Smart technology is a new battleground between good and evil

15/11/2021

President of The United Bank
Smart technology is a new battleground between good and evil

Ashraf El Kady: The Personal Data Protection Law 2020 is a roadmap for maintaining national cyber security.
•    The law guarantees the protection of personal data and respect for the privacy for both individuals and institutions, plus sets regulations for any violations.
•    Cyber security is the first line of defense for current and future societies.
•    3 axes of The Central Bank of Egypt's national strategy for cyber security.
•    6 goals of The United Bank's idea for offering a national fund for cyber security.
•    Protection of personal data is a joint responsibility of individuals and organizations.


Cairo: November 3rd, 2021

Ashraf El Kady, President of The United Bank, stated that smart technology is a new battleground between good and evil. Modern applications contribute to achieving the maximum levels of human well-being in terms of comfort, saving time and effort, as well as the growth of the economic activity of countries, and between the evil of increasing the volume of electronic crimes and devising methods for attacks which poses a threat to individuals, institutions and countries in general.

This was in the morning session held today for  People and Banks “El Nas we El Bnouk” conference in its 15th edition, which will take place over two days 2-3 November 2021. Under the title of electronic payments and the role of banks in raising awareness, Amany Shams - First Deputy Governor of The Central Bank of Egypt moderated the session. With the participation of Ashraf El Kady - President of The United Bank, Hazem Hegazy - CEO of Al Baraka Bank Egypt, Ihab Nasr - Deputy Governor of The Central Bank of Egypt for the banking operations and payment systems sector, Abdel Aziz Nassir - Executive Director of the Banking Institute, and Abeer Khedr - Head of the Information Security Sector at The National Bank of Egypt.

El Kady relied on the report of the "Trend Micro" Foundation, which was recently published on the cyber-attacks that the world suffered during the first half of 2021 under the title "Attacks at all levels." The report estimated the number of cyber security attacks at about 40.9 billion threats around the world, 27 million of them threats to Egypt alone via e-mail, malicious files and links.
The Personal Data Protection Law 2020 is a roadmap for maintaining cyber security

Ashraf El kady made it clear that The Egyptian state was proactive in recognizing and dealing with this new reality, which imposed itself in light of the new technological revolution. The Egyptian Personal Data Protection Law was issued in July 2020. whose legislation is in line with international standards such as the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

El kady added that this law is a step ahead on the right path towards respecting the right to privacy by protecting the personal data of citizens, as well as consolidating the rules of sustainable development and pushing the national economy, especially digital and electronic commerce, for growth. As well as preserving the gains of economic reform programs and enhancing the confidence of individuals and institutions in online transactions.

The Egyptian Law 2021 sets the standards that govern the relationship between users and digital companies. It also grants limits in knowledge to the data possessed by the holder and the processor. This allows the data person to file a complaint against data users and sue them if necessary. As well as establishing a digital data protection center whose mission is to monitor the implementation of the law and issue licenses, permits and accreditations for companies that process and use personal data of users, as well as adjudicating cases through the establishment of special courts to protect cyber security and prosecute cybercrime, hacking and electronic attacks.

Cyber security is the first line of defense for current and future societies

The President of The United Bank continued his speech that there are many local and global indicators that indicate the growth of the digital transactions market and electronic commerce, especially after the outbreak of the Corona virus crisis in addition to developing customer culture towards reducing the use of cash. The number of bank accounts also grew with the launch of financial inclusion campaigns by The Central Bank of Egypt. As well as the high percentage of young people and their interest in using payment methods and digital services ,and the spread of mobile significantly.

With the increasing volume of electronic commerce operations in the world, a great need has emerged for a new type of regulatory and insurance rules to address fraud and cyber-attacks that affect the infrastructure, vital and security facilities of countries, financial systems and government facilities. This prompted decision-makers in the great countries to place defense and cyber security issues at the top of their national and defense policies. Huge sums were also allocated and national defense centers were set up. As well as specialized institutes for research and digital sciences within the curriculum and defense.

6 goals for The United Bank’s idea to put forward the National Fund for Cyber Security
Ashraf El kady presented the idea of establishing a national investment fund to protect cyber security, build the necessary national capacities to combat and address cyber-attacks, and expand research and specialized studies in the field of cyber security.

