Best Telecommunication Security Audit Service
Why Cybersecurity needs to be a priority for the Telecom Sector ?
When it comes to communication between individuals and companies, telecommunications can’t be missed from the conversation. It impacts every person and business in one way or another. Telecommunications enables businesses to collaborate easily, allows employees to communicate both internally and externally.
It is the tool to negotiate and deliver your product and services to the end-users. It is connected to every industry, it encompasses each sector. Telecommunications is everywhere. Hence, this area is more exposed to external threats than others.
It is crucial to ensure a strong line of defense in this industry, so your entire organization has up-to-date protection and is aware of best practices. That is why telecom security is most essential.
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Why Industry is a target for cybercrime (Business Risks)
In many cases, the hardware used by the telecommunications industry carries configuration interfaces that can be accessed openly via HTTP, SSH, FTP or telnet. This means that if the firewall is not configured correctly, the hardware in question becomes an easy target for unauthorized access.
The risk presented by publicly exposed GTP/GRX (GPRS Tunneling Protocol/GPRSRoaming Exchange) ports on devices provides a good example of this. As CSPs encrypt the GPRS traffic between the devices and the Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN), it is difficult to intercept and decrypt the transferred data. However, an attacker can bypass this restriction by searching on Shodan.io for devices with open GTP ports, connecting to them and then encapsulating GTP control packets into the created tunnel.
An example of such an attack took place in March 2015, when Internet traffic for 167 important British Telecom customers, including a UK defense contractor that helps to deliver the country's nuclear warhead program, was illegally diverted to servers in Ukraine before being passed along to its final destinations.
To avoid probable attacks against BGP from unauthorized remote malefactors, we recommend that companies provide network filtering, allowing only a limited number of authorized peers to connect to BGP services. To protect against malicious re-routing and hijacking initiated through authorized autonomous systems we recommend that they monitor anomalies in BGP communications (this can be done through specialized software solutions or by subscribing to alerts from vendors providing this kind of monitoring.)
Cybersecurity in Telecom is a priority.
If delayed can become a responsibility.
How Telecommunication Industry is targeted (Technical Threats)
- Threats targeting telecommunication companies directly. These include DDoS attacks, targeted attacks (APT campaigns), network device vulnerabilities and human-related threats like insider access, social engineering and the risk of allowing third parties to access information.
- Threats targeting subscribers of telecoms services – particularly the customers of cellular service providers (CSPs) and Internet service providers (ISPs). These include malware for mobile devices, subscriber data harvesting, enduser device vulnerabilities, and more.
- Undress Software Vulnerabilities : - Despite all the high profile hacks and embarrassing data leaks of the last 12 months, attackers are still breaching telecoms defenses and making off with vast quantities of valuable, personal data. In many cases, attackers are exploiting new or under-protected vulnerabilities. Threat Intelligence Report for the Telecommunications Industry For example, in 2015, two members of the hacker group, Linker Squad allegedly gained access to Orange Spain through a company website vulnerable to a simple SQL injection with the intention of stealing customer and employee data.
- Vulnerabilities in Network Devices : - Routers and other network devices are also primary targets for attacks against telecommunications companies. In September 2015, FireEye researchers revealed the router malware “SYNful knock”, a combination of leaked privilege (root) credentials and a way of replacing device firmware that targets Cisco 1841, 2811 and 3825 routers (see Cisco advisory here).
- Put simply, SYNful knock is a modified device firmware image with backdoor access that can replace the original operating system if the attacker has managed to obtain privileged access to the device or can physically connect to it. SYNful is not a pure software vulnerability, but a combination of leaked privileged credentials combined with a certain way of replacing device firmware. Still, it is a dangerous way of compromising an organization’s IT infrastructure.
- Malicious Insiders : - Even if you consider your critical systems and devices protected and safe, it is difficult to fully control some attack vectors. People rank at the very top of this list. Their motivations are often hard to predict and anticipate, ranging from a desire for financial gain to disaffection, coercion and simple carelessness.
- While insider-assisted attacks are uncommon, the impact of such attacks can be devastating as they provide a direct route to the most valuable information.
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The challenges Industry is facing:
Top tips for securing Telecommunication Domain Top tips for securing Telecommunication Domain Top tips for securing Telecommunication Domain
Safeguarding against threats, reducing the attack surface, and security systems of large, complicated, and multifaceted organisations is not a quick fix. Cost is also a contributing factor, as many organisations have limited resources, and are unable to secure their devices, systems, people, and processes internally.
This is what Managed Security Providers (MSP’s) provide. With the right threat intelligence, telecommunication companies are able to enhance their business profile, make business decisions based off of accurate data, and empower their security team to quickly and accurately address cyber threats and mitigate them in rapid time.
Digital Risk and Threat Monitoring, can be used to harvest information available on the dark web, deep web and in the public domain, to provide superior security and visibility to identify and highlight attacks, detect breached material and safeguard data, people and processes against future threats within the industry.
How Cybersecurity Can help against Cybercrimes
Telecom players have both an exciting and complex time ahead. On the one hand, the industry is undergoing major transformations, resulting in new revenue opportunities and value streams. On the other hand, an increased presence of new assets (such as IoT devices) and increased pressure on the old communication protocols enlarges the defense perimeter every telco needs to create.
Ultimately, to have strong and reliable telecom security mechanisms, you will need to switch from reactive security to proactive – one that relies on extensive monitoring and has predictive capabilities, powered by advanced analytics and AI. Conduct proper risk assessments for current systems, decentralize and automate the core security requirements with appropriate tools and run even deeper assessments for emerging technologies such as IoT, 5G, and NFV among others.
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