According to our in-house research and published information obtained from research firms, telecom service providers including MVNOs and M2M connectivity providers suffered the highest volume of breach of sensitive customer information through DNS attacks. With the addition of the Internet of Things, data security takes a whole new level of significance for connectivity service providers.
In the last two years, many IoT and critical infrastructure projects involving telcos have been impacted by issues related to loT Connectivity Security leading to delay in project outcomes or projects being abandoned altogether.
This has had a clear impact on the margins of telcos as well since many of these were proof of concept projects that could theoretically have led to an increase in the number of endpoints on their network, increased data consumption, and direct revenue as a result of connectivity and managed services.
It is not just the revenue alone but the credibility and erosion of the enterprise customer base that telcos are staring at. With the emergence of other connectivity options such as satellite-based connectivity service providers, even the marketplace relevance of telcos is threatened.
It is no surprise therefore that telcos are now paying more attention to the machine to machine or M2M security practices, IoT security solutions, and cybersecurity postures that are aligned towards offering better security and assurance to customers. Telcom IoT security has therefore come into prominence like never before.
As the world battles a pandemic, there is another battle going on in parallel. Many enterprises and telcos have reported a surge in Coronavirus themed attacks designed to lure employees into downloading potent malware and application manipulation objects. This threatens telecom networks in a big way and telcos need to adapt their security posture to contain and eradicate this threat. Key elements of this change could include:
- More focus on early detection and containment of suspicious activity and rogue devices
- Use a Zero trust approach when it comes to enabling access to network resources
- Work on segmenting networks or rather micro-segmenting them to prevent lateral movement of malware
- Sensitize employees and all stakeholders to align them towards heightened awareness of cybersecurity
- Invest in identifying threats across the spectrum including emerging ones
- Deploy a cyber resilience strategy that prevents disruption
Monetizing cybersecurity has been a holy grail of sorts for telcos. On the one hand, they have to deal with meeting their security needs while on the other they have to also ensure that the deployments hosted on their networks are also secure and cyber resilient.
Recently, a leading mobile virtual network operator was able to not just monetize cybersecurity, but also use it as a vector to deepen their existing relationship with premium customers. The result – a significant increase in additional revenue. What’s more, they were also able to stay protected against malware that impaired some of their competitors and their large customers. The average savings per breach ranged from USD 250,000 to over a million. These numbers are rising as the threat environment continues to deteriorate.
The gains lodged from strengthening the profitability of key relationships – priceless. Subex Secure is powering this endeavor.
You can read this unique case study here.
To know more about Subexsecure’s offerings and to schedule a demo, call: +91 80 6659 8700
Click here to know more about how Subexsecure has been working with telcos across the globe to secure the IoT initiatives adopted by their customers.
