How To Avoid Being Deceived By Cybercriminals and Maintain Your Cyber Resilience.

Social engineering can target those who reveal too much information on social media. How often do people representing different companies call us unexpectedly and already know our entire names? One method to get rid of these scammers is to block the numbers that send unwanted SMS messages. But even after we remove or block these numbers, they keep popping up. With the SIM Registration Act presently in force, we anticipate that it will aid in empowering those of us and those who are frequently the targets of scammers.

By requiring SIM card registration, this law seeks to hold end users responsible for their use of mobile communications. As a result, persons who want to defraud others by utilizing personal information for phishing schemes will be alerted. This action is significant because it lessens the possibility that some parties may use the anonymity given by prepaid and post-paid SIMs for malevolent and illegal purposes. Prior to the development of IoT and Smart technologies, scammers frequently targeted the Philippines. Who could forget those swindlers from Nigeria who prey on individuals looking for a quick way to become wealthy? What about romance frauds that target gullible people who are merely looking for committed relationships?

Because there are so many online and offline frauds and cyberattacks, we must always keep in mind that protecting ourselves is a shared responsibility.

Samaniego was joined by former Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity and Enabling Technologies at the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Allan Cabanlong, who is also an industry expert. Together, they spoke about the need for a national strategy to make the Filipino people "cyber resilient" in order to decrease the rising number of cyberattacks.

During the conversation, Samaniego concurred that a community-wide effort to prevent scams and online fraud is the "greatest remedy we have."

According to the former DICT official, raising knowledge is crucial to fostering the cyber-resilience of Filipinos. Because there is a lack of understanding, people become victims of cybercrimes. Banks and the government are tasked with spreading information and educating the public. However, it is the end user's obligation to be informed about account security.?

"Always be cautious. We must maintain ongoing awareness and dialogue, Cabanlong continued.

He gave the general public advice on how to strengthen their systems by doing things like installing firewalls and antivirus software, making sure that no one uses the same password across many portals, and never responding to emails from unknown senders. RCBC backed the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' call to eliminate all clickable links from all customer communications, including emails, SMS, and Viber, in order to assist reduce cyber dangers by enabling banking clients to tell a false communication from a genuine one.

Clients are likewise recommended to use the security tools offered to them when using RCBC Digital, such as the biometrics login, one-time password (OTP) issue, and the card lock/unlock feature, in order to continue to be alert and secure their online banking accounts.

Carlos Tengkiat, the chief information security officer at RCBC, emphasized that cybersecurity is a shared responsibility between banks and their customers. In addition to making sure that they have the most recent cybersecurity tools and capabilities, the banks should also teach their customers how to protect themselves.

According to Tengkiat, "RCBC is committed to making sure that our clients are well informed of cybercrime dangers including phishing, vishing, and email compromise, and that they are outfitted with the necessary knowledge to protect themselves from these assaults.

At the same time, he continued, "the bank will remain the finest partner for our clients in terms of driving digitization and making our online banking services secure and practical for them."

source: Manila Bulletin