After the numerous cases of hacking that have been reported in recent times, the National Government will now require cell phone companies to incorporate biometric measures to safeguard the security of user data. In this way, an attempt is made to put an end to cybercrimes such as SIM Swapping, the name given to the hack that allows a malicious actor to verify a phone number on another device using only the functions of the SIM card.
With the new system promoted by the Government, it is planned that companies add new identity verification and validation steps that are focused exclusively on biometrics. It should be remembered that the complaints for cases of hacking with this modality are about 300,000 per month and SIM Swapping represents 0.05% of computer attacks.
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It is expected that at the end of January, Enacom will publish a resolution with the specifics of the implementation of the biometric system that will cover all cell phone companies. As it turned out, the system would be similar to the one used by banking apps.
However, from the companies, they assure that the implementation will not be easy. For instance, it is not yet clear if each company will have to use its own database or if Renaper’s database will be used. On the other hand, users will have to have cell phones that have the biometric verification function available.