FROM LEFT: Benjamin Beaston, Chief Information Security Officer, Banking Operations, Commercial Bank; Leonie Lethbridge, EGM and Chief Operating Officer; and Abeer Marwan Al Kalla, Head of Corporate Communications and CSR, Marketing, addressing the media
The Commercial Bank (CBQ), Qatar’s first private bank, has warned its customers, as well as the general public to be alert against online banking fraud, especially phishing attacks which are on the rise.
About 91 percent of all cyber attacks start with phishing, a form of cybercrime which attempts to obtain sensitive information such as username, passwords, and credit card details, often for malicious reasons, by disguising as a trustworthy entity through email, phone, SMS, or website impersonation.
As Qatar’s digital landscape continues to grow exponentially, the threat of cyberattacks also increases. And bank customers are popular targets of those who engage in phishing attacks, said Dr. Leonie Lethbridge, Executive General Manager and Chief Operating Officer at CBQ during a media roundtable in Doha recently.
She added that behind the phishing attacks, including SMS phishing which is notably prevalent in Qatar, are organised crime gangs running large call centres that are typically operating outside the country.
Phishers can impersonate bank websites in order to get unsuspecting users to provide their login credentials. They also attack their victims through emails or SMS phishing which contain links or phone numbers. After gaining access to the victim’s bank account, phishers then use the information they gathered to make illegal purchases and commit fraud.
“One of the reasons why people would attack Qatar is because of the very high per capita income in the country, so it can be relatively rewarding if you’re a phisher trying to take people’s money. That’s one of the reasons why we are saying to customers including the public to please educate yourselves. And please never disclose your username, password, and one time password (OTP). We as a bank, will never ask you for these information. The bank will never send links or numbers to contact,” Lethbridge added.
She went on to reiterate that in global terms, however, Qatar was actually comparatively safe, and there have been cases in the country where legal action was taken against criminal gangs in relation to phishing attacks.
“The level of security in Qatar is actually quite high and the responsiveness of the police is quite high. We collaborate with both Ooredoo and Vodafone, and actively contact them when we see phishing cases and we ask them to block those numbers. Qatar as a whole has a National Security Operation Centre and we work closely with them. As a country, we need to collaborate and solve these problems together. We also partner with large global organisations in relation to security, and work hard to educate our customers and staff,” she added.
Benjamin Beaston, Chief Information Security Officer for Banking Operations at CBQ, added: “We’re continuously implementing new security measures and technologies to stay ahead of the threats. We make sure we’re staying up to date with all the new tools and techniques that these hackers are using. They’re constantly evolving. And we absolutely want to partner more with fintechs”.
Lethbridge expects an ongoing growth in digital banking in Qatar, with digital speed being five times faster than traditional business. To date, CBQ’s customers login over 14 million times per year of which 10 million are done with biometrics such as fingerprint recognition. About 85 percent of the bank’s customers also prefer to use its mobile app. Over 95 percent of all banking transactions are done outside the branch, comprised of 60 percent digital transactions and 36 percent via ATM/self service.
