Telcos beef up security amid cyber threats

MUMBAI: Top telcos Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea have upgraded their network security after the recent Sino-Indian border clashes and are urging business clients to take proactive steps in the wake of growing cyber threats, with the government warning of imminent attacks.Bharti Airtel sent a mail to its business customers on Saturday. “We are monitoring the situation and have upgraded the SOC to a higher threat level status for the next five to seven days and will send you daily dashboards,” Airtel’s SOC team said in its email seen by ET.76521363The Airtel Secure team recommended proactive measures for its customers, such as monitoring traffic from neighbouring countries; monitoring network traffic for all channels, including emails; installing updated patches on all assets/webpages accessible via internet, and advising employees working from home to update anti-virus and software patches.The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, CERT-In, the government’s nodal cyber security agency, had put out an advisory against possible phishing attacks.Reliance Jio, too, is taking all precautions to prevent attacks on its network, according to people aware of the matter. Vodafone Idea said its “robust and secure network and IT systems” are periodically audited and strengthened. “Intelligence received from GoI is appropriately used to increase vigilance and enhance security,” Vodafone Idea told ET.Security experts have said India’s telcos, with their large customer base and enterprise businesses, are most susceptible to state-sponsored cyber attacks. The clash with China at Galwan and recent cyber attack on Australian government agencies and businesses have put everyone on high alert. “It should be expected that telecom networks, government platforms and critical infrastructure networks like PowerGrid are potential targets... networks having Chinese equipment would be more vulnerable,” said Dhiraj Gupta, chief technology officer at MFilterIt, a fraud detection and prevention company.However, a senior executive in the telecom sector said cyberattacks take place almost on an hourly basis and operators monitor their networks around the clock. “Vulnerabilities may get exposed way before an event and operators are on the watch all the time,” said the executive, asking not to be identified.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3etiNif
via IFTTT