In order to combat cyber fraud, the Regulatory Authority for Communications (CRA) has obliged internet service providers to block access to malicious internet resources, which are registered by the National Cyber Security Centre. The decision takes effect on 15 June
According to D. Kuliešius, Deputy Chairman of the CRA Council, with the increasing number of fraud cases, operators, institutions and businesses need to take responsibility and protect the users of their services. Currently, one of the most popular SMS scams is a named SMS message with a fake sender and an invitation to open a link in the SMS message to access the website indicated in the link.
“We urge everyone to promptly inform the National Cyber Security Centre about suspicious messages and links received by email: [email protected]. Promptness is important so that the NCSC, after verifying the reported cases, adds the links to the register as soon as possible and automatically shares it with internet service providers. In this way, even a user who temporarily loses caution and clicks on a link will be protected and the fraudulent website will be inaccessible”, explains D. Kuliešius.
Another obligation for operators will come into force from 1 July: they will only be obliged to forward named text messages that match the identifiers specified by the senders.
“By applying sender’s identification tools, operators will significantly reduce the opportunities for fraudsters to impersonate Lithuanian state institutions, banks, mail couriers and other popular service providers, who often send information to customers via SMS,” explains D. Kuliešius, the member of the CRA Council.
In addition, operators will be obliged to immediately stop transmitting such text messages when they receive information about fraud or other security incidents related to the sending of named text messages.
Updated on 2023-08-01