5G Technology

Telecom Diary: BSNL’s latest data breach shows the vitality of securing 4G, 5G mobile networks – ETTelecom

Telecom Diary: BSNL’s latest data breach shows the vitality of securing 4G, 5G mobile networks, ET Telecom

NEW DELHI: In a hyper-connected world, the importance of 4G and 5G mobile networks’ cybersecurity is critical. The telecom industry needs to ensure sufficient investments in bolstering the security of networks, in addition to, creating new use and applications to fully leverage the next-generation networks for industrial and consumer verticals.

4G has been the mainstay of connectivity for years, whereas, the fifth-generation networks are said to bring smartphones, tablets, wearables, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, routers, machines, and numerous other mammoth devices online besides supporting bandwidth-intensive enterprise services and consumer use cases.

This augurs well the digitalisation efforts of governments and enterprises, but simultaneously, the attack surface will widen, and a malicious actor could exploit any unsecured device to gain access to the troves of personal data, or in extreme cases, bring down telecom networks for millions of users.

Take the case of the Indian government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), with 86 million subscribers, and in the process of deploying a homegrown stack for its fourth-generation network, which has recently suffered a data breachthe second such incident in six months.

The data breach at BSNL involves more than 278GB of data from its telecom operations, including server snapshots, which can potentially be misused for SI M cloning and other serious criminal activities. The threat actor has made available the data for sale publicly at $5,000 (~Rs 4,17,000).

In last year’s BSNL data breach, the threat actor reportedly published a sample dataset on the dark web, including the sensitive details of the company’s fibre and landline users. It contained 32,000 lines of data, with total lines across all databases reaching 2.9 million-plus.

This year, cybersecurity firm CloudSEK reportedly uncovered a massive data breach of 1.8 terabytes encompassing 750 million telecom users in India, exposing their personal information such as names, mobile numbers, addresses, and Aadhaar details, following which Department of Telecommunications (DoT) instructed all telcos to conduct a security audit of their systems.

ICICI Lombard, in a recent report, noted that the Indian telecom industry has made some progress in terms of risk management, albeit at a slow pace.

“Telecom companies are increasingly focused on tying up security, technical and operational risks. However, challenges remain, particularly in terms of preventing cybercrime and ensuring network reliability, the report states. The insurance company suggests telecom companies work with external partners and take measures to address evolving cyber security threats as it is critical to “protecting regional interests”.

Globally, too, such cyber incidents have affected telecom carriers. These attacks have wide-ranging repercussions, from data misuse for criminal offenses to disruption of services.

Sean Duca, VP and Regional Chief Security Officer, Asia and JAPAC, Palo Alto Networks, previously in an interview with ETTelecom stated that since a 5G network is built on the foundation of 4G, the same security threats present in 4G will likely be magnified on 5G, and mobile service providers could be the first point of failure.

