7 December 2024

A testing time for telcos: analysing the cyber threat landscap

Simon Viney

As integral enablers of a digitalised society, the telco sector faces a unique blend of threats. For example, state-sponsored threats are extremely prevalent, with hostile nations deploying telco-specific malware and carrying out disruptive campaigns to support military operations – as has been seen recently in Ukraine.

Cyber-criminal ransomware threats are also commonplace, while changing laws and regulations around network equipment and the evolving nature of the physical and cyber threat to both subsea and space communications are providing further challenges for today’s telcos.

State-sponsored threats

In our tracking of state-sponsored threat activity, the telco sector has historically been the second-most targeted after government. In our most recent statistics, telco has dropped to third place (after academia) but the sector clearly remains a high priority for state-sponsored threat groups with the advanced techniques and lengthy timescales for attack execution.



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