Infobip, which operates a state-of-the-art omnichannel firewall, has identified five critical security challenges MNOs and enterprises need to tackle:

• Artificially inflated traffic: Artificial inflation of traffic fraud uses bots to generate one-time PIN requests to generate undue costs and financially benefit the fraudster
• Flubot: spreading like flu, flubot starts with a fraudulent link leading users to a malicious site to download an app or security update, which infects a phone with malware
• Smishing: SMS phishing, or smishing, is where fraudsters deceive consumers into revealing sensitive data which is misused. It costs consumers $10.1bn, according to RoboKiller
• Grey routes: routes that bypass MNO's charging systems to deliver messages to end users, costing MNOs revenue and leaving mobile users unprotected from security and privacy risks
• Spam: unsolicited messages have been plaguing mobile users and consumers for some time

To help protect consumers, Infobip recommends MNOs work with well establish Messaging providers who have direct relationships with the large brands and also introduce technically superior firewall solutions to their networks to protect the A2P ecosystem.Infobip also calls for regulatory change to remove the restrictions on MNOs using particular modules like content analysis to protect the end users from different fraud scenarios, particularly in Europe. Content analysis is crucial for improving security standards while maintaining high privacy norms. For Enterprises, Infobip recommends using Messaging providers who have direct connections with MNO's, protecting consumers security and privacy through established communications platforms with global infrastructure.

Matija Ražem, Vice President of Business Development at Infobip, said: "As the largest player in the SMS firewall market, we take our responsibility to protect MNO, enterprises, and consumers seriously. But we are all co-guardians of the A2P messaging ecosystem. While fraudsters are becoming ever more sophisticated, we can reduce AP2 fraud with a combined effort from all involved. The system is only as strong as its weakest link, so MNOs and enterprises should invest in their security and adopt the latest technology to combat fraudsters and protect their customers and business. That is why we have developed features like data anonymization, where our firewall separates sensitive customer data from the content, so customer's privacy can't be compromised."

Infobip has been voted the number one SMS Firewall for four years straight, as voted by MNOs. Its Anam Protect firewall helps protect some 120 MNO networks and safeguards 1.2 billion mobile users combined with MNOs as co-guardians of the messaging ecosystem. Infobip processes around 63 billion transactions over its firewall solutions and blocks more than one billion fraudulent messages monthly every month. Infobip has more than 800 direct connections to mobile network operators, enabling higher security and quality connectivity for their customers. Apart from its SMS Firewall, Infobip have launched officially its Signals as part of its telco security portfolio, whichstands out by using advanced technologies like machine learning to detect and blocking fraudulent traffic precisely.

Hashtag: #Infobip

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References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
2. ^{^} Infobip (www.infobip.com)