Taking into account these factors, the US-headquartered cybersecurity firm had projected that from telco’s perspective, spending on network security is “bound to take more of the overall IT budget as 5G will mean increased vulnerability”.”,”next_sibling”:[{“msid”:111353926,”title”:”Tariff hikes could help telcos see through 5G, infra spends”,”entity_type”:”ARTICLE”,”link”:”/news/industry/tariff-hikes-could-help-telcos-see-through-5g-infra-spends/111353926″,”link_next_mobile”:”/news/industry/tariff-hikes-could-help-telcos-see-through-5g-infra-spends/111353926?next=1″,”category_name”:null,”category_name_seo”:”industry”}],”related_content”:[],”seoschemas”:false,”social_share”:{“fb”:”/news/industry/telecom-diary-bsnls-latest-data-breach-shows-the-vitality-of-securing-4g-5g-mobile-networks/111366255?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium={{DEVICE_TYPE}}”,”x”:”/news/industry/telecom-diary-bsnls-latest-data-breach-shows-the-vitality-of-securing-4g-5g-mobile-networks/111366255?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium={{DEVICE_TYPE}}”,”whatsapp”:”/news/industry/telecom-diary-bsnls-latest-data-breach-shows-the-vitality-of-securing-4g-5g-mobile-networks/111366255?utm_source=wapp&utm_medium={{DEVICE_TYPE}}”,”linkdin”:”/news/industry/telecom-diary-bsnls-latest-data-breach-shows-the-vitality-of-securing-4g-5g-mobile-networks/111366255?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium={{DEVICE_TYPE}}”,”telegram”:”/news/industry/telecom-diary-bsnls-latest-data-breach-shows-the-vitality-of-securing-4g-5g-mobile-networks/111366255?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium={{DEVICE_TYPE}}”,”copy”:”/news/industry/telecom-diary-bsnls-latest-data-breach-shows-the-vitality-of-securing-4g-5g-mobile-networks/111366255?utm_source=copy&utm_medium={{DEVICE_TYPE}}”},”msid”:111366255,”entity_type”:”ARTICLE”,”title”:”Telecom Diary: BSNLu2019s latest data breach shows the vitality of securing 4G, 5G mobile networks”,”synopsis”:”4G has been the mainstay of connectivity for years, whereas, the fifth-generation networks are said to bring smartphones, tablets, wearables, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, routers, machines, and numerous other mammoth devices online besides supporting bandwidth-intensive enterprise services and consumer use cases.”,”titleseo”:”industry/telecom-diary-bsnls-latest-data-breach-shows-the-vitality-of-securing-4g-5g-mobile-networks”,”status”:”ACTIVE”,”authors”:[{“author_name”:”Ashutosh Kumar”,”author_link”:”/author/479254781/ashutosh-kumar”,”author_image”:”https://etimg.etb2bimg.com/authorthumb/479254781.cms?width=250&height=250&imgsize=3050″,”author_additional”:{“thumbsize”:true,”msid”:479254781,”author_name”:”Ashutosh Kumar”,”author_seo_name”:”ashutosh-kumar”,”designation”:”Digital Content Producer”,”agency”:false}}],”Alttitle”:{“minfo”:””},”artag”:”ETTelecom”,”artdate”:”2024-06-29 19:00:00″,”lastupd”:”2024-06-29 19:00:00″,”breadcrumbTags”:[“BSNL”,”5G”,”Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited”,”5G networks”,”telecom data breach”,”telecom news”,”data breach”,”BSNL news”,”BSNL data breach”],”secinfo”:{“seolocation”:”industry/telecom-diary-bsnls-latest-data-breach-shows-the-vitality-of-securing-4g-5g-mobile-networks”}}” data-authors=”[” ashutosh data-category-name=”Industry” data-category_id=”18″ data-date=”2024-06-29″ data-index=”article_1″>

4G has been the mainstay of connectivity for years, whereas, the fifth-generation networks are said to bring smartphones, tablets, wearables, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, routers, machines, and numerous other mammoth devices online besides supporting bandwidth-intensive enterprise services and consumer use cases.

Ashutosh Kumar

  • Published On Jun 29, 2024 at 07:00 PM IST

NEW DELHI: In a hyper-connected world, the importance of 4G and 5G mobile networks’ cybersecurity is critical. The telecom industry needs to ensure sufficient investments in bolstering the security of networks, in addition to, creating new use and applications to fully leverage the next-generation networks for industrial and consumer verticals.

4G has been the mainstay of connectivity for years, whereas, the fifth-generation networks are said to bring smartphones, tablets, wearables, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, routers, machines, and numerous other mammoth devices online besides supporting bandwidth-intensive enterprise services and consumer use cases.

This augurs well the digitalisation efforts of governments and enterprises, but simultaneously, the attack surface will widen, and a malicious actor could exploit any unsecured device to gain access to the troves of personal data, or in extreme cases, bring down telecom networks for millions of users.

Take the case of the Indian government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), with 86 million subscribers, and in the process of deploying a homegrown stack for its fourth-generation network, which has recently suffered a data breachthe second such incident in six months.

The data breach at BSNL involves more than 278GB of data from its telecom operations, including server snapshots, which can potentially be misused for SI M cloning and other serious criminal activities. The threat actor has made available the data for sale publicly at $5,000 (~Rs 4,17,000).

