BDO Securities to implement OTP request via SMS only on January 30!

BDO Securities has announced that starting January 30, 2022, it will no longer allow the use of the OTP Generator for desktop and mobile apps.

Account-holders must update their mobile numbers

BDO is trying to improve security measures

In line with its system upgrade, the firm sent an email advisory to all of its BDO Securities (formerly BDO Nomura)  account holders. According to the letter, customers can only request a One-Time Password (OTP) only through SMS for both the desktop and mobile app starting the said period. 

As a result, account holders should make sure that their registered mobile number is updated and that BDO will disable the OTP generator for its online banking app. Allegedly, this decision is part of the company's enhancement of security for its users. 

The premise is that OTP requests via SMS are safer compared to  BDO's OTP generator on its online banking app. 

In our previous story, several BDO account holders have allegedly been targeted by cybercriminals who seemed easily bypass the security measures. The incident involved users losing as much as Php 100,000 in their BDO accounts due to unauthorized transactions initiated by hackers. 

After the "hacking" incident, the banking giant posted an advisory official Facebook account to remind users to change the passwords on their accounts earlier. Three days ago,  4 persons who were reportedly behind the cyber crimes targeting BDO were captured by the NBI.

In addition to this, an anonymous person narrated how the accounts of some 700 bank customers got hacked last December. The informant gave out the details to the NBI, revealing he created a text blast to deceive over 700 customers of BDO Unibank Inc.

However, we must note that the removal of the OTP generator is only applied to BDO Securities as of writing. There's no announcement yet from the companies if they will implement this as well.

Meanwhile, BDO president Nestor Tan claimed that they are working on a new version of their web service, which is slated to be released by the 1st quarter of this year. 

What do you think of this move?

Via: Unbox PH