. Fraud detection software for contact centers continuously monitors calls and caller behavior for any red flags or anomalies that could indicate a scam in progress.
These solutions use advanced analytics and AI to examine factors a human agent can’t easily track, such as vocal characteristics, calling patterns, device identifiers, and historical fraud data. Suspicious activity is automatically flagged so the call can be further verified or terminated before more damage occurs.
In one case study, a large e-commerce retailer deployed voice fraud detection and discovered that a single fraudster had made five separate calls from different phone numbers using various aliases to scam agents.
The software identified the perpetrator by matching the voice across those calls and produced a negative voice profile, allowing the retailer to shut down the fraudster’s attempts. Here are some key results and steps taken:
Over just a few weeks, this system uncovered 86 repeat fraudsters, placing over 8,900 fraudulent calls from over 6,000 device identifiers.
Armed with that insight, the company moved to close thousands of compromised accounts and prevent fraud loss, and is now on track to save nearly $10M in fraud losses.
The Pindrop® solution detected 22% more fraud than the closest comparable solution, reducing the false positive rate to less than 5%.
The result is stronger security with less disruption to genuine customers. See the detailed case study.
3. Deploy deepfake detection
Deepfake detection tools are designed to distinguish human voices from synthetic or recorded ones, adding a critical layer of defense on top of voice analysis. Traditional voice authentication might be fooled if a fraudster uses a high-quality recording or clone of the victim’s voice.
Deepfake detection algorithms address this by analyzing subtle characteristics of live human speech – for example, natural vocal tremors, breathing sounds, cadence, and microphone noise – to ensure the audio comes from real humans in real time. You can also proactively protect your business with deepfake audits.
Integrating deepfake detection into your contact center means that even if an imposter has passed initial authentication, the call will be scored for “liveness.” Deepfake detection acts as a safety net against such scenarios, verifying that the voice in question belongs to a live human, not AI.
Deploying this technology prepares your contact center for the rising wave of AI-driven fraud. It’s a forward-looking investment. To learn more, check out our insightful webinar, Voice Theft: How Audio Deepfakes Are Compromising Security
4. Employee training and awareness
While technology is vital, frontline employees remain one of the most important defenses in a contact center. Well-trained, vigilant agents can often sniff out fraud attempts that slip past automated checks, especially social engineering ploys.
Here are 5 best practices:
Employees should be trained to identify common tactics used by fraudsters, such as social engineering, and to stick to established verification scripts no matter how insistent or emotional a caller may be. This includes verifying caller identities strictly according to policy and never being coaxed into “making an exception.”
Regular coaching can include reviewing recent fraud incidents (within the company and in industry news) to illustrate how scams play out and how they could be prevented.
Role-playing exercises or simulated fraud calls can effectively give agents hands-on practice in spotting suspicious behavior. The goal is to build an instinct for skepticism.
For example, an agent might notice that a caller is oddly hesitant when asked for basic account info or pushes to change an address and send a large payment on the same call. Rather than accommodating such requests quickly (as scammers pressure them to do), a trained agent will know to slow down and follow security steps, even if the caller tries to create a sense of urgency.
Ensure employees understand the latest threats, such as deepfakes or IVR hacking. If agents know that callers could be impersonated via AI, they can be extra cautious when a voice sounds “off” or if a usually calm customer suddenly speaks inconsistently.
In summary, technology + human vigilance is the winning combination. Even the best security software works better when agents are knowledgeable and alert.
5. Encrypt and secure communications
Even if you authenticate callers and train staff, you must also ensure that the information exchanged is protected from eavesdropping or theft.
Start with strong encryption for data at rest and in transit. Data at rest (stored in databases, CRM systems, call recording archives, etc.) should be encrypted using robust algorithms. Even if an attacker gains access to the storage, the data is unreadable without the decryption keys.
This can involve disk-level encryption on servers and databases, and encrypting backups. Equally important is encrypting data in transit, meaning voice conversations and any data passing over your networks or the Internet.
