The telecom industry is keeping the world connected. From private communications to business interactions, it is a basic part of our daily lives, thus, data security should not be neglected.
An organization's most valuable asset is its data; whether it’s about its transactions, communications, databases, and infrastructure. Maintaining the confidentiality and security of a company's data should be a top priority, regardless of any legal or regulatory requirements. By that, you are preventing competitors from accessing your sensitive data, retaining data integrity and providing easy access to data wherever and whenever it is needed.
Why is data security important?
The purpose of data security is to maintain the privacy of individuals and to prevent data manipulation. No business today, no matter how large or how small, should overlook implementing security measures. Not having an adequate plan in place for information security can lead to serious consequences for companies. Some preventative measures to consider are:
- Ensuring business continuity: By ensuring routine data backups, business continuity is ensured in the case of data inaccessibility or loss.
- Avoiding data breaches: Organizations have a responsibility to protect client and employee records and transactions. Data breaches have several negative consequences for businesses, for e.g.: financial costs, loss of public trust, damaged reputation, impact on future profits.
- Preventing unauthorized access: With the development of advanced hacking techniques, hackers are increasingly knowledgeable.
How does data security affect the telecom industry?
The telecommunications industry is one of the world's largest collectors of sensitive data. Cybercriminals persistently target telecom companies because millions of customers share personal data with them. A security strategy should be put in place in order to prevent the threat and block it when it occurs. and stopp a cyber-attack by proactively managing the situation.
In 2018, a report by cybersecurity firm, EfficientIP, stated, “43% of telecom operators had DNS-based malware attacks, with 81% taking three days or more to apply a critical security patch following a data breach.” The same report showed that the telecommunications sector “has the most sensitive data stolen across all industries”, with 30% of telcos that participated in the survey reporting sensitive customer information stolen.
Furthermore, employees can also steal data from removable devices; USBs in particular, are easy to hide and misplace, making them ideal tools for data theft and a constant cause of data loss. Telcos can turn to DLP (data loss prevention) solutions to prevent employees from using USBs or to limit their use of company-trusted devices.
Moreover, as technology has advanced and our world has grown, cyberattacks specifically targeting the telecom industry have skyrocketed in recent years. Hence, it is important for telecom companies to choose data security services to ensure that all operating systems on their network are receiving the same level of protection.
Another contributing factor is cost, since many organizations lack resources and are unable to secure their devices, systems, people, and processes internally. Through the use of threat intelligence, telecommunication companies can make business decisions, and empower their security teams to respond quickly and accurately to cyberthreats, based on accurate data with the help of managed security service provider (MSSP).
Besides that, digital risk and threat monitoring can harvest information found on the dark web, deep web, and in the public domain and provide superior security and visibility, identifying and highlighting attacks, detecting breached material, and safeguarding data, people, and processes against future threats within the industry.