PRE-PANDEMIC, I had already been shopping online, paying a few bills online, and booking appointments online. But the pandemic has highlighted the need to do these things remotely. It made us realize how much time we’re wasting falling in long lines at banks, payment centers and offices just for a single transaction, which surprisingly, can be completed in a few seconds at the comforts of our home.
But the comforts and convenience always come with a cost. Last Tuesday, November 2, 2021, Twenty Something had an interview with Paul Pajares, senior threat researcher at Trend Micro. He talked about cybersecurity and how as consumers, in general, we tend to be overconfident of our data we disclose online that we always fall prey to hacking and cybersecurity concerns.
Shopping and paying bills online using our credit and debit cards and e-wallets is only one branch of transacting online that is vulnerable to identity theft among others. Pajares shared that it is crucial for individual consumers to double, triple check emails, phone calls, and text messages before responding, especially those that claim to be connected to a bank, a financial company, etc. If in doubt of the legitimacy of a bank email that you got, it’s best to verify with the bank’s official website. Most of the time, hackers use email almost identical to the legit ones. They put characters that are very difficult to notice such as hyphens, an extra "s", or a dot. It also pays to be extra observant of the emails’ grammar, spelling, and the tone of urgency. More often than not, fake emails are urgent in nature.
Pajares went on to reiterate what the banks have already been reminding consumers, especially those who have fallen victim to hackers: Banks don’t ask for your personal information for verification (or otherwise) whether through phone call, text messages, or emails. Given that, it’s generally not safe to click links in suspicious-looking emails.
Cybersecurity is a tricky subject. You either understand it or you entirely don’t. It’s not a matter of generational tech-savviness. One can be a millennial and still fall victim to hackers. In the same way, boomers can be educated and enlightened about the importance of keeping one’s data and information private to avoid being victimized by hackers. In cybersecurity, for example, passwords are sacred. You don’t write it down, you don’t share it with others, you don’t keep one single password for all your apps or ATMs, and you try as much as possible to change it on a regular basis.
Our hard-earned money is not the only thing at risk when our accounts are hacked. Worse case, hackers can steal our identity, pretend to be us, and scam other people.
There’s always good and bad in any progress. We deeply want our lawmakers to create more and stranger laws for extra layers of cybersecurity protection and for banks and other financial institutions to also protect their clients. However, the call for individual and personal protection of data through more cautious transactions online is still strong.
We understand that the banks and the government are doing their best but more and more people fall victim to hackers and identity theft which make us want to wish they could do more.
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The Philippines' largest cybersecurity conference, Decode 2021, is happening on November 10-11, 2021. If you're interested, visit www.decodeph.com to register.