INDUSTRY WATCH
DATA BREACHES OR
DENIAL OF SERVICE
ATTACKS ON CSPS
CAN REVERBERATE
FAR BEYOND THE
INITIAL INCIDENT.
C
onnectivity as a concept has
become an essential part
of life, as opposed to just a
luxury. The Internet of Things
(IoT) has already become commonplace
in our lives, thanks to all the connected
devices and smart technologies we own,
interacting with one another to create
a fully connected network. Constant
connectivity provides opportunities for
innovation and modernisation. Conversely,
though, it also creates cybersecurity
threats that can compromise extremely
sensitive information. and infrastructure, connected vehicles,
digital healthcare, smart homes and
more, at a pace that is hard to keep up
with. 5G is also being rolled out at the
same time as the IoT reaches its peak,
ensuring substantial potential disruption.
With the world heading swiftly into an
age of ever-more-enhanced connectivity,
individuals and organisations need
to familiarise themselves with these
developing threats and the volatile
landscape, while ensuring they have a
robust way to protect themselves against
these threats. Tencent, the parent company of Chinese
messaging platform WeChat, currently
has a market cap of over £300bn
(compared to Verizon’s £190bn) and the
meteoric rise of OTT streaming players
like Netflix has been well documented.
Finding a place for CSPs in a
volatile landscape
Communications services providers
(CSPs) specialising in mobile services,
media or web services live in a world of
relentless innovation. A need to stay
relevant forces CSPs to deliver value
beyond basic connectivity. This opens
lucrative new markets and opportunities
for all industries.
The IoT industry will play a pivotal role
in these innovations. The technology is
on track to embed itself into countless
aspects of our day to day lives, playing a
pivotal role in the creation of Smart Cities
www.intelligentcio.com
Similarly, Over-the-Top (OTT) businesses
– content providers that distribute
messaging and streaming media over
the Internet – are booming. Years after
Yahoo! Messenger and AOL’s AIM came
and went, they keep finding new ways to
undermine CSPs’ business models.
And, of course, the counterpoint to all
this innovation is that cyberattacks are
more prolific than ever, displaying ever-
evolving tactics as cybercriminals learn
and adapt. Telecoms companies are
frequently targeted because they build,
control and operate critical infrastructure
that is widely used to communicate and
store large amounts of sensitive data for
consumers, businesses and government.
Data breaches or denial of service attacks
on CSPs can reverberate far beyond
the initial incident. Moreover, end-user
equipment – home routers, smartphones,
IoT devices and more – are not entirely
under CSP control. They can be easy to
compromise and thus are ideal targets
for hackers looking to steal data.
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