{"id":4826,"date":"2021-11-23T17:48:47","date_gmt":"2021-11-23T14:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.endpointprotector.com\/blog\/?p=4826"},"modified":"2023-12-01T23:56:07","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T20:56:07","slug":"reducing-data-security-risks-in-the-telecom-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.endpointprotector.com\/blog\/reducing-data-security-risks-in-the-telecom-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"How Can Telecom Companies Reduce Data Security Risks"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0telecommunications\u00a0industry\u00a0is one of the biggest collectors of sensitive information in the world. With millions of customers sharing personally identifiable information<\/a> (PII) and financial data with them, telecom companies are relentlessly targeted by\u00a0cybercriminals.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0cybersecurity\u00a0firm\u00a0EfficientIP<\/a>, 43% of\u00a0telecom\u00a0operators\u00a0suffered from Domain Name System (DNS)-based\u00a0malware\u00a0attacks in 2018, with a staggering 81% taking three days or more to apply a critical security patch after a\u00a0data breach\u00a0was detected. The same report showed that the\u00a0telecommunications\u00a0sector\u00a0has the most\u00a0sensitive data\u00a0stolen across all industries, with 30% of\u00a0telcos\u00a0that participated in the survey reporting sensitive customer information stolen.<\/p>\n

More recently, security company Cloudflare\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0that the\u00a0telecommunications\u00a0industry\u00a0was the most targeted by another major\u00a0cybersecurity\u00a0threat,\u00a0distributed denial of service\u00a0(DDoS) attacks, in the first quarter of 2021, a significant jump from the previous year.<\/p>\n

A Kaspersky report<\/a>\u00a0also showed that\u00a0cybercriminals\u00a0often recruit insiders to attack\u00a0telecom\u00a0providers.\u00a0Hackers\u00a0turn disgruntled employees into malicious insiders or blackmail staff using compromising information gathered from open sources. Almost 28% of all\u00a0telecom-targeting\u00a0cyberattacks\u00a0involved malicious activity by insiders at the time the report was released.<\/p>\n

But\u00a0such attacks\u00a0are not the only thing\u00a0telecom\u00a0companies\u00a0need to be worried about.\u00a0Sensitive data\u00a0such as PII and financial information are also protected under a new wave of data protection laws and international standards. From the EU\u2019s\u00a0General Data Protection Regulation<\/a>\u00a0(GDPR) to Brazil\u2019s\u00a0Lei Geral de Prote\u00e7\u00e3o de Dados<\/a>\u00a0(LGPD) and Japan\u2019s\u00a0Act on the Protection of Personal Information<\/a>\u00a0(APPI), the protection of\u00a0personal data\u00a0has become a legal obligation worldwide. Failure to comply with these laws can lead to massive financial penalties and reputational damage.<\/p>\n

When it comes to financial information, the\u00a0Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard<\/a>\u00a0(PCI DSS) was set up by the world\u2019s biggest card brands to ensure the protection of payment systems from breaches, fraud, and theft of cardholder data. While not legally binding, PCI DSS is a general standard adopted by financial\u00a0service\u00a0providers\u00a0across the world and compliance is required for any organization wishing to accept credit or debit card payments, whether in person, over the phone or online.<\/p>\n

For all these reasons, data security should be a prime concern for the\u00a0telecom\u00a0sector. But how can telcos minimize these\u00a0cyber risks\u00a0and avoid data loss? Here are our recommendations.<\/p>\n

Limiting\u00a0sensitive data\u00a0transfers<\/h2>\n

The human factor is often the weakest link in a\u00a0cybersecurity\u00a0strategy. Whether they have been compromised by malicious outsiders or are one careless step away from a data leak, insider threats<\/a> are a very real security concern.\u00a0Telecom\u00a0companies\u00a0can limit the damage employees can do by implementing Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solutions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