In last year’s BSNL data breach, the threat actor reportedly published a sample dataset on the dark web, including the sensitive details of the company’s fibre and landline users. It contained 32,000 lines of data, with total lines across all databases reaching 2.9 million-plus.

This year, cybersecurity firm CloudSEK reportedly uncovered a massive data breach of 1.8 terabytes encompassing 750 million telecom users in India, exposing their personal information such as names, mobile numbers, addresses, and Aadhaar details, following which Department of Telecommunications (DoT) instructed all telcos to conduct a security audit of their systems.

ICICI Lombard, in a recent report, noted that the Indian telecom industry has made some progress in terms of risk management, albeit at a slow pace.

“Telecom companies are increasingly focused on tying up security, technical and operational risks. However, challenges remain, particularly in terms of preventing cybercrime and ensuring network reliability, the report states. The insurance company suggests telecom companies work with external partners and take measures to address evolving cyber security threats as it is critical to “protecting regional interests”.

Globally, too, such cyber incidents have affected telecom carriers. These attacks have wide-ranging repercussions, from data misuse for criminal offenses to disruption of services.

Sean Duca, VP and Regional Chief Security Officer, Asia and JAPAC, Palo Alto Networks, previously in an interview with ETTelecom stated that since a 5G network is built on the foundation of 4G, the same security threats present in 4G will likely be magnified on 5G, and mobile service providers could be the first point of failure.

Taking into account these factors, the US-headquartered cybersecurity firm had projected that from telco’s perspective, spending on network security is “bound to take more of the overall IT budget as 5G will mean increased vulnerability”.

  • Published On Jun 29, 2024 at 07:00 PM IST

Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals

Subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights & analysis.

Download ETTelecom App

  • Get Realtime updates
  • Save your favourite articles


Scan to download App


NEW DELHI: In a hyper-connected world, the importance of 4G and 5G mobile networks’ cybersecurity is critical. The telecom industry needs to ensure sufficient investments in bolstering the security of networks, in addition to, creating new use and applications to fully leverage the next-generation networks for industrial and consumer verticals.

4G has been the mainstay of connectivity for years, whereas, the fifth-generation networks are said to bring smartphones, tablets, wearables, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, routers, machines, and numerous other mammoth devices online besides supporting bandwidth-intensive enterprise services and consumer use cases.

This augurs well the digitalisation efforts of governments and enterprises, but simultaneously, the attack surface will widen, and a malicious actor could exploit any unsecured device to gain access to the troves of personal data, or in extreme cases, bring down telecom networks for millions of users.

Take the case of the Indian government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), with 86 million subscribers, and in the process of deploying a homegrown stack for its fourth-generation network, which has recently suffered a data breachthe second such incident in six months.

The data breach at BSNL involves more than 278GB of data from its telecom operations, including server snapshots, which can potentially be misused for SI M cloning and other serious criminal activities. The threat actor has made available the data for sale publicly at $5,000 (~Rs 4,17,000).

In last year’s BSNL data breach, the threat actor reportedly published a sample dataset on the dark web, including the sensitive details of the company’s fibre and landline users. It contained 32,000 lines of data, with total lines across all databases reaching 2.9 million-plus.

This year, cybersecurity firm CloudSEK reportedly uncovered a massive data breach of 1.8 terabytes encompassing 750 million telecom users in India, exposing their personal information such as names, mobile numbers, addresses, and Aadhaar details, following which Department of Telecommunications (DoT) instructed all telcos to conduct a security audit of their systems.

ICICI Lombard, in a recent report, noted that the Indian telecom industry has made some progress in terms of risk management, albeit at a slow pace.

“Telecom companies are increasingly focused on tying up security, technical and operational risks. However, challenges remain, particularly in terms of preventing cybercrime and ensuring network reliability, the report states. The insurance company suggests telecom companies work with external partners and take measures to address evolving cyber security threats as it is critical to “protecting regional interests”.

Globally, too, such cyber incidents have affected telecom carriers. These attacks have wide-ranging repercussions, from data misuse for criminal offenses to disruption of services.

