The recent global IT systems malfunction triggered by Crowdstrike’s software update has heightened concerns regarding the possibility of future global tech catastrophes. The cybersecurity company reported that about 8.5 million devices were impacted by the outage, leading to chaos in its customers' operations. It also warned customers that malicious actors were trying to take advantage of the situation.
Global insured losses from the IT outage are expected to be around USD 400 million to USD 1.5 billion, according to cyber analytics firm CyberCube. Hence, the unfortunate incident highlights the importance of resilient and reliable information and communication systems in today’s hyper-interconnected world.
Telecom Review Exclusive Coverage: Global Internet Outage Suspends Operations
Moreover, incidents of financial fraud in the cyber world are simply incomprehensible to the masses. Hard-earned money can vanish without a trace, and no one is held accountable. Scams and extortions are rampant through telecom networks.
In their latest findings, cybersecurity experts have identified a new scam called ‘spear phishing.’ This scam targets specific individuals or small groups with emails that appear legitimate and are cleverly designed to bypass security filters. At the same time, mass phishing campaigns continue to occur at various levels around the world.
The ICT sector is the fulcrum of global digital transformation, facilitating innovation and providing distinctive services to both consumer and enterprise customers across industry sectors. Interestingly, telcos are at the heart of providing advanced and secure communication solutions, which are key in successful digital transformation journeys.
Past Coverage: MECA Telecom Stakeholders Discuss ICT Policy and Cybersecurity Standards at MWC24
Three Core Principles of Cybersecurity
Communication service providers (CSPs) and network operators have to abide by three core principles related to cybersecurity resilience.
People:
Although we live in technically evolved times driven by the advent of technologies such as AI and machine learning (ML), investment in continuous learning for human capital must be the top agenda for both private and government organizations.
In the UAE, the Cyber Security Council’s (CSC) initiatives, such as Cyber Pulse, have been consistently promoting cybersecurity awareness among communities. Through the initiative, the CSC encourages everyone in society to collaborate and share best practices, address issues, and remain vigilant against social engineering and phishing attacks, and so on. Moreover, leading vendors such as Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia have cybersecurity programs designed to equip their talents against the evolving threat landscape.
Highlighting how Salam anticipates cyber risks at the 17th edition of the Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit, Mohammed K Alharithy, Sr. Director of Cybersecurity, said, “By comprehending Salam's business intricacies and having cybersecurity leaders with a profound understanding of Salam's business and operations, they can assess risks stemming from various cyber factors. This includes conducting regular audits, penetration testing, and periodic risk assessments, ensuring a thorough evaluation of potential risks.”
Technology:
Given the rise of today’s tech-savvy adversaries, service providers need to keep pace with advancing technologies to fight the offensive head-on. Cybersecurity tools such as behavioral analytics, blockchain technologies, cloud encryption, context-aware security, defensive artificial intelligence, extended detection and response (XDR), manufacturer usage description (MUD), and zero trust architectures must be fully integrated into their IT operations.
Previously, Help AG, the cybersecurity arm of Etisalat Digital, announced a partnership with Illumio, a leader in end-to-end zero trust segmentation. This approach ensures that access to systems and data is strictly controlled, with continuous verification required for every user and device.
Released in April this year, Huawei Cloud has developed a comprehensive, cloud-native, defense-in-depth security system. This system leverages global synergy to protect the Huawei Cloud platform, its services, and customer workloads from emerging security threats.
Process:
In times of emergency, having robust information flow will have a massive impact on damage-control efforts. Setting up robust standard of procedures (SOPs) and concept of operations (ConOps) will facilitate decision-making and speed up preventive actions. Moreover, organizations with advanced security operations centers (SOC) and application security (AppSec) programs can provide a holistic security approach, leveraging the strengths of both domains to strengthen their defense against cyber threats.
For example, Huawei Cloud's security infrastructure includes three security operation centers (SOCs) strategically located around the world. These SOCs enable Huawei Cloud to efficiently handle massive attacks, with over 70% of security incidents resolved within one minute and more than 99% within five minutes.
Also Read: TRS 2023 Panel: Strengthening Cybersecurity Measures
What Does it Take to be Cyber Resilient?
Experts concur that building a 100% secure system is practically unattainable; however, they firmly espouse that people can be trained to gain the ability to be resilient and capable of bringing failed services back online in the shortest time possible. Furthermore, despite achieving a certain level of resilience in infrastructure, organizations are bound to encounter vulnerabilities along the way. Hence, a mechanism to identify the issues and fix them at speed must be implemented.
To ensure this, the application provider must work closely with infrastructure providers to maintain a clear communication channel to fix the issue seamlessly. The interdependencies between network security and application security mean that vulnerabilities in one domain can have profound implications on the other.
Another practice for building resiliency involves rigorous testing to identify and fix bugs in the system, ensuring they don't end up in the final products and solutions. To conduct these tests, leveraging AI to double- and even triple-check codes and identify discrepancies is becoming increasingly popular in both the IT and OT domains.
Also Read: Cybersecurity and Cloud Computing: Overcoming Risks to Usher In a Revolution
The Importance of Collaboration
As new technologies enter the ICT market, the complexity of the network infrastructure is bound to grow exponentially. Hence, the need for transparent knowledge-sharing of IT and OT functionalities, particularly in cybersecurity matters, is vital. For instance, Huawei’s Global Cyber Security and User Privacy Protection Committee (GSPC)—a top-level cyber security management body—is responsible for ratifying the strategy of cyber security assurance.
Meanwhile, the Global Cyber Security and User Privacy Protection Officer (GSPO), an important member of GSPC, is responsible for developing the strategy and managing and supervising its implementation across departments. The GSPO also facilitates effective communication between Huawei and all stakeholders, including governments, customers, partners and employees.
Similarly, Nokia also maintains an actionable cyber resilience service, built on an assessment of the cyber risks Nokia is most likely to experience. This includes investments in a Cyber Defense Center and Computer Emergency Response team, as well as the execution of regular incident simulations and tabletop exercises to ensure resilience during threats and incidents.
Moreover, it is encouraging to see that renowned vendors, each with their own specific cybersecurity protocols, are collaborating with telecom operators to enhance security measures worldwide. This collaboration aims to strengthen the overall security infrastructure and protect against cyber threats on a global scale.
In the UAE, compliance with the UAE's Information Assurance Standards is critical in operating in the digital landscape. The CSC serves as a cornerstone in the UAE's cybersecurity ecosystem, providing essential guidance, resources, and support to government entities in their efforts to comply with Information Assurance Standards. Such practices go a long way in strengthening the agility and resilience of the cyber ecosystem across public and private entities.
Telecom Review Exclusive Feature: UAE Traces Cybersecurity Path for the Digital Era
In Conclusion
As we continue to embrace digital transformation and harness the benefits of technology, remaining vigilant in prioritizing cybersecurity and upholding the highest standards of information assurance is key.
It is vital to build an international network of multinational research partners and share information leading to the development of cutting-edge fields and technologies that support cybersecurity building blocks.
AI-enabled predictive analysis of network performance is being seen as a boon by security experts in keeping troubles at bay. This predictive capability not only reduces downtime but also minimizes the costs associated with emergency repairs.
Additionally, the deployment of redundant systems and backup solutions is essential for maintaining network resilience. Experts advise operators to implement failover mechanisms that can automatically switch to backup systems in the event of a failure to minimize service interruptions and deliver reliable connectivity.
The development of next-generation security measures won’t take place in siloed processes but in an agile environment of transparent information exchange between stakeholders.
Further Analysis: Adaptive, Proactive and Dynamic: The UAE’s Cybersecurity Scene