The investment fund aims to achieve 6 main goals:
•    Develop a strategic, educational and technical system aimed at developing the capabilities of Egyptian youth in accordance with the latest international quality standards in the field of cyber security.
•    Qualifying the Egyptian youth to confront any current and future breakthroughs or attacks.
•    Providing a package of technical and political advice to those in charge of this important defense industry.
•    Encouraging and supporting research and specialized studies in this promising field.
•    Building bridges of effective communication between a number of international organizations and institutions specialized in this field to maximize benefit and exchange experiences.
•    Develop and launch media campaigns aimed at spreading general culture and national awareness of the importance of securing data, whether at the level of institutions or individuals. As well as community awareness of the legislative and regulatory rules for cyber security and defense.

3 axes of The Central Bank of Egypt's national strategy for cyber security.

Ashraf El Kady praised the pro-activeness of The Central Bank of Egypt in developing a national strategy for cyber security and the foundations for addressing fraud, especially in light of the increase in digital transactions and the expansion of the base of financial inclusion. The United Bank has appeared in its implementation.

This strategy was based on three main axes: strengthening cyber security - cyber security governance - and building national capacities.

This is in addition to a series of proactive steps that enhance cyber security applications in banks and banking institutions and strengthen their capabilities to address electronic attacks, including:

1-    Establishing a cyber security sector whose mission is to predict cyber-attacks before they occur and inform banks and financial institutions. This enhances the ability of these institutions to confront threats, especially with the expansion of digital uses, financial inclusion and digital transformation.

2-    Issuance of the new Central Bank Law 2020, which works to establish and achieve the rules of governance in the management of banks, and then banking stability and enabling the economy to achieve sustainable development.

3-    Re-drafting the general framework and strategic reference for cyber security which contributes to developing a working methodology and finding a common language for managing security risks and evaluating them periodically to confront these crimes.

Protecting personal data is a shared responsibility of individuals and organizations

Ashraf El Kady explained that The United Bank's investments in infrastructure work in parallel between providing everything new and innovative to its customers in the market to meet their needs and aspirations in the field of digital banking services. As well as securing their data and investments against any penetration. He stressed that protecting customers' bank data, money and investments is a national security issue and a joint responsibility between The United Bank and all customers inside and outside Egypt.

For this reason, The United Bank launched last August an extensive awareness campaign aimed at warning its customers of the risks of being subjected to fraud as a result of disclosing their personal or banking information under the slogan "Be careful."

The campaign includes 12 warning messages:
The first warning message: The customer must maintain the confidentiality of his personal data from the account numbers or his personal card number. As well as the place of residence and the last bank transaction on his account and not to disclose it to any person, regardless of the degree of kinship or relationship with the customer.

The second warning message: Ensure that The United Bank and its team throughout the Republic have not and will not request any confidential information or data concerning customers, whether by personal contact, through social networking sites, via e-mail, or by phone, whether mobile or landline.

The third warning message: Be careful not to share the secret numbers of the customer's bank accounts. As well as card numbers, whether credit, debit or prepaid, and also the CVV2 code written on the back of the cards consisting of three numbers with any person.
 
The fourth warning message: When customers use the digital services of the United Bank “your bank on the line” from: Internet banking - mobile banking and UB digital wallet, it is necessary for the customer used not to disclose the temporary password (OTP) sent to him on the personal phone registered with The United Bank.

The fifth warning message: Do not share their electronic services activation code with anyone.

The sixth warning message: Not to receive any phone call via mobile or landline, or any communication through e-mail, for the purpose of updating their bank data. The United Bank has not and will not request any information or data concerning its customers except through its 68 branches.

The seventh warning message: The need to update the personal data of customers only through the 68 branches of The United Bank, which are spread all over the Republic.

The eighth warning message: It is necessary to deal with well-known and insured shopping sites only, when using the United Bank credit, debit or prepaid cards.

The ninth warning message: Not to receive any phone call informing customers that they have won a financial prize and asking them for any bank data such as: account numbers and the changed password until the amount is transferred to it.

The tenth warning message: Be careful not to deal with electronic means of unknown source or reliable. As well as not receiving any phone call regarding the customer obtaining purchase points or purchase vouchers as a gift on his card, or asking him to deposit a sum of money in any account or transfer from an electronic wallet for the purpose of obtaining these points or purchase vouchers.

The eleventh warning message: Beware storing details such as your username and password for your Internet banking services on your mobile phone.

The twelfth warning message: Create a hard-to-guess password for digital banking services.