Converge and UnionBank Strengthen Efforts Against Financial Cybercrime

The crackdown against online fraud and financial cybercrimes continues. In line with this, Converge ICT Solutions Inc. inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Union Bank of the Philippines late last week to further the efforts of telecommunications firms in abating the presence of cybercriminals within banking systems.

The Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Digital Infrastructure sector — which was formed just last month — initiated the industry-wide effort within telcos to uphold consumer protection, particularly as concerns regarding fraud continue to grow. The banking and finance sector also remain among the most vulnerable sectors to online fraud.

Since the beginning of the year, Converge has blocked more than 4.1 million unique web addresses related to illicit content in its network alone. The firm acknowledges that it plays a significant part in establishing a more secure digital ecosystem for its consumers, noted Converge Chief Network Transformation Officer Paulo Martin Santos.

“Based on available data, we have seen a spike in financial fraud which makes banking the second highest industry affected by cybercrime,” Santos explained. “This makes our partnership today urgent and timely. We commend Unionbank for spearheading this initiative as we help prevent more Filipinos from being victimized by online fraud.”

For its part, UnionBank has been making efforts to grow its digital channels since the onset of the pandemic, according to Chief Information Security Officer and Data Protection Officer Jose Paulo Rufo. “Just like any other channel, even in the physical world, whenever there is money there, criminals will follow,” he added. “[These cybercriminals] saw that opportunity to take advantage of Filipinos who are digital migrants, first time to use digital services and are not really familiar with the concept of phishing, scams, text, spam.”

Both Converge and UnionBank have already been working together since the start of the year to block content and URLs of fraudulent activity. The recent MoU simply formalized their long-standing partnership. The two firms are also partnering with the Bankers Association of the Philippines and other telcos to create a framework focused on contesting financial cybercrime.

Source: BusinessMirror