Telecom security must be a top priority for any business that relies on call centers to connect with customers and prospects. While businesses have been laser-focused on network and data security in this age of digital transformation, telecom security has been something of an afterthought. This gap in attention has provided an opening for hackers, spammers, and fraudsters to target businesses by attacking their telecom systems and call centers. As a result, more businesses today are turning to telecom and call center security solutions to defend against a growing landscape of threats. By deploying technology for call filtering, traffic monitoring, and other solutions, businesses can avoid the devastating financial and reputational consequences of a telecom security breach.
Common Threats to Telecom Security
Businesses today must combat a rapidly evolving landscape of telecom security and call center threats.
- Robocalls Automated calls can be used to launch scams, spread malware, or conduct reconnaissance for larger attacks. They can also consume valuable system resources, causing operational inefficiencies and frustrating customers with unwanted communications.
- Spoofing Attackers manipulate caller ID to impersonate legitimate entities, tricking victims into sharing sensitive information. Spoofing is often used in vishing schemes to extract financial or personal data. This threat erodes trust in caller ID systems and complicates legitimate communications.
- Vishing (Voice Phishing) Fraudsters use phone calls to deceive individuals into providing confidential information. Attackers often mimic trusted organizations, such as banks or government agencies, and create a false sense of urgency. Victims may disclose sensitive details like passwords or account numbers, leading to financial and data theft.
- TDoS (Telephony Denial of Service) TDoS attacks flood voice systems with illegitimate calls, overwhelming their capacity and rendering them unavailable for legitimate users. This can severely disrupt contact center operations, delay emergency responses, and damage customer relationships due to service unavailability.
- Fraud In telephony, fraud involves the unauthorized use of telecommunications systems to deceive a business’ customers or call center agents. Common types of fraud include IRS scams, tech support schemes, and account takeover attacks.
- Data Breaches Data breaches in voice systems can expose sensitive information, including customer records, business strategies, and financial data. Attackers may exploit these breaches for identity theft, blackmail, or competitive advantage, leading to severe operational and reputational consequences.
- Toll Fraud Hackers exploit vulnerabilities in private branch exchange (PBX) systems to make unauthorized international or premium-rate calls. Businesses are left to bear the financial burden of these fraudulent charges, which can escalate quickly if not detected and mitigated promptly.
- Insider Threats Employees or contractors with access to telecommunications systems may intentionally or unintentionally compromise security, leading to data breaches or service disruptions.
Damage Caused by Telecom Security Threats
Failure to stop telecom security threats can result in devastating consequences for businesses and their customers.
Downtime
Telecom security breaches, such as TDoS attacks, can lead to extensive service outages. These disruptions can paralyze operations by preventing businesses from handling customer inquiries, conducting transactions, or maintaining internal communication.
Financial Losses
Fraudulent activities like toll fraud and call spoofing often have significant financial costs. Businesses may be left with unauthorized charges, fines from non-compliance with regulations, and revenue losses caused by disrupted services.
Reputation Damage
A breach in telecom security can severely harm a business’s reputation. Customers and partners may lose trust in an organization’s ability to protect sensitive data, leading to lost business opportunities and long-term damage to the brand.
Data Compromise
Data breaches expose confidential customer and business information, making them vulnerable to identity theft and fraud. These incidents may also result in regulatory penalties and damage customer relationships.
Customer Dissatisfaction
Security threats such as fraud and service interruptions frustrate customers and degrade their experience with a brand. Businesses may face increased churn rates and reduced customer loyalty.
Legal and Regulatory Consequences
Failing to secure telecommunications systems can result in noncompliance with laws like GDPR or HIPAA. Organizations may face costly lawsuits, regulatory fines, and heightened scrutiny from oversight bodies.
Strategies for Telecom Security
Businesses may adopt best practices and multiple layers of technology to improve telecom security.
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Implement Call Authentication Utilize call authentication solutions and protocols like STIR/SHAKEN to verify caller identities and prevent spoofing. These technologies authenticate the source of calls in real time, significantly reducing the success rate of fraudulent calls.
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Deploy Call Filtering Technology Call filtering systems analyze incoming calls for suspicious patterns, caller ID spoofing, or calls from known threat actors. By blocking unwanted or harmful calls before they reach the recipient, these systems reduce the risk of fraud, scams, and operational disruptions.
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Adopt TDoS Protection Measures Deploy solutions that detect and block illegitimate traffic during TDoS attacks. These measures monitor call volume, identify malicious patterns, and isolate harmful traffic from the network to ensure legitimate callers can still access services.
