MEF Director of Programmes James Williams shares an overview of a discussion on the challenges facing enterprises looking to secure their messaging traffic, held during the recent MEF Connects Cyber Security, all session from which are available to view online now.
Say the words ‘cyber’ and ‘security’ together in one sentence to the average person on the street and odds-on their thoughts would turn to some high octane or edgy action movie/series incorporating spying, hackers and all that good stuff. The reality is somewhat different.
As we found out during the MEF CONNECTS Cyber Security event, cyber security is something that absolutely has to be considered by all types and sizes of organisation, irrespective of what they do or where they may be. The number of bad actors is on the up and threat vectors are becoming more numerous.
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Incidences of ‘Phishing’ and the like are absolutely on the increase and it’s not just corporates that can be economically crippled by a hack. Individauls can and the sophistication of fraudsters is (dare we say it) sometimes to be admired. Let’s just say they’d win armfuls of innovation related awards if only they’d come forward and make themselves known…
False positives in the world of SMS security and monetisation, as we heard, can be even worse that letting spam etc. through. Blocking legitimate messages subscribers really value and were expecting can really hurt the customer experience and destroy brand loyalty.“
Joining me to discuss the importance of mobile operators really embracing cyber security to secure both current and future Mobile Messaging traffic were Stephen Ornadel, SVP Security Solutions with Mobileum, and Virginie Debris, the Chief Product Officer of Global Message Services (GMS).
Both GMS and Mobileum have long histories and global footprints in their respective sectors (Business Messaging and SMS/Signalling Firewalls) and now the two have come together in a partnership aimed at offering mobile operators the world over a really comprehensive way of both protecting their subscribers and monetising SMS traffic efficiently.
False positives in the world of SMS security and monetisation, as we heard, can be even worse that letting spam etc. through. Blocking legitimate messages subscribers value and were expecting can really hurt the customer experience and destroy brand loyalty.
Finesse is required with any SMS filtering and blocking and years of experience in the domain along with multiple existing deployments globally already don’t hurt either…
The key taleaway from the session (reinforced time and again throughout the day during different sessions as well) was that the whole ecosystem must work together to combat threats.
Intitiatves like MEF’s UK SenderID Registry programme (now also being implemented in Ireland and Singapore) and indeed our Business SMS Code of Conduct, bringing stakeholders together around a common cause, are great ways of working towards the common goal of minimising threats. We don’t envisage ANYBODY would be foolhardy enough to say that cyber criminality can ever be beaten entirely – unless that is, they have been forewarned about an imminent return for us to the Stone Age. We hope not – we do like our mod cons! Now where’s our Amazon delivery…
Available on Demand
MEF CONNECTS Cyber Security brought together speakers from companies including Telefonica Global Solutions, Orange, Tata Communications, Nokia, Adaptive Mobile, Palo Alto Networks, IPification, WMC Global, NokNok Labs, Neustar, Cellusys, Global Message Services, Mobileum, ZARIOT, Pelion, POD Group, Apiro Data, GSMA and Credential Master.
Watch the panels and keynote presentations from MEF Connects Business Messaging
