Security | Globe Teleservice

The Security Imperative for Telcos Providing Enterprise Solutions

In the pursuit of digital transformation, there is a growing industry demand for enterprise solutions and services from the telecom sector. In the “new” post-COVID economy, existing enterprise solutions do not meet the changing market demands. And mobile apps like Facetime enable innovative communication capabilities, thus impacting the “traditional” telecom industry.

Hence, we are seeing more telecom companies offering enterprise solutions in the form of managed services, storage solutions, and small business services. The latest reports estimate that the telecom enterprise services market is expected to reach $237 billion by 2025.

With the continuous growth of 5G services and IoT connectivity, the telecom infrastructure and services could be targeted by hackers. A successful breach can seriously impact internet connectivity and compromise sensitive information.

In the face of cybersecurity challenges, communication service providers (CSPs) are looking at security-related services as an opportunity for revenue growth. In fact, for CSPs, the revenue for security services grew by a healthy 20% in 2020.

That being so, what are the major security challenges that telecom companies must address, and how? Let’s discuss.

Security Challenges in the Telecom Sector

For major economies, the telecom sector is often the “gateway” for cyberattacks. The growing use of telecom networks and sensitive information is highly attractive to cybercriminals. As online threats grow more complex, the telecom industry must develop higher resiliency against external and internal threats.

Here are some of the leading security challenges in the telecom industry:

1. IoT Security Threats

With over 16 billion connected devices, Internet-of-Things (IoT) networks create more entry points for smart hackers. According to recent reports, security cameras in home networks are the most vulnerable IoT devices, followed by smart hubs like Amazon Alexa.

2. Insider Threats

In the post-pandemic environment, a good portion of the organizational workforce is operating from remote locations. This has increased the number of unsecured networks. The challenge is that most employees are unable to detect insider threats.

Additionally, most user applications do not implement security measures like data encryption. Cloud-powered authentication (including biometric security) can protect user data from insider threats.

3. External Cyberattacks

Cyberattacks like DDoS and DNS attacks continue to grow each year. In 2018, telecom companies were the target of nearly 65% of DDoS attacks. Going by global estimates, DNS attacks exposed 79% of business enterprises in 2020. Additionally, reports state that the telecommunication sector was the most targeted industry for DDoS attacks in the first half of 2021. Recent ransomware incidents have been large and wide ranging in scope.

Telecom companies continue to use dated network protocols like SS7 (Signalling system 7), which make their networks vulnerable to external cyberattacks. The good part is that the majority of telecom companies have implemented security measures for SS7 attacks.

Besides these security challenges, telecom companies must address third-party risks arising from external parties like vendors, partners, hosting companies, and contractors. Attackers can access telecom infrastructures using third-party tools as the “backdoor.”

How can Telecom companies meet these security expectations? Let’s discuss it next.

How Telecom Companies Can Meet Security-Related Expectations

With millions of global customers, the telecom industry is probably the largest collector of customer data, including financial and personal information. Additionally, telecom companies are required to protect sensitive data under various regulations like GDPR (in the EU) and APPI (in Japan). Any compliance failure can result in heavy penalties and loss of business trust.

To fulfil their increasing security-related expectations, telecom companies can consider the following actions:

Protecting Sensitive Data

As discussed previously, the human factor is responsible for most of the insider threats. Using data loss prevention (DLP) solutions, telecom companies can limit human involvement and damage. Effectively, DLP solutions directly protect sensitive data. These solutions can monitor files with sensitive information and limit any data transfer.

Cross-Platform Security

Security solutions mostly focus on a particular operating system or platform. However, the reality is that any IT infrastructure in any telecom company comprises a mix of operating systems and platforms.

Cross-platform security solutions provide all-around protection across multiple operating systems and platforms. With cross-platform security, telecom companies can protect sensitive data stored in all IT environments.

