New report outlines the five common security challenges impacting mobile users and the steps enterprises and MNOs can take to combat them

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Media OutReach - 12 October 2023 - Global cloud communications platform Infobip has identified five common frauds impacting mobile users in the messaging ecosystem. Infobip explains the security challenges enterprises and mobile network operators (MNOs) face in the application-to-person (A2P) messaging ecosystem. Company also explains its role as a co-guardian of the A2P ecosystem with MNOs, helping protect brands and mobile users with its firewall.

With more and more brand-to-consumer interactions moving to digital channels, ensuring the security and privacy of this communication is vital to deliver a great customer experience. But, while the A2P market will grow to $29 billion by 2024, fraud and the revenues lost to fraud are also increasing. So, now more than ever, all organizations in the A2P ecosystem must protect mobile users and consumers by providing secure communication.

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

Cédric Gonin, VP Global Business Support at Orange International Carriers, said: "As a leading connectivity wholesaler catering to the needs of operators and content providers globally, Orange International Carriers has been securing its customers' and partners' international voice and messaging traffic for decades. And we've witnessed a steady increase in the number of attacks over the years, with fraudsters getting smarter and new types of fraud emerging, causing financial and reputational losses to telcos and businesses but also emotional distress for the end-user. Orange and Infobip/Anam therefore took advantage of their joint expertise in telecommunications security to develop a robust A2P SMS protect solution, which identifies current and emerging risks, and proactively safeguards telcos, businesses, and end-users on most channels."

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, which stands out by using advanced technologies like machine learning to detect and blocking fraudulent traffic precisely.

Hashtag: #Infobip

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About Infobip

Infobip is a global cloud communications platform that enables businesses to build connected experiences across all stages of the customer journey. Accessed through a single platform, Infobip's omnichannel engagement, identity, user authentication and contact centre solutions help businesses and partners overcome the complexity of consumer communications to grow business and increase loyalty. With over a decade of industry experience, Infobip has expanded to 75+ offices globally. It offers natively built technology with the capacity to reach over seven billion mobile devices and 'things' in 6 continents connected to over 9,700+ connections of which 800+ are direct operator connections. Infobip was established in 2006 and is led by its co-founders, CEO Silvio Kutić, Roberto Kutić and Izabel Jelenić.

Recent award wins include:

• Infobip named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant™ for the Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) 2023 Report
• Infobip named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Communications Platform-as-a-Service (CPaaS) 2023 Vendor Assessment (doc #US50607923, May 2023)
• Infobip named a leader in the CPaaS Leaderboard, Juniper Research (Feb 2023)
• Infobip named a leader in the CCaaS Leaderboard, Juniper Research (Aug 2022)
• Omdia Ranks Infobip as Leader in CPaaS Universe Report (May 2022)
• Ranked the leading service provider in CPaaS by Juniper Research in its new Competitor Leaderboard CPaaS Vendors (October 2021)
• Infobip named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Communications Platform-as-a-Service (CPaaS) 2021 Vendor Assessment (doc #US46746221, May 2021)
• Best A2P SMS provider for the fourth year running by mobile operators and enterprises in ROCCO's annual Messaging Vendor Benchmarking Report
• Best CPaaS Provider of the Year, Best RCS Provider of the Year, and Mover & Shaker in Telco Innovation at the 2021 Juniper Digital Awards