TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Mitigating cybersecurity risks in e-payment systems
It is imperative for the government to keep upgrading its ability to handle cyberattacks, especially in emerging sectors like fintech and digital payments.
Change Size
It is imperative for the government to keep upgrading its ability to handle cyberattacks, especially in emerging sectors like fintech and digital payments. (Shutterstock/File)
I
nformation and communications technology (ICT) has become a key enabler for growth, creating entirely new industries and economic opportunities, including the financial-technology (fintech) sector.
Given such rapid development, cybersecurity must continue to be a vital component of this technological progress. Recent global attacks by WannaCry and Petya ransomware are sober reminders that cybersecurity attacks can and will continue to create significant economic loss for organizations, notwithstanding privacy breaches involving citizens’ data.
It is imperative for the government to keep upgrading its ability to handle cyberattacks, especially in emerging sectors like fintech and digital payments.
Financial crimes are getting much more sophisticated — we have moved past physical robbery of cash from banks to cyberhacks of digital transactions on various online channels.
The rapid growth of e-commerce in Indonesia has increased the number of digital payment transactions. Consequently, hackers have begun targeting weak points within systems used by e-commerce companies and startups.
From manually inserting an intrusive program with the external drives to hacking the connection systems and servers, hackers have exploited weak points. Most intrusions are also only discoverable months after the company completes its financial accounting and most keep the breaches out of the public eye.
Similar concerns can be found in the fintech space. Digital technology has helped us move to cashless payments, saving costs from printing, distributing and accounting for cash, but criminals can hack the system from multiple points — from inserting skimmers into electronic data capture (EDC) machines for debit, credit and e-money transactions stored on radio frequency identification (RFID) cards — to hacking the service infrastructure. The latter means hacking digital payment service providers, such as payment gateway and switching companies.