Additionally, telecom service providers can implement a holistic approach to security across the following four key areas:

Telecom standardization process consists of secure protocols, storage, and algorithms.
Product development process includes securing the hardware & software components, development process, software updates, and version control.
Deployment process includes a secure network design, security parameter configuration, and hardening measures.
Operations process consists of securing operational procedures and monitoring the security performance, vulnerabilities, and external attacks.

Conclusion

As more telecom companies provide enterprise solutions, they must integrate the security aspect. However, there is no quick fix to safeguard applications and sensitive data from external threats. Telecom companies must go beyond basic measures like firewalls and anti-malware tools to address their security needs.

At Globe Teleservices, we are partnering with a host of telecom companies and empowering them to meet their security requirements.

We can help you achieve optimum efficiency. Reach out to us with your business needs.

The various aspects a call anti-fraud solution must cover

Security breaches and fraud are not new in the telecom industry. As technology gets sophisticated, hackers and fraudsters too get smarter. They are on the constant lookout for vulnerabilities and are relentless in testing firewalls for cracks and weaknesses. Scammers and fraudsters attack, take their profits, and leave before they can be stopped.

In 2021, total global telecom revenues stood at approximately USD 1.8 Trillion. But the amount of telecom revenue loss due to fraud stood at $39.89 Billion. Fraud losses increased by 28% or approximately USD 11.6 Billion between 2019 and 2021.

Voice fraud is one of the top inter-carrier fraud cases. Voice fraud burdens subscribers with huge bills and affects MNOs and their residential and commercial subscribers. Some of the common types of voice fraud are IRSF (International Revenue Share Fraud), False Answer Supervision (FAS), Number Hijacking, Interconnect bypass, and Roaming Fraud. Call Forwarding Fraud, Wangiri fraud (a Japanese term for one (ring) and cut), SIM Box fraud, and PBX hacking are some of the other kinds of voice fraud that are making the chamber of horrors for telecom operators.

IRSF (International Revenue Share Fraud)

IRSF fraud assumes a backdoor revenue-sharing agreement between an IPRS or a communications provider. The fraudster manipulates the telephone service and receives compensation for the traffic. IRSF fraud generates anything between $4 and $6.1 billion in damages.

Standard monitoring solutions fail to identify this kind of fraud easily as it is very hard to sift through large volumes of daily traffic to identify anomalies.

False Answer Supervision (FAS)

False Answer Supervision (FAS) can be of two types. The first kind is the Early Answer fraud where a call connection takes place before the subscriber answers the phone. The second kind is the Late Disconnect fraud where the call remains active and the billing clocks even after the subscriber hangs up.

Number hijacking is also another kind of FAS fraud. Here the fraudulent operator keeps the customer waiting for the connections for as long as possible or until the maximum call timer runs out.

Interconnect bypass or SIM Boxing

Interconnect bypass fraud allows fraudulent operators to profit from the spread between low retail prices for on-net and off-net calls and higher international interconnect rates. This fraud enables the unauthorized insertion of traffic onto another carrier’s network. It is also called SIM Boxing.

The fraudulent party replaces the expensive international interconnect with a cheaper, practically free, routing channel and pinches the difference.

Wangari Fraud

Wangari fraud is a call-back scam. Wangari is a Japanese term that means one ring and cut. The fraudsters give a missed call to unsuspecting subscribers to call back to fraudulent premium numbers. CSPs incur direct and indirect losses because of Wangari fraud.

However, the lack of timely threat intelligence and the lack of a platform to exchange data in real-time impede operator capabilities to identify Wangari Fraud proactively.

PBX hacking

PBX and VoIP hacking is when fraudsters hack into telecom networks and pump up significant traffic levels for an IPRS. PBX hacking is a common and well-known form of telecom fraud and can lead to enormous revenue losses. According to the Communications Fraud Control Association (CFCA), in 2019 PBX hacking was the number 1 telecom fraud method, causing a global fraud loss of $3.64 billion.

CDR-based anti-fraud systems cannot break active calls and hence are not well-suited to prevent PBX hacking. They also perform poorly with traffic disguised with statistical patterns. PBX attacks can last for hours and go undetected in the absence of the right anti-fraud systems.

