A report by Kaspersky Lab claims that cybercriminals are increasingly paying or blackmailing telco employees to help them obtain access to networks and subscriber details. New research by Kaspersky Lab and B2B International found that insiders were involved in 28 percent of all cyberattacks and 38 percent of targeted attacks.
According to Kaspersky researchers criminals who attack mobile phone companies will focus on recruiting employees who can give them access to subscriber and company data, or who can help them to duplicate SIM cards. If an ISP is being attacked the criminals will pursue insiders those who help them to map the network and perform man-in-the-middle attacks.
This new report also notes that:
- telecoms suffer the worst distributed denial of service attacks of any sector;
- research has found the cryptography of 3G/4G USIM cards can be broken; and
- vulnerabilities in femtocells leave both users and networks open to attack.
Kaspersky Lab’s Threat Intelligence Report for the Telecommunications Industry can be found here.
