{"id":5075,"date":"2024-08-29T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/vulnerabilities-threats\/how-telecom-vulnerabilities-can-be-a-threat-to-cybersecurity-posture"},"modified":"2024-08-29T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T14:00:00","slug":"how-telecom-vulnerabilities-can-be-a-threat-to-cybersecurity-posture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/08\/29\/how-telecom-vulnerabilities-can-be-a-threat-to-cybersecurity-posture\/","title":{"rendered":"How Telecom Vulnerabilities Can Be a Threat to Cybersecurity Posture"},"content":{"rendered":"
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COMMENTARY<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Messaging channels have long been the darling of growth and customer experience teams. They unlock a range of use cases: activating dormant users, allowing users to safeguard their accounts using a SMS-based <\/span>two-factor authentication (2FA)<\/a><\/span>, and more. <\/span>SMS<\/a><\/span> and voice channels have been leading the charter across industries and, <\/span>according to one study<\/a><\/span>, these channels have been and will continue to be heavily leveraged.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, attackers follow money. Telecom-based attacks such as SMS toll fraud and 2FA hijacking have evolved into a mainstream concern for chief information security officers (CISOs), and have already affected the likes of X and many other enterprises. Elon Musk was the first prominent personality to <\/span>show the damage<\/a><\/span> that toll fraud brings to business.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Perils of an Invisible Chain and Trust-Based Architecture<\/h2>\n

Signaling System 7 (SS7), a critical component of the global telecommunications infrastructure allowing different networks to interoperate, is responsible for services such as messaging and voice calls. However, in the world of zero-trust architecture, SS7 still relies on the archaic trust-based architecture. Inherently, a trust-based architecture assumes that all participants are honest and legitimate, which the attackers exploit. They either take over a legitimate but less secure operator or pose as a legitimate operator in the middle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Given the decentralized nature and regional scope of networks, operators lack complete visibility on the origination and termination of traffic. Attackers leverage this shortcoming to generate fake traffic with spoofed origination details, making it look legit. Such acts damage revenues for businesses as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some networks have started to leverage SSE and IPSec protocols, but those are far from mainstream adoption, giving attackers a key entry point to the infrastructure.<\/span><\/p>\n

An Illegal Tax for Businesses<\/h2>\n

Telco-driven attacks are a tax for businesses, albeit illegal. Given the complexity and opacity of the chain, businesses don’t have visibility and are often forced to pay for services they never requested. In the case of SMS toll fraud, the redirections to premium rate numbers are nonconsensual. Network operators often create complicated contracts to account for these charges, with little recourse for businesses once the fraud has happened.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, such attacks affect <\/span>small and medium-scale businesses disproportionately<\/a><\/span>. They often incur large debt to pay these charges and end up shutting operations or filing bankruptcy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Given the disproportionate hit businesses take, they should adopt proactive and long-term measures to defend themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

Threats to Cybersecurity Posture<\/h2>\n

Telco-driven attacks do more than inflate bills payable. The cascading effects span across teams and to the businesses’ customers. <\/span><\/p>\n

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