As online scams become more common, Elisa is making a significant change to its consumer phone subscriptions. In the future, Elisa phone subscriptions will include as standard a secure authentication service, a mobile identity key and malware blocker to protect your mobile internet usage, as well as data leakage monitoring.
Online fraud is a huge, growing social problem. As a network operator, Elisa has also observed the rise in digital threats. Last year alone, we identified and blocked around 300,000 denial-of-service attacks, a 122% increase on the previous year. Since 2021, we have blocked 1.4 million scam SMS messages and 23 million scam calls. According to data published by Finance Finland, last year, a variety of online scams cost Finns more than €100 million. The biggest increase was in phishing scams.
Elisa improves security of Finnish mobile phone use to fight digital threats
“In an era of scams, we want to promote trust, which is the foundation of Finland’s prosperity. We care about consumers’ safety online, and we believe it is important to make our customers’ mobile phone use even safer”, says Antti Ihanainen, Vice President of Elisa’s Consumer Subscription business.
According to a survey* conducted by Elisa, 74% of Finns see their phone as the biggest security risk. In addition, 85% of Finns are concerned that the use of AI will increase cybercrime. According to the survey, the main way to ensure security is not to click on suspicious links and to beware of suspicious websites.
“We are determined to bring the security of Finnish phone subscriptions up to the level required to meet modern digital threats. With the security features we’re including in our subscriptions, everyone will be able to better protect themselves, their money and their personal data online”, continues Ihanainen.
Going forward, Elisa‘s consumer phone subscriptions will come as standard with Liittymäturva – a suite of basic features to protect mobile phones online. These include a secure authentication service, a mobile safe, malicious website blocking and data leakage monitoring. Phone subscriptions with the new security features will go on sale on 25 May. The change will also be phased in for existing subscriptions. Customers will be informed of the change when it becomes relevant for their subscriptions.
“Now we’ve made it really easy for our customers to take care of their phone security. For security reasons, we can’t automatically turn on these features for our customers. As soon as the new subscription security features are available for your monthly subscription, we challenge you to activate them in OmaElisa”, says Ihanainen.
How the new subscription features protect customers in Finland
– Mobile certificate allows secure login for thousands of services, such as social security, tax or health services. By using a mobile certificate, you can minimise the risk of losing your bank details to fraudsters.
– Malware blocking protects mobile internet usage, detecting phishing link scams and preventing you from visiting malicious sites that spread malware, ransomware and spyware.
– A dedicated email account is set up to monitor data leaks, so you’ll be notified if your own data has been compromised. In addition, Elisa will send you an email with instructions on what to do in the event of a data leak.