Beyond encryption, securing communications involves locking down the contact center infrastructure. This includes using firewalls to shield your telephony systems, intrusion detection systems (IDS) to monitor for any unauthorized access attempts, and network segmentation to isolate your contact center network from other corporate systems.
By segmenting and controlling network access, an attacker can’t move laterally into other sensitive areas, even if one part is breached. Moreover, ensure that all software and systems are updated with security patches, as vulnerabilities in outdated software are common entry points for attackers.
Another best practice is to encrypt call recordings and purge sensitive recordings regularly if they’re no longer needed. Many contact centers handle credit card payments or personal data over the phone, which may bring additional regulatory requirements to protect that data. Encryption and secure protocols are fundamental to help prevent data breaches that could leak thousands of call records.
How to implement security measures effectively
Knowing what security measures to adopt is half the battle – the other half is implementing them thoughtfully to minimize operational impact. Here are some tips on rolling out these enhancements effectively in your contact center:
Phasing implementation
It’s often neither practical nor wise to revamp all your security processes overnight. A phased implementation approach allows you to improve security step by step without overwhelming your systems or staff.
Start by prioritizing the measures that address your most critical vulnerabilities or the most significant fraud pain points. Develop a roadmap that introduces new tools and policies over weeks or months. This way, you can pilot each change, gather feedback, and fine-tune before the next phase.
Begin with a small-scale pilot or a controlled rollout. You might first enable the new authentication workflow with a subset of agents or a specific call queue. Monitor the results:
Are calls being authenticated faster?
Is there any customer confusion or agent difficulties?
Use these insights to adjust your processes or provide additional training.
Once you are confident, expand the rollout to the entire contact center. Taking it in phases also helps with change management; agents and customers adapt gradually rather than facing a drastic change simultaneously.
Communicate clearly with your team about each upcoming change, its benefits, and any new steps they need to follow. For instance, deepfake detection can be introduced to agents in training sessions so they understand what a “liveness failed” alert means and how to handle such calls.
After one phase is live and stable, move to the following priority—enhancing encryption and network security, for example. This iterative approach ensures that security upgrades integrate smoothly into daily operations and that any kinks are worked out in one phase before the next begins.
Ultimately, a phased implementation strikes a balance: you steadily strengthen security without causing major service disruptions or overloading your IT team and agents with too much change at once.
Integrating seamlessly with existing systems
Adding new security solutions to your contact center must play nicely with your existing systems. With minimal friction, the best security tools can integrate into your current telephony, CRM, and agent desktop workflows. To achieve seamless integration, involve your technology team early to evaluate compatibility.
Look for solutions (like IVR fraud detection or voice analysis software) that offer out-of-the-box connectors or APIs for popular contact center platforms. Many leading security providers partner with the major contact center technology vendors. For example, PindropⓇ solutions can plug directly into platforms such as Google Cloud, Amazon Connect, Genesys, and Five9. Learn about our partnerships.
Seamless integration is also essential for agent adoption. If agents have to juggle another screen or manually copy data between systems, this can lead to errors and frustration. Instead, integrated solutions can display risk scores, caller authentication status, or alerts within the existing agent desktop.
Boost contact center security with Pindrop® solutions
Enhancing your contact center security may sound complex, but you don’t have to do it alone. Pindrop is a leader in contact center security, offering solutions that support comprehensive protection against fraud while enabling fast, frictionless customer service.
With years of audio analysis and phone channel fraud expertise, Pindrop solutions deliver a multilayered approach that addresses our customers’ challenges, from caller authentication to real-time fraud detection and deepfake defense.
Pindrop solutions are designed to seamlessly integrate into your contact center workflows, working with existing telephony systems and partner software to deploy quickly.
Our solutions meet the voice security needs of contact centers in various industries, taking a comprehensive approach to fraud detection, deepfake detection, and authentication. Get your demo.