Expert calls for integrated SIM database
By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter
THE DEPARTMENT of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and telecommunications companies must work together for an integrated database so that registered subscriber identification modules (SIM) users can be validated after senators raised concern over an uptick in text fraud.
“The enforcement of the SIM registration act is challenging because there is no database integration when people were told to register,” Allan S. Cabanlong, regional director for Southeast Asia for the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise, told BusinessWorld in an interview on Sunday.
He said it is crucial for telecommunication firms to post-validate IDs submitted by users, as many types of IDs can be faked during the registration process.
“When the government announced and launched the measure’s implementation, it should have already integrated the use of a database since it involves hundreds and millions of SIM users,” the cybersecurity expert said.
In terms of telcos, Mr. Cabanlong said that “even if they want to religiously conduct post validation, they need reference databases,” which is what the government has.
The SIM Registration Law, which was enacted last October, requires mobile phone users to register their SIMs under their names or risk deactivation in a bid to deter text scams and other criminal activities done through mobile phones.
The Philippines ranked 42nd out of 250 countries that were most affected by data breaches in the first quarter, with 48,747 leaked accounts, virtual private network service provider Surfshark said in a May report. This was down by 78.5% from 226,970 in the fourth quarter of last year.
Global cyber-security firm Kaspersky said in a report on April 17 that web attacks targeting entities in the Philippines rose to 492,567 in 2022 from 382,940 a year earlier.
Last month, Globe Telecom, Inc. blacklisted and deactivated 58,234 SIM cards linked to fraud and illegal activities. The telecommunication firm said it had invested $20 million in its Security Operations Center to screen malicious messages 24/7.
From January 2022 to January 2023, Globe blocked 85 million bank-related spam messages. In the first quarter, it blocked 4.07 million spam, 2.7% higher than the 3.97 million blocked messages last year.