DLP technology protects\u00a0sensitive data\u00a0directly.\u00a0Telcos\u00a0can choose predefined profiles for sensitive information such as\u00a0PII<\/a>\u00a0and credit card information, but also compliance-oriented profiles for laws and standards such as GDPR and PCI DSS. These definitions can be customized to serve a particular\u00a0telecom\u00a0company\u2019s needs and include other categories of\u00a0sensitive data\u00a0such as\u00a0intellectual property<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0source code<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Once\u00a0sensitive data\u00a0is defined, DLP solutions can search for it through hundreds of file types using contextual scanning and content inspection. The movements of files containing sensitive information can then be monitored in\u00a0real-time,\u00a0and their transfer can be limited or blocked. In this way,\u00a0telecommunications\u00a0companies\u00a0can prevent employees from sharing sensitive information via messaging apps, file-sharing services, personal emails and more.<\/p>\n

Controlling removable devices<\/h2>\n

Another way in which employees can\u00a0exfiltrate data<\/a>\u00a0is through removable devices. USBs, in particular, are easy to hide and misplace, making them ideal tools for data theft and a constant source of data loss.\u00a0 To prevent employees from using USBs or limit their use of company-trusted devices,\u00a0telcos\u00a0can turn to DLP solutions.<\/p>\n

DLP tools come with device control features<\/a> that allow companies to block or limit the use of USB and peripheral ports as well as Bluetooth\u00a0connections. By preventing employees from connecting personal removable devices<\/a> which do not meet company security standards and might be a source of network infection,\u00a0telcos\u00a0can help keep data secure.<\/p>\n

Cross-platform capabilities<\/h2>\n

Telecom\u00a0companies\u00a0often run a mixed-operating system environment. Most security products will focus on a specific operating system \u2013 frequently Windows, which is the predominant operating system in the enterprise \u2013 and offer only stripped-down versions for other operating systems.<\/p>\n

This can expose computers running on other operating systems to\u00a0data breaches. While some operating systems are less vulnerable to external\u00a0security threats, data stored on them is just as exposed to insider negligence or malicious intent as well as employee-targeting\u00a0cyberattacks\u00a0such as those based on\u00a0phishing\u00a0and\u00a0social engineering.<\/p>\n

Therefore, it is essential for\u00a0telecom\u00a0companies\u00a0to choose data\u00a0security services\u00a0to ensure that all operating systems on their network are offered the same level of protection. This can translate into multiple products, each specialized in a single OS or cross-platform solutions such as\u00a0Endpoint\u00a0Protector<\/a> that offer feature parity for Windows, macOS and Linux.<\/p>\n

In conclusion<\/h2>\n

Telecom\u00a0companies\u00a0are a data goldmine, making them one of the most targeted industries in the world. From\u00a0DNS\u00a0and\u00a0DDoS attacks\u00a0to the collusion of malicious insiders and employee negligence,\u00a0telcos\u00a0have a lot of\u00a0vulnerabilities\u00a0they need to address through their\u00a0cybersecurity\u00a0strategies.<\/p>\n

To ensure\u00a0network security,\u00a0telecommunications\u00a0companies\u00a0should look beyond basic\u00a0security measures\u00a0like\u00a0firewalls\u00a0and antimalware solutions to more profound fundamental changes such as a shift towards Zero Trust<\/a> architecture and a data-centric approach to\u00a0cybersecurity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0telecommunications\u00a0industry\u00a0is one of the biggest collectors of sensitive information in the world. With millions of customers sharing personally identifiable information (PII) and financial data with them, telecom companies are relentlessly targeted by\u00a0cybercriminals. According to\u00a0cybersecurity\u00a0firm\u00a0EfficientIP, 43% of\u00a0telecom\u00a0operators\u00a0suffered from Domain Name System (DNS)-based\u00a0malware\u00a0attacks in 2018, with a staggering 81% taking three days or more to apply a … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “How Can Telecom Companies Reduce Data Security Risks”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":4828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[226],"tags":[228],"class_list":["post-4826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-data-security","tag-telecom","entry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.endpointprotector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.endpointprotector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.endpointprotector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.endpointprotector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.endpointprotector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4826"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.endpointprotector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5761,"href":"https:\/\/www.endpointprotector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4826\/revisions\/5761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.endpointprotector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.endpointprotector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.endpointprotector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.endpointprotector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}