Belgium’s federal government has presented a national action plan of 29 measures against online fraud, including an extra security layer for the itsme digital identity app that compares the user’s face with the photo on their Belgian identity card. No date has been set for the face check to start.
Under the plan, itsme will run the comparison for certain activations of the app. “This makes it harder for fraudsters to take over an itsme account and confirm payments or logins in someone else’s name,” said Consumer Protection Minister Rob Beenders, who presented the plan with Interior Minister Bernard Quintin after it was discussed by the Council of Ministers.
The plan is a response to the growth of phishing. Its measures are organized around four goals: preventing fraud, detecting it faster, responding to it and prosecuting the networks behind it.
Banks will get a new platform to share information about suspicious accounts and fraud with each other. “When an account is closed because of fraud today, the fraudster can easily open an account elsewhere,” Beenders said. Other banks will be able to run extra checks on suspicious transfers or when an account is opened. He said the government would make sure the data sharing is legally sound.
The government also plans to make it harder to take over a phone number through an unauthorized SIM swap, though how to do so is still being studied. Phish Nemo, a project that detects fraudulent websites and places a warning page in front of them, will be extended nationwide from Limburg province. Citizens will be able to report suspicious websites, numbers, messages and accounts through a new form run by the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium, and telecom operators must block fraudulent numbers faster.
A national anti-phishing unit has already been set up to bring together information from separate investigations and link fraud cases to criminal networks, and the justice minister is preparing a separate plan for police work on phishing. People less comfortable with online banking will be able to bank at a branch counter with assistance, by appointment, for up to 5 euros a month.
Beenders called Belgium the first country in the European Union with such a comprehensive plan against online fraud. The 29 actions will be reviewed every quarter.
Sources: Brussels Times, ITdaily, Vooruit
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
