Be very vigilant when your credit card is being swiped, as cyber criminals are now focused on paying shop operators to get key information from customers. Cyber criminals then sell obtained credit card information for not less than USD 10 (approximately KES 843) to any willing buyer, both locally and internationally, revealed a recent report by Serianu Limited.
According to a report dubbed: Getting Back to Security Basics, cyber criminals are stealing from Kenyans using the above mentioned method with most financial institutions lacking capacity of detect when someone is using another person’s credit card.
As posted in Capital FM Business, Serianu Limited Chief Consultant William Makatiani said, “…some of the stores you go to and swipe your card… somebody might be taking the information and can use your card. And that is why people need to protect that information. I can get your expiring date; the number you use to authorize some of the transactions worldwide and so on.”
The report further added that thieves can get your card information by hacking into computer networks that store credit card information. As posted in Capital FM Business, the study revealed that 103 Government owned websites were compromised by a hacker known as Direxer, resulting in the sites being inaccessible to the public.
Mr. Makatiani further added that, “Weaknesses in these websites also left sensitive data hosted on them exposed to the whole world.”
The report further revealed that businesses and other organizations in Kenya are experiencing cases of insider threat including leakage and insider fraud. Mr. Makatiani said most of the insider fraud is being carried out by employees who are not necessarily after money, but to get back at their employers.
Mr. Makatiani further added that the biggest challenge is that there are no sufficient reports on cyber crimes from the side of the regulators despite most financial institutions losing a lot of money through cyber crimes. He further added that most finance institutions choose to hide such information to protect their public image and integrity.
According to Capital FM Business, the Ministry of Information and Communications has proposed the Data Protection Bill 2012, which among other things will ensure that anyone collecting or storing confidential information to put in place security measures.