Sean Duca, VP and Regional Chief Security Officer, Asia and JAPAC, Palo Alto Networks, previously in an interview with ETTelecom stated that since a 5G network is built on the foundation of 4G, the same security threats present in 4G will likely be magnified on 5G, and mobile service providers could be the first point of failure.

Taking into account these factors, the US-headquartered cybersecurity firm had projected that from telco’s perspective, spending on network security is “bound to take more of the overall IT budget as 5G will mean increased vulnerability”.”,”next_sibling”:[{“msid”:111353926,”title”:”Tariff hikes could help telcos see through 5G, infra spends”,”entity_type”:”ARTICLE”,”link”:”/news/industry/tariff-hikes-could-help-telcos-see-through-5g-infra-spends/111353926″,”link_next_mobile”:”/news/industry/tariff-hikes-could-help-telcos-see-through-5g-infra-spends/111353926?next=1″,”category_name”:null,”category_name_seo”:”industry”}],”related_content”:[],”seoschemas”:false,”social_share”:{“fb”:”/news/industry/telecom-diary-bsnls-latest-data-breach-shows-the-vitality-of-securing-4g-5g-mobile-networks/111366255?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium={{DEVICE_TYPE}}”,”x”:”/news/industry/telecom-diary-bsnls-latest-data-breach-shows-the-vitality-of-securing-4g-5g-mobile-networks/111366255?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium={{DEVICE_TYPE}}”,”whatsapp”:”/news/industry/telecom-diary-bsnls-latest-data-breach-shows-the-vitality-of-securing-4g-5g-mobile-networks/111366255?utm_source=wapp&utm_medium={{DEVICE_TYPE}}”,”linkdin”:”/news/industry/telecom-diary-bsnls-latest-data-breach-shows-the-vitality-of-securing-4g-5g-mobile-networks/111366255?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium={{DEVICE_TYPE}}”,”telegram”:”/news/industry/telecom-diary-bsnls-latest-data-breach-shows-the-vitality-of-securing-4g-5g-mobile-networks/111366255?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium={{DEVICE_TYPE}}”,”copy”:”/news/industry/telecom-diary-bsnls-latest-data-breach-shows-the-vitality-of-securing-4g-5g-mobile-networks/111366255?utm_source=copy&utm_medium={{DEVICE_TYPE}}”},”msid”:111366255,”entity_type”:”ARTICLE”,”title”:”Telecom Diary: BSNLu2019s latest data breach shows the vitality of securing 4G, 5G mobile networks”,”synopsis”:”4G has been the mainstay of connectivity for years, whereas, the fifth-generation networks are said to bring smartphones, tablets, wearables, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, routers, machines, and numerous other mammoth devices online besides supporting bandwidth-intensive enterprise services and consumer use cases.”,”titleseo”:”industry/telecom-diary-bsnls-latest-data-breach-shows-the-vitality-of-securing-4g-5g-mobile-networks”,”status”:”ACTIVE”,”authors”:[{“author_name”:”Ashutosh Kumar”,”author_link”:”/author/479254781/ashutosh-kumar”,”author_image”:”https://etimg.etb2bimg.com/authorthumb/479254781.cms?width=250&height=250&imgsize=3050″,”author_additional”:{“thumbsize”:true,”msid”:479254781,”author_name”:”Ashutosh Kumar”,”author_seo_name”:”ashutosh-kumar”,”designation”:”Digital Content Producer”,”agency”:false}}],”Alttitle”:{“minfo”:””},”artag”:”ETTelecom”,”artdate”:”2024-06-29 19:00:00″,”lastupd”:”2024-06-29 19:00:00″,”breadcrumbTags”:[“BSNL”,”5G”,”Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited”,”5G networks”,”telecom data breach”,”telecom news”,”data breach”,”BSNL news”,”BSNL data breach”],”secinfo”:{“seolocation”:”industry/telecom-diary-bsnls-latest-data-breach-shows-the-vitality-of-securing-4g-5g-mobile-networks”}}” data-news_link=”https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/telecom-diary-bsnls-latest-data-breach-shows-the-vitality-of-securing-4g-5g-mobile-networks/111366255″>

This post was originally published on the 3rd party mentioned in the title ofthis site

Related posts