By Telco Content Team, WP Communications
Telecoms second most targeted for cyber attacks
Recently Joanna Cavan OBE, Managing Director at the UK Telecoms Lab (UKTL) was interviewed by TelecomsTV about its role in national security.
Joanna said that Telecoms is the second most targeted sector after government for cyber attacks because it is the ‘connective tissue’ across all critical national infrastructure. It is relied upon for transport, healthcare, connected devices, banking and financial transactions and emergency calling; and that’s why telecoms is so important to make sure we are protecting networks from cyber attacks. UK Telecoms Lab works with operators and vendors who can confidentially disclose vulnerabilities that can be patched before they’re exploited by a hostile nation or cyber criminals.
What is alarming is that a number of vulnerabilities that they’ve found are ‘zero day’ vulnerabilities. If exploited cyber criminals could potentially take down 95% of mobile phone coverage within the UK. Successful attacks would not only cause disruption to our daily lives, but also to GDP and the UK economy.
Ways telcos can safeguard against threats
The UK Telecoms Lab runs workshops that can examine persistent threats, sharing observations from testing – looking at patterns and trends in testing work to fix route causes and systemic fixes in place. International standards, security by design and default into the technologies of the future to put security at the forefront of technology as we enter into a 6G and post Quantum world.
The National Cyber Security Advice centre is also an excellent source of information for getting Quantum Ready, while exploring what are the latest cyber security threats – supporting operators and vendors to improve resilience.
Meanwhile, according to BBC News global tech giants Google, Microsoft, Anthropic and OpenAI, have signed an open letter calling on countries and organisations around the world to beef up their cyber defences before AI grows powerful enough to override them.
The role that integrated communications plays
Next week WP Communications will be attending London Security Conference: Frontlines of Europe hosted at the National Liberal Club and Connected Britain, the UK’s leading digital economy event, exploring connectivity, infrastructure, and emerging technologies hosted at the ExCel London.
What unites our participation in these two events is to examine how we can better support the Telecoms industry, enabling telcos to take a 360 approach to enhance security and in doing so protecting customers, reputation and revenue. A combination of operational preparedness accompanied with an integrated communications strategy it the key to success. Put simply, take appropriate measures to protect your infrastructure, while simultaneously communicating what you’re doing to your employees and customers. Finally having a robust crisis response plan is essential should the unthinkable happen.
The team at WP Communications look forward to meeting with our community of telecommunications companies, cyber security partners, government and technology firms to discuss the ways that integrated communications can contribute to strengthening resilience and their security posture.
Stay tuned for our take-outs on our LinkedIn and our YouTube channel.
