industry unlocked
beyond the initial incident. Moreover,
end-user equipment – home routers,
smartphones, IoT devices and more –
are not entirely under CSP control. They
can be easy to compromise and thus
are ideal targets for hackers looking to
steal data.
Following a long year of social
media giants battling with digital
regulations, data privacy is a higher
priority than ever before. Since
prominent communications brands
have also been implicated in major
data breaches, CSPs are beginning to
recognise the need to embrace trust as
a competitive differentiator.
For consumers, the dramatic expansion
in bandwidth and connectivity that
will come with 5G technologies and
emerging IoT devices will provide more
options to engage with media. It will
also present new opportunities for both
media providers and network operators.
There’s no doubt that it’s an exciting
time in the telecommunications sector.
www.intelligentciso.com
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Issue 23
Organisations
need to familiarise
themselves with
these developing
threats and the
volatile landscape,
while ensuring they
have a robust way to
protect themselves
against these
threats.
Although CSPs are best positioned to
enable these new business models, they
can’t just sit back and enjoy the riches
of growth. They still need to work to
secure their customers from the risks
inherent to the data economy.
Telecommunications
infrastructure is a unique
access point to national
security for cybercriminals
The infrastructure of telecommunications
organisations is inherently more exposed
to hard-hitting cyberattacks compared to
other consumer-oriented organisations.
Bad publicity, brand damage and
regulatory fines can cause short to
medium-term damage but an attack on a
telecoms company has the potential for
a much deeper impact than most other
services have to worry about.
Telecommunications systems are
embedded so deeply within the networks
of nations across the globe that their
security has become paramount. They
are constantly functioning as facilitators
of not only financial and business
transactions, but also emergency
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