Major retail banks in Singapore have enhanced their security measures to protect customers from malware scams, announced the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) on Sept 18.
The banks will also progressively introduce refinements or new measures to keep pace with changes in the threat landscape, the ABS adds.
The anti-malware security measures are designed for each banks’ customer base and systems, which prevents scammers from being able to defeat all scam protections within the industry at one go.
The measures on banking apps will help banks detect the presence of malware on customers’ devices and trigger additional actions, including blocking access to the banking app or calling customers when suspicious activities are detected on their device before transactions are made.
The measures will not monitor nor conduct surveillance on customers’ mobile devices, nor do they collect or store any personal data.
That said, the measures may affect customers’ experiences in performing banking transactions, although the banks will “continually calibrate their approach to achieve a right balance between the risk of fraud and inconveniencing legitimate transactions,” says ABS.
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It adds that it will, together with the banks, continue to work closely with the government and law enforcement authorities to raise awareness among customers about malware scams and to remind them to only install apps from official app stores.
“These measures will not be foolproof. The best defence against scams is still a discerning and vigilant customer,” says Ong-Ang Ai Boon, director of ABS.
“MAS welcomes banks’ enhanced security measures against malware scams. As scammers constantly adjust their tactics to evade existing safeguards, the industry must continue to respond in an agile fashion to counter these threats. We urge members of the public to likewise remain attentive to scam advisories issued by the police and by banks, so that we will not be unaware of new scam tactics and can take the needed steps to protect ourselves,” says Ho Hern Shin, deputy managing director (financial supervision) of MAS.
“Malware scams targeting banking apps is a serious crime concern. Scammers will try and find ways to trick victims into installing malware-infected applications that take control of victim’s phones and thereby access and deplete the victim’s bank account. The banking industry has introduced anti-malware security measures that will greatly enhance security and protect members of the public against malware scams. Members of the public are advised not to download any suspicious Android Package Kit (APK) files from third party or dubious sites as this can lead to malware being installed on their devices,” says David Chew, director of the commercial affairs department (CAD) at the Singapore Police Force (SPF).