Grey Calls

Grey routes have been giving telecom operators sleepless nights for decades. Grey calling routes bypass licensed carriers by terminating international calls onto domestic telecom networks using unlicensed and illegal telecom setups.

The illegal operators host their equipment at places where their calls can reach multiple cell sites for the calls to get widely dispersed. They also employ multiple SIM boxes, rotate SIM cards, manipulate calling patterns, etc. to outfox traditional fraud detection systems.

SIM Box fraud is illegal since the operators running these setups do not have the required government licenses. These networks not only lead to huge revenue losses but can also impact national security because these routes can be easily exploited by terrorists and anti-national elements.

The solution

Traditional fraud detection systems often do not provide the depth of scanning needed to combat the growing sophistication of telecom hackers and fraudulent agents. Telcos now need to be able to proactively prevent potential fraud by developing their capability to identify suspicious inbound and outbound traffic streams based on behavioural patterns and anomalous traffic.

Fraud detection systems that use technologies such as AI and ML make the telecom security perimeter more airtight. AI-ML-powered detection systems help detect fraud calls in real-time based on various parameters.

Parameters such as behavioural analysis (from a single Calling Line Identification), call volume, the time gap between two calls, number length, adjacent number checking, call distribution working and after working hours, and the number of unique destination numbers in a given period and consecutive attempt gap of a failed call attempt are some such areas to configure.

The right anti-fraud solution leverages machine learning algorithms for faster and proactive anomaly detection and navigating challenges like Interconnect bypass or SIM Boxing.

These solutions protect the subscribers from fraud, quality fluctuation, and surprise bills and can be fully configurable to meet specific business needs. AI and Machine Learning algorithms make proactive and continuous scanning of traffic routes possible and easily point to anomalous traffic.

In Conclusion

Voice fraud has been and shall continue to remain a lucrative criminal activity. As technologies advance, so does hacker and fraudster sophistication. A comprehensive anti-fraud detection system thus emerges as a critical investment to secure networks and revenue. By strengthening the security perimeter and establishing powerful firewalls driven by AI and ML, telecom providers can minimize fraud risks and prevent revenue and reputation leaks. Talk to us to see how to win against the fraudsters.

Why it’s Time for Telecom Companies to Modernize their Tech Strategy

Telecom companies have come a long way from the days when they provided basic telephony services. This sector is now a ~$1.5 trillion market that makes all communication possible. This sector is now providing internet services, mobile enablement, and network services and fulfilling the soaring demand for digital services. As customer demands evolve, this sector has to evolve and embrace new technologies too. It must modernize its tech strategy to leverage the multiple opportunities in the market and improve profitability while innovating to deliver greater value to consumers and businesses.

Telecom companies have identified the need for digital transformation to drive competitiveness in today’s complex business environment. However, legacy technology is severely impeding their capacity to pursue a digital-centric future with 70% of telcos struggling to integrate digital channels while others express concern over data security, short-term profit loss, and poor customer experience.

Updating legacy technology makes sense because telcos now must:

Leverage new, cutting-edge technologies to drive competitive differentiation

Giving legacy technology an overhaul is essential to drive competitive differentiation in a cut-throat business environment. Technologies such as AI, M2M, and big data have the potential to disrupt the telecom landscape and enable those operating in this space to improve their business opportunities, increase their customer base, and improve brand recognition opportunities in the face of rising competition from OTT platforms.

While a complete overhaul of the legacy systems might seem improbable at first, building a strategy that enables the gradual adoption of these technologies through applications and processes is a good starting point.

Identify new revenue streams

Increasing competitiveness demands telecom providers proactively identify and capitalize on new revenue streams. At the same time, it is equally important to identify and plug revenue leaks. Legacy technologies and systems are usually siloed and fail to provide a comprehensive 365-degree view of all revenue interactions.

Modern-day technology applications come to the rescue here and provide comprehensive, data-backed insights into performance, areas of improvement, and new revenue streams. This becomes essential since MVNOs are facing stiff competition not only amongst themselves but also from the rising proliferation of OTT providers.

