Globe cautions customers versus fraud following Comelec data leak

Globe Telecom cautions its customers to protect themselves from becoming victims of identity theft and other online fraud following a recent Comelec data leak involving registered voters in the country.

“It really is unfortunate that the database had to be freed in the wild by the hackers. We’ve done what we can to block known sites that provide easy searchable access to the database but it’s certainly out there now. It’s even more important now for everybody, especially our customers, to be vigilant towards identity theft and social engineering attacks. We are also reinforcing changes we have made in our customer verification process to make sure nobody can abuse even further this dire situation,” said Anton Bonifacio, Globe Chief Information Security Officer.

According to Bonifacio, customers will benefit from these guidelines:

*Do not use the leaked personal information such as date of birth, mother’s maiden name, or permanent address as security verifications in various services, ranging from banking to online subscriptions.

*Enable two-factor authentication for all online services as much as possible. This can be done through SMS enrollments or mobile applications. Popular e-mail providers already have this feature.

* Be careful of social engineering and phishing. From calls to e-mails that are asking for more personal information – always remain vigilant. Chances are they will use the leaked information to establish trust, so better to call back the service provider or company if you do indeed have transactions with them.

* Revisit social media privacy. It’s better to be private. Fraudsters and hackers could use the leaked information to get more data about you. Changing pages to private and limiting the posting of very personal matters will be even more important. It’s not difficult to reverse engineer one’s life nowadays.

*Then just as part of basic security, always be wary of links or attachments in e-mails as well as downloading of mobile applications that are not trusted, Bonifacio said.

Last year, Globe launched a campaign for its customers to step up their online vigilance so they can better protect themselves from becoming victims of online hacks, identify theft and other cybercrimes. As the leading provider of mobile digital services, Globe recently launched #ProTech101 campaign, an online information drive that seeks to inform netizens of the dangers of online crimes. The campaign also seeks to remind them to keep their accounts and valuable information safe. Recognizing the immense benefits that the digital revolution has brought to its customers, Globe wants to instill awareness on the dangers that its customers could fall vulnerable to in this digital age.

#ProTech101 campaign tackles the issues of weak passwords, the dangers of the auto fill feature, online sharing of information and awareness on new software and other factors that make an account unstable and vulnerable to danger. With the #ProTech101 campaign, Globe hopes to educate and reach out to the public to deepen awareness on the dangers in the online space. As technology develops and advances, #ProTech101 hopes to become a beacon of safety to Globe customers.