MOVING into a digital society with a population that is not cyber aware or cyber secure can open up the potential for more cyber fraud attacks.

“When it comes to cyber securing, phishing attacks and that type of thing our population is highly vulnerable,” said assistant lecturer in the Department of Economics at The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jevan Henry in an interview with the Jamaica Observer.

While conducting research Henry descovered that nearly three out of every 10 times, someone could have gotten themselves in a situation where their information was stolen.

“We conducted an experiment with over 300 people in which we asked them to visit 15 websites, of which only half were legitimate. In that experiment we were trying to figure out if people can identify which website is trying to steal their information, and people got it wrong 38 per cent of the time,” said Henry.

Another surprising find was that the websites that asked for the most sensitive information were the ones that people fell prey to most often. He noted that the cyber side comes with its own risks, and that once digital transactions increase so will cyber-attacks.

With new digital payment apps coming on stream mobile devices now, more than ever, need to be protected — and Dushyant Savadia, CEO of Amber Group, is reminding Jamaicans that they need to take cyber security into their own hands.

“You have certain responsibilities on your phone: Make sure biometrics is on, facial recognition is on, the fingerprint is on, or you have a complicated pin number,” he said. These will secure users and their assets if they enable proper security measures. He added that all “good apps” should have multi-factor authentication (MFA).

“If somebody logged into your app or your phone on another device you will get notified straight away,” said Savadia.

While explaining the fraud-detecting mechanisms that apps have in place, he said while most banking apps have MFA, they are not yet foolproof.

“The sensitive apps like banking apps must have lots more security features. We still lack as many as we should,” he said.

Due to banking apps not all being fully secured, he suggests not leaving your mobile devices open or unpinned because this can increase your risk of theft and fraud in the event your device gets lost or stolen.

Savadia says he understands the fear and concerns consumers have about digital payment apps because there was a time when they weren’t so safe or widely used. However he said as technology advances, so too will the safety features.

“Bare in mind, if you look back at your own self five years ago — what you were, and what you are now — you are two different people so don’t you think our country is also changing phenomenally fast just like we are?” he asked rhetorically.

While he admits he’s not sure if it’s 100 per cent safe to use mobile payment apps, he notes it’s safe enough now to transact.

“Everyone has learned their lessons. Everyone has been through some form of breach, which has enabled more technology [and] more sophistication to protect consumer data,” he said.