Elevate customer experience

Driving elevated customer experience is another frontier to conquer for telecom operators be it by improving service and driving personalization or making the right product or service offerings.

Modern-day technologies, for example, can help telecom operators upsurge their revenues on SMPP Bulk Messaging, reduce operational costs, and enhance the customer experience. Using the right technology infrastructure, telcos can also elevate enterprise customer experiences by ensuring that the business connects with the customer more seamlessly.

Offering capabilities such as 5G, robust A2P messaging, or enabling RICH messaging also needs a technology upgrade as legacy technologies are not capable of handling the demands of these services.

Drive security and compliance

Given the increasingly complex regulatory and compliance landscape, telecom providers need to drive greater data security. That apart, telecom companies must also work towards improving their security posture to address grey routes and making the network safe as enterprises move towards hybrid work and mobile payments adoption accelerates.

Legacy networks and tech stacks are now unsuited to meet the needs of an expanding threat landscape. Network security attacks, for example, have been a point of concern and remain so in the face of rising cybersecurity threats. Network virtualization is in fact, imperative to thrive in today’s threat landscape to allow operators network slicing to separate network resources and guarantee greater security.

Proactive route testing, home routing, and re-routing capabilities are also essential to improve the security posture. It helps operators analyze the information exchange between two parties and identify discrepancies that reveal suspect routes and direct proactive attention to the same.

Address enterprise needs proactively

Enterprise needs are changing as the world of work continues to experience constant disruption. Digital transformation for telecom operators thus becomes non-negotiable if they want to improve their topline and fulfil the demands of the new normal.

Telecom companies now need to address enterprise unified communication needs along with the usual suspects of connectivity and messaging and develop their capabilities to provide greater customization across services.

Whether it is enabling e-KYC, improving security, providing customized billing, etc.- they need new technologies such as AI and ensure that their IT systems can adapt to the changing needs. Legacy technologies and systems, given their monolithic nature, make it harder to drive agility in today’s fast-paced business environment.

Telecom companies need to identify how they will integrate with legacy technologies to leverage the advantages that new technologies and digital transformation offer. Telecom companies have experienced the greatest challenge in a generation where they have to keep businesses and individuals connected while meeting unprecedented demand for connectivity. Moving along the path of digital transformation and updating the legacy stack is the only way forward.

Is It Time For The Next-Gen Option To OTP?

Two-factor authentication is now a staple in the business world when it comes to validating customer communications. Allowing businesses to verify user identity through two or more authentication mechanisms, the method has been helping in adding an extra layer of protection to any sign-in process and protecting the business against breaches due to lost or stolen credentials.

While receiving a code or OTP on a registered mobile device for one login or transaction has been one of the most popular authentication mechanisms, it is now time for the next-gen option to OTP: Flash Call!

What are the challenges associated with OTP?

When users try to log into an app or try to make a banking transaction, OTP has been the go-to choice for secure authentication. According to reports, SMS-based authentication revenue will reach$39 billion globally in 2022, representing 5% of total operator-billed revenue.

Although OTPs help adds an additional layer of security, they bring with them their own set of challenges. For instance,

OTPs are known to be inconvenient and not very user-friendly. Users who aren’t very tech-savvy often find the OTP process confusing, unnecessary, or even cumbersome.
OTPs demand a reliable cell phone signal as well as sufficient battery life, which when not guaranteed, can result in delivery failures.
Many times, due to poor network, users fail to receive the OTP or receive it very late, requiring them to reinitiate the authentication process all over again – causing a high level of frustration, especially with banking transactions.
Some OTPs that are sent to the mailbox also tend to be delayed or land in the spam folder, which again leads to lost access.
For apps or transactions that make use of 3rd party messaging providers, users are also likely to incur a per-text charge to access their OTP and go ahead with the authentication process.
When using a mobile application that initiates an OTP process, toggling between the app window and the SMS window isn’t always everyone’s cup of tea; there is also the possibility of the wrong code being entered by the user, which requires users to start over again.
Users who need to authenticate a login while travelling abroad often do not receive an OTP because they do not have the international roaming facility enabled on their device.
For users whose OTP device is lost or stolen, multiple login attempts by bad actors can permanently lock them out of their accounts.

