With the festive season going on, there are various sale on every e-commerce portal. Traditional businesses that have been running only offline have also gone online to cash in the festive fervour. While India is pushing for an overhaul in the economy and trying to push digital payments, many unsuspecting customers are oblivious of the cyber security threats that pose a great danger not just for a consumer but to global economies.
These threats range from simple online scams to sophisticated full-blown cyber attacks on financial institutions. Criminals are ready to fool unsuspecting consumers, especially the new user. It is most important to never click on unverified links, share OTPs, bank accounts and passwords with anybody. Verify, and cross verify before you pay online. This sort of activity usually increases during the festive season when financial transactions spike for both online and offline mediums.
And one can only be safe from this cyber security threat when Fintechs and NBFCs come up with measures to put a stop to all such illegal activities. Balaji Jagannathan, co-founder and Director, Paycorp.io has shared some more interesting tips. “Spending typically increases over the festive season, largely due to the abundance of deals and discounts. Consumers frequently fall into scammers’ traps as a result of this increased spending, and when these incidents are added together, they pose serious security risks for the IT infrastructure of any business.
It is in this respect that financial institutions make a remarkable difference, at first by acquainting them with requisite information to bolster the first line of security. While increased awareness helps in minimizing the possibilities of a threat, fintech also helps with different layers of protection.
For instance, with recurring payment solutions, a direct interface between the fintech partner and different banks ensure zero scope of security threat as well as error. The key to cybersecurity for any business is to enhance and upgrade the infra with the help of a suitable partner offering most secured solutions.” Hereby, he has laid focus on alert companies, that should provide safe and secure payment solutions.
Keep your eyes open, and be -ware of unknown people, asking you to deposit money in your account without any reason for transaction. There have been cases where criminals have deposited a small amount of money in your account and then call you to return it. Now they have your details, and with the use of technology they transfer more money from your account. Being over cautious is the only way forward.
Karunya Sampath, co-founder and CEO, Payoda Technologies spoke about the need for customers to become an aware consumer. “There are many ways in which the right technology and assistance can help customers in protecting their customers from cyber security threats during festive season and even beyond that. Knowing what you now own and where you have invested is the first and most important step to take in this regard. Individuals can benefit from tools like NSDL-CAS statements and MFCentral, which aggregate all of their stock and mutual fund holdings and present a consolidated perspective.”
He further added about using technology to track your accounts, “The next step involves the use of multi-factor authentication, which you must set up across all of your accounts. It’s critical to use MFA to secure all of your accounts, whether they be trading accounts, mutual funds, or banks. Most importantly, one needs to aware of phishing tools such as an email.
Do not get carried away and click on any random link, for most cyberattacks are carried out in this manner. Using strong passwords and, if possible, a password manager to create and store unique passwords is equally crucial. Let’s not forget to respect updates and actually update your software frequently. To keep threat actors at bay, software updates are crucial whether you’re using a phone or a desktop computer. It is advised to enable automatic updates.”
It is possible to enjoy the festive season and make use of the sale when consumers are alert and businesses provide a safe payment gateway.
Article Contributed by Mr. Balaji Jagannathan, Director & Co-founder, Paycorp.io and Ms. Karunya Sampath, CEO & Co-founder, Payoda Technologies
