MANILA, Philippines – The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) is collaborating with De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde to create an anti-smishing program.
It is a ₱15-million research project with funding from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
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The project “Behavioral Biometrics and Content Analysis: A Multi-Pronged Machine Learning Approach to Thwarting SMS Phishing (Smishing)” aims to develop machine learning (ML) algorithms that analyze patterns to detect signs of smishing attempts.
ML algorithms can learn and update user profiles to adapt to evolving smishing activities.
It also integrates with natural language processing (NLP), a branch of artificial intelligence that can analyze SMS content to identify phishing attempts.
The AI tool can spot ones that could lead to fraudulent activities and identify theft.
“ML models can be trained on labeled datasets of phishing and legitimate messages to learn patterns and features that distinguish between the two,” according to the project proposal.
“Smishing continues to be a major concern in the Philippines,” said CICC Executive Director Alexander K. Ramos.
“We need new capstone projects like this with DLSU to help CICC in the prevention and suppression of cybercrime,” he added.
Ramos also emphasized that other law enforcement agencies and cyber security professionals will benefit from the research project.
Smishing is a cybercrime where attackers use deceptive messages to trick victims into disclosing sensitive information or downloading malware.
The most common types include bank fraud alerts, account verification, and false notifications regarding winning the lottery.
Ramos urged the public to always remain vigilant when receiving messages from unknown persons.
Filipinos may report smishing cases to the Inter-Agency Response Center Hotline 1326 to prevent cybercrimes.