33% Of Indians Store Sensitive Information Like ATM Pin In Phone Or Computer: Survey

The new rules by RBI mandate that cardholders of both debit and credit set up transaction limits & directed banks to allow people to register for preferences such as opt-in or opt-out of services.

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New Delhi: In recent years people have become more dependent on online retail for the sake of convenience and buy things that are difficult to find in local shops. Aside from online shopping people have become much more comfortable doing official work online as well, which would require them to use sensitive Aadhaar or PAN details.

With all of this information fed to websites, it has become easier for criminals to access information. Hence, incidents of ATM frauds, unauthorized use of debit or credit cards or mobile numbers being issued on false identities have drastically risen. 

Unisys Security Index 2020 report that measured consumers’ concern around personal financial security, found that bank card fraud via unauthorized access to individual’s credit & debit card details and concerns around banking and shopping online was amongst the top problem.

To curb the menace, many efforts have been made by the Government of India vis-a-vis RBI in areas of financial inclusion, financial literacy, and financial security. Nonetheless, financial experts reason that one of the most common ways for hackers to commit cybercrime is by phishing an individual’s email account, text messages on mobile, to access their personal financial details, either ATM PIN-based or OTP-based.

However, people continue to rely on storing their sensitive personal financial details, their banking passwords, and information of their ATM debit and credit cards, on their smartphone, email, or computer. 

A survey conducted by LocalCircles tried to understand how much people are aware of cyber security. In the first question, respondents were about who all have access to their ATM or debit card(s) pin details. Out of the 8,158 responses received, the majority of 65% of respondents said no one other than they have access to their ATM or debit card detail. However, 29% have given this access to “1 or more members of the close family”, 4% have given it to “1 or more domestic or office staff”, and 2% have given it to “1 or more friends”. 

The new rules by RBI mandate that cardholders of both debit and credit set up transaction limits. It has also directed banks to allow people to register for preferences such as opt-in or opt-out of services, also on spending limits, and other services for online transactions, international transactions, and contactless transactions.

In the following question, citizens were asked about how they generally store personal financial details like bank account, debit or credit card CVV or ATM passwords, Aadhaar or Pan Number, etc. Out of 8260 responses, 7% said “In my phone”, 15% said “In my email or computer”, and 11% said in phone, email, or computer. Breaking down the poll, 21% of citizens said they have memorised them all, and 39% said they have kept it in a paper format with them. 7% of respondents did not have an opinion.

33% of citizens store their credentials in their digital means, especially on mobile phones, email/ computer. 

India’s cybersecurity researchers recently identified 167 counterfeit iOS and Android apps used by hackers to steal money from people. The final question asked citizens if they store 1 or more of their passwords (ATM, bank account, email, other online accounts, etc.) in their phone’s contact list. From the 7,956 responses, 5% said “yes, many of them”, 6% said “yes, few of them”. However, the majority of 88% of citizens said “no”, while 1% did not have an opinion. The poll result indicates that 11% of citizens are storing ATM, bank account, email and other online account passwords in their mobile phone’s contact list. This poses a significant risk of misuse, either by apps or hackers or even by contacts of the individual.

The findings of the survey point to how necessary it is to educate people about cyber security, for which awareness programs on how to secure personal data and the dos and don’ts could be very helpful.