Text messaging is the most widely used mobile data service, yet this profitable service is under malicious attacks. Are you protected?
Overview
The mobile messaging market is exploding, creating a very profitable business for service providers. Today, text messaging is the most widely used mobile data service, with 72 percent of all mobile phone subscribers worldwide being active users of short message service (SMS). However, the profitability of mobile messaging is under attack. SMS spam, spoofing and other SMS-related scams pose a global threat. There are many incidents of rogue operators gaining unauthorized access to the signaling system 7 (SS7) networks of major service providers and routing millions of text messages into those networks. Quite often they are attempts at delivering massive volumes of spam into the network. Service providers often end up “over engineering” their networks to deal with the increase in messaging traffic – with no corresponding increase in revenue. And with spoofing there is great opportunity for fraud - coaxing users into providing sensitive personal data, which results in a financial windfall for the bad guy. If left unchecked, SMS scams and mass call events can increase customer churn and revenue loss by degrading network performance and quality of service (QoS).
Product Description
Tekelec provides a suite of security tools that operators can use to protect their network and create a solid security foundation.
Tekelec’s Integrated Applications Solution (IAS) provides the network visibility to identify security breaches and unauthorized access. It collects a variety of network signaling traffic, including SS7, session initiation protocol (SIP), mobile application part (MAP), integrated services digital network (ISDN), hyper-text transfer protocol (HTTP), and file transfer protocol (FTP). The solution delivers end-to-end network usage data, allowing service providers to identify the source of network attacks. Operators can filter the data and create reports and dashboards based on criteria that they define.
The IAS can be deployed with or without probes when integrated with Tekelec’s industry-leading EAGLE® 5 platform. This integrated approach delivers significant cost savings, more efficient operations and a reduced footprint. The EAGLE 5 platform provides contextual screening to prevent certain types of message transfer part (MTP) and Level 3 network management messages from entering the network.
Once SMS spam and spoofing have been detected, Tekelec’s SMS Firewall can be used to actively block the messages. The SMS Firewall provides unprecedented protection against spam, fraudulent messages and flooding of the SMS network.
Tekelec’s SMS Firewall has two main components – basic and firewall advanced filters (FAF). The SMS Firewall protects the service provider at two levels with address analysis and content filtering. When they combine the Firewall with IAS, service providers have the best-in-breed solution for identifying and preventing fraudulent SMS and spam.
Benefits
Tekelec’s SMS Security solutions provide a number of advantages for operators. The complete portfolio:
- Improves network management. IAS provides an accurate view of traffic patterns, enabling operators to plan and manage their network resources to accommodate sudden traffic spikes that can be created by mass call events or spam attacks.
- Enhances network security. With the solution's customized statistics, operators can proactively identify fraud and abnormal traffic loads and patterns to maintain network security. End-to-end network usage data enables operators to identify the sources of attack. When IAS is integrated with the EAGLE 5 platform, contextual screening can prevent certain MTP and Level 3 management messages from entering the network.
- Reduces costs and improves operations. With an accurate view of the network and usage patterns, operators can invest only in the resources they need when they need them.
- Prevent subscriber churn. By blocking and/or reducing unsolicited messages, operators can improve their customers' overall experience, ensure their satisfaction and build loyalty.
Operators can leverage Tekelec’s monitoring and advanced security solutions to protect their mobile subscribers, network and business.
