Online data leakage : lack of awareness or lack of cyber-security?

Information can be both extremely valuable and dangerous depending on how a person chooses to use the information that they have access to. While it is the gateway to knowledge and self-awareness, getting access to certain information can be extremely dangerous, especially if it is someone else’s personal data. 

In this digital age, information has become an extremely vital part of development. Whether that is the development of technology or humankind, access to information has become extremely important. And with that, we started putting all of our personal information on the internet or digital cards and e-wallets. Whether you’re trying to make an online purchase or register on a website, a tiny bit of your personal information is shared. And when we think about exactly how much these little bits of the data we put on the internet every day amount to, in the bigger picture it can make us realise how vulnerable we are to data leakage. 

Everything from our national identity numbers to our bank account information is just a breach away, and one tiny breach could mean some unknown, faceless person from the internet can have access to our money and our location as well as our most private and intrusive conversations. Though this is the exact reason why cyber-security exists, and over the years people continue to work on strengthening it, time and time again there is a wave of data breaches and hacking that leaks several people’s personal data, leaving them in a vulnerable position. 

Even in a small country like the Maldives, data leakages and hacking have become extremely common. On 23rd February 2023, the Maldives Police Services cautioned the public about internet safety after they revealed a large number of personal data is being leaked online. 

Frequent social media users might be familiar with getting a data breach message pop up when they visit certain pages or once in a while getting a notification asking them to change their password as their information has been leaked. But most of us often dismiss this and continue to go about our days even though we key-in the same mail address and password that we use for everything from our banking apps to our social media accounts.

And while we may dismiss this information as another useless notification, the police has revealed that data is in fact getting breached leading to easy access to people’s bank accounts and most are unaware that their data has been breached.

“In some cases, we have found that the internet banking username and password are also saved on the device's password manager. In these cases, if your email has been compromised, scammers can access this information. Then, without any further obstacles, they can use your internet banking account” - from the statement by the Maldives police service

With the rise in cases of fraudulent transactions as well as hacking into bank accounts and social media accounts, the importance of being literate on cyber security is increasing more than ever. While this does show that there are steps that we as citizens can take in order to stay vigilant of the hackers and scammers who are trying to get access to our personal and banking information, it also shows the lack of internet security in the Maldives.

Though it is easy to say that changing passwords frequently and learning the do’s and don'ts of cybersecurity is the best way to protect yourself from such mishaps, there is only so much that people can do without the authorities stepping in to take some real action against the people behind the major scams taking place in the country.

The increased leaks of data as well as breaching into people's private information, if anything goes to show two major things that need to be changed in the Maldives: cyber-security awareness and some real action by the Government to protect their citizens against such attacks.