In the past few years there have been growing fears of a crisis in online security and fraud.
As more and more of our banking, shopping and information moves online so the demands on digital security increase. In 2016 the FBI described the losses due to cyber crime as ‘staggering’, with over $1billion in that year alone. One in five people (and rising) are victims of online fraud and about half never get their money back, with the average loss being £800.
And it is not just the overall incidence of online fraud, but there are also the associated challenges. I was talking to a friend just this week who was panicking about what she should do with her online passwords. She didn’t want to use the same password across different accounts because that is not safe. She can’t remember lots of different passwords and she doesn’t want to write them down anywhere because that is not safe. But she didn’t want to use computergenerated ones because if someone gets access to her computer they could access everything. So what should she do? I am sure many of us empathise with the dilemma.
Banks and businesses are trying to improve security by adding an extra layer of checks which has been mandated by a new EU regulation taking effect from 14 September. But even the implementation of these protocols highlights the problems; banks and businesses weren’t anywhere near ready to implement these changes without significantly slowing down the transaction processes online, so the EU has granted a two-year grace period for implementation.
Gospel issue?
So how does the gospel speak into this crisis? Isn’t it more an issue for the tech-coders than the pastors?
Well first it is worth noticing what is fuelling this crisis. Amongst users: the ever increasing demand for online transactions and the increasing expectations of ease and efficiency exert a huge pressure. On the other side of things the rise in cyber crime isn’t just a response to increased opportunity, but itself is reflective of deep malaise in Western society.
It is interesting to note that in the Old Testament, for Daniel and Esther living under the Persian empire, a commonly-accepted moral framework is eroded and so there is a proliferation of legislation. The ‘Laws of the Medes and Persians’ and the legal knots that Darius and Xerxes find themselves tied in, serve as a warning that you can’t solve moral problems just by creating more and more laws and systems.
In the same way today there is a lot of focus on ‘what are governments, banks and businesses going to do about this security crisis?’ but hardly any acknowledgement that the moral void sitting at the heart of Western society might be the root cause.
Put simply, if people don’t want to steal then you don’t need to invest as much in creating locks. I was recently chatting to a friend from the Faroe Islands who has recently moved to London and is still getting used to having to lock the door when she leaves the house because she doesn’t back home!
However, I’m conscious that I am not writing so much to the fraudsters as to the users/consumers, so it is worthwhile reflecting on whether our desire for consumption, ease and efficiency has also created a monster. Could it be that every time you tut at the spinning wheel on your screen telling you ‘your transaction is being processed’ that your impatience may be fuelling the problem? I heard a child in a supermarket shouting to his parents ‘I want it, I want it, I want it now’. In some ways he was merely voicing the spirit of our age. The Christian virtues of patience and restraint are much-needed virtues in our age of excess.
Finally if you are panicking about your online security (and apparently angst about digital fraud is a key factor fuelling a rise in acute anxiety), then of course be careful and shrewd, but also recognise that God may be prodding you to re-evaluate. Worldly treasures, whatever precautions you have in place, will always be at the mercy of thieves and rust, but heavenly treasure located in Christ can never be taken away (Matt. 6:19-21).