That apart, SMS is also the target of fraud and prone to security issues created by routing through questionable providers and grey routes.

What is Flash Call?

As the latest method for two-factor authentication, Flash Call reduces the widespread dependency on OTP, while helping overcome issues about inconvenience, data security, and lack of user-friendliness. It uses voice – instead of messaging – for authentication and is a far more customer-centric and cost-efficient solution to authenticate users, helping verify a user’s identity – without involving an SMS code. Since it involves no user interaction, Flash Call has the potential to disrupt the highly established A2P SMS market.

For instance, the global messaging app WhatsApp is reportedly working on integrating Flash Call as an alternative to OTP. Instead of making users enter a one-time, 6-digit code that they receive by SMS, the new Flash Call feature will allow WhatsApp to directly make a call to their device and verify the phone number – without users having to take any action. Such authentication will not overcome all the drawbacks of OTP; it will also pave the way for quicker verification and improved customer satisfaction.

How does it help businesses?

Flash Calling authentication is expected to near 128 billion calls globally by 2026; here’s how the new mechanism can aid businesses:

Accelerate the authentication process: Unlike the time-consuming OTP process where users have to open their SMS application to check for the OTP and enter it to authenticate themselves, Flash Call automates this verification process – without users having to do anything. As an automatic call is made – and then rejected – and the last four digits are automatically inserted, the device is instantly verified – thus accelerating the authentication process.
Offer a richer user experience: Flash Call allows businesses to have a greater ability to customize the user interface, the overall user experience is richer and more engaging. Since users no longer have to go back and forth between apps, there is a considerable increase in user satisfaction, which, in the long run, can also lead to better loyalty and retention.
Improve conversion rates: Flash Call is also a great way to improve conversion rates. Since users are no longer distracted by receiving and entering one-time passwords, businesses can pave the way for automatic verification and ensure quicker user signup – which can result in improved conversion rates in the long run.
Enable better security: Flash Calls are also known to more secure and amenable to privacy. Since the mechanism cannot be intercepted or terminated by fraudsters, it results in a higher level of security. At the same time, for apps or transactions that are used across multiple devices, Flash Call will make it easier and safer for users to log in to each device separately.
Reduce operational costs: Businesses today end up spending way too much money running their business for activities that span marketing, online advertising, analytics, and more. Common 2-factor authentication mechanisms like OTP only add to these costs, especially in countries where operators charge high rates for SMS and phone calls. Flash Call is a great alternative to the expensive OTP, allowing businesses to save a considerable sum on the authentication process.

As a new technology that can be used to authenticate users, Flash Call is a great alternative to the traditional, costly, and ineffective OTP authentication method. Not only does it enable quicker and more efficient authentication; it also aids in improving the end-user experience through automated verification. Given the numerous benefits it offers over OTP, Flash Call might just become a hot favourite for commerce, payments, and telecom companies. When that happens, let us show you how a powerful new alternative to OTP could work!

2022 Priorities for telecom leaders

Over the past few years, telcos have come under pressure to identify new modes to add value to customers as traditional value pools deplete. This year, the telecom industry is geared to face new challenges and opportunities as the technological, regulatory, and competitive environments continue to evolve and change.

While augmenting network capacity by enabling wireless and fibre deployments to fulfil the demand for high-speed networks, telecom providers will also have to enhance the customer experience to remain relevant in this increasingly competitive market.

Some of the priorities for telecom providers in 2022 are:

Enhance customer experience

Industry surveys reveal that 56% of telecom operators rank enhancing customer experience as one of their top priorities for 2022. Research shows that 82% of telecom consumers would consider alternatives if they experience a poor customer journey. 27% of them would abandon the purchasing process entirely.

