According to a new global report by EY, 53% of telecommunications companies believe that the total cost of cybersecurity breaches within their organisation will exceed three million dollars in 2023, an increase of 40% since 2022. This research is crucial to all those in the telecoms industry, providing an excellent framework to ensure that our comprehensive fraud solutions are hitting the target every time.
The number one risk for the telecommunications industry is clearly identified in this research as cybercrime. This covers many different types of fraud that can affect the telecoms industry and shows that financial integrity can be compromised in several different ways without a multi-faceted solution to combat it.
Risks for the Telecoms Sector
The most significant risk highlighted for the telecoms sector is cybercrime, or cybersecurity breaches. This includes fraudulent schemes that make use of AI, which is constantly evolving to become more and more sophisticated. According to the cited research, four in five telecoms companies agree that AI is, overall, a positive factor in the industry. However, seven in ten believe that they need to step up their solutions to the many ways in which AI can be used to target customers.
Many of the other risks identified in the report refer to people based problems, such as failing to respond appropriately to customers during the cost-of-living crisis and poor management of talent within telecoms organisations. Another area of concern was identified as poor management of the sustainability agenda, and this requires drastic action to improve.
Coming in at number five in the list of risks for the telecom sector is the inability to take advantage of new business models, and this is relevant to us because these same providers may be hesitant to utilise innovative new solutions that use the latest technology to combat fraud. The research also points to inadequate network quality and value proposition, failure to improve workforce culture and ineffective engagement with external ecosystems. An inability to adapt to the changing regulatory landscape is another key risk, and we can help here by ensuring that all of your procedures and their solutions are compliant with relevant legislation.
What is Cybercrime?
Cybercrime covers a vast array of fraudulent activities and some of these are more common than others. For instance, social engineering attacks are designed to work by exploiting normal human emotions and kindness, using AI and deepfake technologies to create fraud attacks that are highly personalised and very sophisticated. This is an increasingly common type of fraud, and fake calls that use AI and Robot technology are another type of fraud, known as Wangiri.
Some types of fraud are targeted at specific online platforms, such as Over-The-Top fraud (OTT), which is used on platforms such as Viper and WhatsApp to access personal accounts without permission, carrying out spam attacks and content piracy. In the telecommunications industry, we have also noticed that mobile roaming fraud that diverts communications and inflates call and data usage costs is becoming more common, and AIT, Artificially Inflated Traffic, is another fast growing type of fraud.
How can we Mitigate the Risks of Cybercrime?
There are many ways in which we can combat the risks of cybercrime, and our role at Xintec is to find a tailored solution that identifies and prevents all avenues for fraud. There are three core recommendations from the EY report to approach the ten risks outlined, and this does not just relate to cybercrime but is relevant for all telecoms companies. In line with the research, we recommend:
- Better governance. Many threats can be addressed with better governance, especially with the introduction of new technologies such as Generative AI. This involves taking an honest look at current data governance frameworks and being ruthless with plans for more effective decision making and dynamic new approaches, and means working in conjunction with your suppliers and regulators to create a foolproof framework.
- Inform yourself. Staying on top of the latest trends and tools when it comes to fraudulent activity and cybercrime can be transformative for your business. This will enable you to identify potential threats and risks and adapt your existing strategies to combat these more effectively.
- Embrace change. Many companies are stepping into the future by embracing remote working and promoting the use of new technologies at every opportunity. Effective team training on how to recognise potential problems early on can save a huge amount of time and revenue. These steps can ensure that employees are better engaged and this reduces internal risk and benefits relationships with external stakeholders, too. Your software should be regularly updated, along with your operating systems and applications in order to prevent potential breaches and protect against security sinkholes.
- Focus on customers. Your business is nothing without your customers and it is vital to identify your commitment to your customers clearly and ensure that you are delivering what they want. Educating your customers around the risks and common types of fraud can make a big difference to their awareness and ability to confront any unusual activity, which can prevent a great deal of cybercrime. Recent world events have shifted customer expectations and requirements a great deal and this is a good time to reframe your mission.
Protect Your Customers with Xintec
Here at Xintec, our mission is to provide Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management solutions for telecoms and utility providers across the world. We can work with existing packages or adapt our services to provide a bespoke solution that protects your business on every level. Our solutions are scalable and rely on real, human intelligence to form the core of our approach.
Our team is an experienced collective of architects, domain experts and technologists with more than fifteen years experience of protecting businesses and their customers. With our fully integrated platform, iGenuity, we offer a dynamic solution that will transform the way you manage and protect your revenues, giving you a comprehensive view of your data in real-time. Talk to us today to find out more about the ways we can work together to detect and combat fraud throughout your organisation.