PUTRAJAYA (March 10): Social media and messaging platforms must have a responsibility in protecting the data and information of consumers in the current digital society.

With free social media and messaging applications such as WhatsApp becoming more ubiquitous, the cost of using these applications will come in the form of personal data. Compounded with the rapid advancements in digitalisation, simple information such as phone numbers can be used to dig up more data, which can leave a consumer in a vulnerable digital state and be at risk of scams.  

With information being an important resource for cybercriminals, Blackberry, in cooperation with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), is pushing for policies that enable companies in providing secure communications to fortify the protection of data.   

“We are trying, as a regulator, to push the onus [of protecting consumers onto platforms]. We can't blame consumers because you are forced to use technologies, such as payments in a cashless society. They force technology onto you, so they must protect you,” said MCMC commission member and Online Harms and Information Security Committee chairman Derek John Fernandez.

Blackberry representatives and Fernandez stressed that all companies that provide these services must view the responsibility of implementing cybersecurity measures and consumer protection schemes as a capital infrastructure instead of a cost.

The social media licensing registration implemented last year is an example of how the country is taking proactive steps for online platforms to be transparent about the kinds of data being leaked out as well as the third party organisations receiving such information.

“[The platforms] cannot monetise the data as they like to anybody. They can only monetise the data necessary to provide the service, and they have to know and disclose who they are giving the data to. These are controls which we put at the platform level,” said Fernandez.

With the growing sophistication of artificial intelligence (AI) and deepfakes involved with scams, Blackberry emphasised practising digital hygiene as a starting point to prevent scams.

It is more vital than ever to have layers of defences on critical information, be it on personal or business accounts, and two-layer authentication methods such as passkeys or biometric authentication can provide a good wall of protection.

“From a technology perspective, we welcome anything that is going to improve security or drive a conversation around being better secure in this world, and passkeys are absolutely a big evolution over using SMS for verification, for example,” said Blackberry Asia Pacific senior director of strategic technical sales Jonathan Jackson.

He added that verification on all levels must be practised to prevent oneself from getting caught up in a scam. For example, a suspicious call or text can be tested by simply calling back a number, and a person can verify the malicious nature of the call if the line is unable to go through.

This can be taken a step further by practising a physical two-factor authentication method, such as having physical safewords when conversing with someone online or through a phone call to confirm if the other end of the line is trustable or if one is being manipulated by AI or deepfakes.

Other practices that can be adopted include not clicking on random links, installing anti-malware systems on all devices, updating software systems, and keeping tabs on every background function, such as location sharing or active permissions.