Telecom providers thus must identify ways to create more viable alternatives to deliver high-quality communication and internet services and identify opportunities to make new service and bundled service offerings.

Telecom players will have to identify how to redefine their interaction models and offer more Uber-like online experiences and also assess how they can leverage technologies such as AI, ML, Big Data, and analytics to redefine service delivery and enhance value capture models.

They also have to identify ways to continuously add value by streamlining new offerings to match an evolving voice market and support their customers with new models and technologies.

Adopting the managed services model

In 2022, telecom players will grow in their role of being business enablers. As the pandemic continues to influence the way people live and work, telecom players will have to identify ways to enable customer success by delivering end-to-end managed services.

Comprehensive managed services such as switch partitioning, geographically distributed switches with redundant connections to the Internet providers become important capabilities. That apart, burstable bandwidth and switch port usage flexibility, and the capacity to manage billing, accounting, credit monitoring, deal management, market management, dispute management, fraud control and usage alert, traffic report, and various other services are other essential capabilities to develop.

Routing optimization drives RoI

Telecom players have to look at optimizing revenues and plugging leaks to improve business outcomes. Establishing cost-efficient traffic routes, optimizing operations by efficiently routing voice traffic will be critical contributors of the same. Technologies such as AI and ML will emerge as enablers with deep analytics facilitating improved decision making.

Telecom players will have to leverage comprehensive technology solutions to make intelligent routing decisions and ensure improved call quality and the best rates. We cannot ignore the role of enabling technologies like AI and ML to drive greater efficiency for voice traffic and maximize the ROI.

Eliminating friction

Telecom players will have to eliminate friction from all customer and user interactions to accelerate growth. They have to gear up to support evolving customer needs and deliver elevated user experiences by providing world-class service.

Leveraging technologies such as API’s telecom players can integrate voice calling within applications and enable their clients to receive and control calls across global locations.

Telecom players have to also identify ways to build their virtual presence with geographically specific numbers and capably service their customers.

Rich Communication Messaging will need to rise

Telcom players will also have to enable businesses to upgrade from SMS to RCS especially as feature-rich messaging assumes the role of a new business driver. Much like proprietary messaging applications, RCS offers some rich features and allows compelling media exchanges. RCS is all geared to disrupt the world of business messaging by delivering a more compelling messaging experience.

The coming of 5G is further aiding the adoption of RCS messaging with 67.44% of online consumers located across Australia, Brazil, China, South Africa, the UK, and the US stating that they were already using a telco-based rich messaging service or would like to do so in the near future.

Telecom providers thus have to look at ways of upgrading their ecosystem by developing the right partnerships with aggregators, connectivity service providers and meeting the market demand for RCS.

Plug revenue leaks

As with every year, this year too, telecom players have to look for ways to plug revenue leaks and improve revenue opportunities by identifying new business opportunities, increasing their customer base, and improving brand recognition. Recent research shows that between 2020 -2024 telecom operators could be looking at revenue leaks amounting to an approximate $37.1 billion, or an annual average leakage of $7.69 billion to grey route traffic.

Adding new-age technology solutions powered by intelligent technologies such as AI thus become increasingly important for telecom providers. Plugging in big-data analytics with traditional messaging firewalls helps telcos identify fraudulent patterns faster. Implementing blocking rules will also become essential to reduce the time between fraud and fraud detection and improve the overall security posture.

Deploying deploy anti-fraud capabilities including data analytics, and 24/7 monitoring, reporting, and alerting also become crucial capabilities for telecom players this year.

In Conclusion

The international wholesale voice traffic is expected to exceed 1 trillion minutes by 2027. Along with VoIP networks, this is likely to fuel international wholesale voice carrier industry demand. While telecom players must capably fuel the growing demand for voice termination services and international roaming with the proliferation of the LTE network, they need to identify ways to amplify their network and infrastructure to enable new services, drive customer satisfaction, and capture new markets by stimulating market demands. Let us help you on your modernization journey to take on the new challenges of the new marketplace!