Beef up security protocols, Gatchalian tells banks after credit card got hacked

MANILA, Philippines — After his costly experience with his hacked credit card, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said that banks should strengthen their security measures especially amid the coronavirus pandemic where many resort to online transactions.

On Wednesday, Gatchalian disclosed on Twitter that a hacker was able to use his credit card to order P1 million worth of food.

According to Gatchalian, the hacker managed to change his registered phone number, giving the hacker access to the one-time passwords (OTPs) for the transactions.

“Itong mga hacker, nage-evolve yan, nagi-inovate din. Tinitingnan nila kung saan sila pwede lumusot. Nakita nila, very loose itong pagpapalit ng number, napalitan nila. Moving forward, dapat palitan na ngayon ng bangko yung kanilang sistema,” Gatchalian told reporters in an online interview.

(Hackers evolve and innovate. They find ways where they can strike. They saw that changing of numbers is very loose so they were able to use that. Moving forward, banks should change their system.)

“Nakita ko ngayon sa most banks, yung cellphone yung first level of security, second level of security yung OTP. Kung yung first level na-hack nila, wala na rin sa second level. Kumbaga [dapat] maging mas mahigpit sila sa first level which is the phone number,” the senator added.

(What I see in most banks is that their first level of security is cellphones and the second level is the OTP. If the first level can be hacked, so will the second. Banks should be have tighter security in the first level which is the phone number.)

Strengthening of security measures is especially true during the pandemic as many resort to online transactions to shop and buy their necessities, said Gatchalian.

“Ngayon kung titingnan natin yung statistics, talagang lumobo ‘yung online transaction. Kaya nakita ng mga hackers na this is the way para makapasok dahil marami ngayong pumapasok sa online,” Gatchalian said.

(If we will look at the statistics, there was an increase in online transactions. That’s why hackers see this as an opportunity since many are resorting to online transactions.)

“Ang daming kumukuha ng credit card at ‘yan ang isang paraan para makapasok sila at manloko (A lot of people are getting credit cards and this paved the way for them to hack),” he added.

Gatchalian said he will file a police report for the hacking incident to be investigated.

EDV