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Monitor and Analyze Traffic Use real-time monitoring tools to detect anomalies in call patterns or unusual activity. These tools provide early warnings of potential threats, allowing organizations to respond quickly and minimize the impact of security incidents.
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Regularly Update and Patch Systems Keep software and hardware up to date to address vulnerabilities. Regular updates help mitigate risks associated with outdated systems by fixing known flaws and improving overall system security.
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Train Employees Educate staff on recognizing vishing attempts, spotting social engineering tactics, and handling sensitive information securely. Employees are often the first line of defense against telephony-based threats, and proper training ensures they can respond appropriately.
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Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Require multiple forms of verification for accessing telecommunications systems, reducing the risk of unauthorized access. MFA ensures that even if one authentication factor is compromised, additional layers protect the system.
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Conduct Regular Security Audits Conduct periodic assessments of telecommunications infrastructure to identify and address potential weaknesses. Security audits provide actionable insights into system vulnerabilities and help organizations stay ahead of emerging threats.
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Leverage AI and Machine Learning AI-driven tools can analyze call patterns, detect fraudulent activities, and automate responses to emerging threats. These technologies enable proactive threat management by identifying anomalies and mitigating risks in real time.
SecureLogix: Advanced Telecom Security Solutions
SecureLogix provides call security, branding, and authentication solutions that solve call security and trust issues while maximizing revenue and reducing costs. For more than 20 years, we’ve profiled, tracked, and defended customers against the many schemes and risks that threaten contact centers and voice networks. With highly effective outbound and inbound call center software and the most skilled team in the industry, we offer solutions that monitor and protect some of the world’s largest and most complex contact centers and voice systems.
SecureLogix® Call Defense™ System
Call Defense™ System is a voice security and call protection technology that sits at the edge of your voice network, acting as a call firewall to identify and block unwanted calls. As a highly effective call filtering software solution, Call Defense™ System blocks robocalls, spam, spoofing, impersonation calls, social engineering calls, toll fraud, call pumping attempts, and other telephony-based threats.
With Call Defense™ System, you can:
- React to malicious or unwanted calls with alerting, blocking, and/or redirection.
- Enforce unified security policies across the enterprise.
- Gain greater visibility into telephony activity.
- Detect attack patterns and identify anomalies with a call intrusion prevention (IPS) system.
- Enforce call volume thresholds and traffic velocity limits.
- Produce scheduled and ad hoc reports on voice network usage, CDR analytics, and attack/fraud forensics.
Call Secure™ Managed Service: A Fully Managed Call Security Solution
SecureLogix Call Secure™ Managed Service combines the protections of the Call Defense™ System with the expertise and support from the most experienced call security experts in the industry. No team secures more enterprise voice networks, phone lines, and calls than SecureLogix.
Orchestra One™ Call Authentication Service
The Orchestra One™ call authentication service combats call fraud by identifying trusted callers before they reach your employees and contact center agents. By dynamically orchestrating multiple zero-cost and low-cost metadata services to authenticate each call at the lowest possible price, Orchestra One™ makes call authentication more affordable, efficient, and scalable.
Key Benefits
- Lower Authentication Costs Orchestra One™ analyzes and orchestrates thousands of call details along with real-time carrier network metadata to provide a high-value risk score for each call at the lowest possible price.
- Reduced Call Duration Orchestra One™ reduces call handling time by as much as 30 seconds per call thanks to automated call verification.
- Improved CX Increase customer satisfaction by reducing the number of frustrating security questions that are typical of knowledge-based authentication.
FAQ
Q: What is the impact of regulation on telecom security measures? Compliance with regulations like GDPR, PCI-DSS, and HIPAA requires businesses to deploy robust telecom security solutions, including encryption, call authentication, and data protection protocols. Failure to protect customer information that’s shared with or managed by call centers can result in legal penalties and substantial fines.
Q: How can businesses evaluate the effectiveness of their telecom security solutions? Businesses can assess effectiveness by monitoring incident response times, analyzing reductions in fraudulent activity, and ensuring compliance with security standards and regulations.
Q: What is 911 call authentication? 911 call authentication is a process that verifies the legitimacy of calls made to emergency services to prevent spoofed or fraudulent calls. It uses a variety of methods, including protocols like STIR/SHAKEN, to ensure the caller’s identity and number are genuine, enhancing the security and reliability of the 911 system.