Written by Jesse Ward on October 27, 2016
Ransomware, distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks, phishing campaigns – is your company prepared to address and mitigate current cyber threats? Within the last few years, cyberattacks have intensified in frequency, sophistication and severity. Corporations, networks and individuals are under constant attack from cyberthreats originating within the United States and abroad. Bad actors are targeting all organizations, regardless of their size or business mission. A cyberattack could adversely affect the continued viability of your company.
Bad actors typically target credit card information, employee data, customer data, intellectual property—often information that is found on your “enterprise” or company network(s). Additionally, those that operate a telecom network may face broader exposure. A bad actor may desire to infiltrate a telecom voice and/or data network(s) to access and exploit networking gear, disrupt communications or reach the networks of your business customers.
In response to a rapidly evolving cyber-threat landscape, more than 200 NTCA members gathered October 16–18 in Arlington, Va., to attend the inaugural NTCA Cybersecurity Summit. Participants explored topics such as social engineering, IoT security, and lessons learned from high-profile attacks, and heard from proactive, industry-leading operators in regard to how they are assessing, prioritizing, and mitigating cyber threats with limited resources. In addition, attendees heard from the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, FCC, Federal Trade Commission, and the National Institute of Standards and technology (NIST) and other administration officials regarding how telecom carriers can collaborate with the federal government to address cyber threats to critical infrastructure.
In conjunction with the summit, and in response to members’ needs, the association released the NTCA Cybersecurity Bundle. The bundle consists of three components designed to help telco executives, board officers, and operational staff develop a risk-management approach to cybersecurity, including:
- Risk-Management Primer: For your board of directors and executive team, this report discusses your company’s potential liability for cybersecurity incidents; describes how a risk-management approach to cybersecurity is advantageous; clarifies roles and responsibilities for senior leadership versus operational employees; and offers useful tips for how your company can get started with a risk-management approach to cybersecurity.
- Operational Template: A resource for your company’s technical experts to consider as they review the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework—the pre-eminent guide in regard to cybersecurity risk management—and use the framework to evaluate your company’s cybersecurity preparedness.
- Industry Resources: Includes information on how your company can receive relevant and timely cyberthreat intelligence from various public and private resources. Cyberthreat intelligence can help your company understand the nature of current cyberthreats to your company’s critical assets and systems, and potential mitigation strategies to reduce the risks to your company.
To learn more about cybersecurity, please visit www.ntca.org/cybersecurity.
