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TRAI
Airtel Cyber Security Jio Mobile Network Network Security OTP SMS Telecommunication TRAI

India’s New SMS Traceability Rules to Combat Fraud Begin November 1, 2024

 

Beginning November 1, 2024, Indian telecom providers Airtel, Jio, and Vi will follow a new set of SMS traceability and monitoring guidelines mandated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Aimed at combating cybercrime, these measures seek to enhance security by allowing users to block suspicious calls and messages effectively. By tracing SMS sources more accurately, telecom operators can swiftly identify and block fraudulent messages, improving the fight against scams and phishing attempts. 

Additionally, organizations sending promotional SMS, such as banks and e-commerce companies, must adhere to TRAI’s telemarketing standards, or risk their messages being blocked. This initiative aims to create a safer SMS ecosystem, giving users a clearer means to distinguish legitimate messages from scams. Yet, the vast volume of commercial messages sent in India—between 1.5 and 1.7 billion daily—makes it challenging to implement such a system seamlessly. With high-volume traffic, the infrastructure for monitoring requires robust capabilities to ensure message traceability without slowing down service for time-sensitive messages, especially for critical banking and transaction-related OTPs. Another layer of concern involves potential delays in urgent messages. 

These requirements could slow the delivery of essential communications, such as OTPs used in online banking. Telecoms are working to prevent this issue, as delays in these transactional messages could interrupt online financial processes. Balancing security and timely delivery is essential for TRAI and telecom providers, particularly for consumers who rely on timely OTPs and other immediate notifications. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents key telecom companies like Airtel, Jio, and Vodafone-Idea, has requested a two-month delay to facilitate a smoother transition. This extension would allow telecom operators additional time to set up necessary infrastructure and conduct thorough testing to avoid unintentional service disruptions. 

While TRAI maintains its commitment to the November deadline, telecom companies argue that extra preparation time could ensure reliable service delivery and a smoother rollout. Telecom providers have committed to ensuring user security remains intact while providing efficient service. TRAI’s objective is to foster a more secure digital communication environment where consumers feel protected against fraud and unauthorized data use. However, the effectiveness of these changes depends heavily on the ability of telecom companies to meet these new standards without compromising service quality. 

TRAI’s new SMS traceability requirements represent a meaningful step forward in enhancing consumer protection against digital scams. Despite logistical challenges, this initiative could make India’s messaging landscape safer, allowing consumers greater peace of mind. The success of this system depends on how effectively telecom providers can balance secure traceability with minimal disruption to essential services, paving the way for a digital space that prioritizes both security and efficiency.
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TSP
AI technology Cyber Security DoT Mobile Connection SIM Spoofed Calls Telecom Telecommunication TSP

India Disconnects 1.77 Crore Mobile Connections Using AI Tools, Blocks 45 Lakh Spoofed Calls

 

The Indian government has disconnected over 1.77 crore mobile connections registered with fake or forged documents using AI-powered tools, according to a recent announcement by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The AI-based system has identified and blocked 45 lakh spoofed international calls, preventing them from entering the Indian telecom network. This initiative is part of a larger effort to curb telecom fraud and cybercrime, with four telecom service providers collaborating with DoT to implement a more advanced two-phase system. 

In the first phase, the system blocks spoofed calls at the telecom service provider (TSP) level, targeting those that attempt to use numbers from the provider’s own subscribers. In the second phase, a centralized system will be introduced to tackle spoofed calls using numbers from other TSPs, thereby ensuring more comprehensive protection. The Ministry of Communications announced that this centralized system is expected to be operational soon, enhancing the safety of Indian telecom subscribers. Alongside these efforts, the government has disconnected 33.48 lakh mobile connections and blocked 49,930 mobile handsets, particularly in districts considered to be cybercrime hotspots. About 77.61 lakh mobile connections exceeding the prescribed limits for individuals were also deactivated. 

The AI tools have further enabled the identification and blocking of 2.29 lakh mobile phones involved in fraudulent activities or cybercrime. Additionally, the DoT traced 12.02 lakh out of 21.03 lakh reported stolen or lost mobile phones. It also blocked 32,000 SMS headers, 2 lakh SMS templates, and 20,000 entities engaged in malicious messaging activities, preventing cybercriminals from sending fraudulent SMSs. Approximately 11 lakh accounts linked to fraudulent mobile connections have been frozen by banks and payment wallets, while WhatsApp has deactivated 11 lakh profiles associated with these numbers. 

In an effort to curb the sale of SIM cards issued with fake documents, 71,000 Point of Sale (SIM agents) have been blacklisted, and 365 FIRs have been filed. These measures represent a significant crackdown on telecom-related cybercrime, demonstrating the government’s commitment to making India’s telecom sector more secure through the use of advanced technology. The upcoming centralized system will further bolster this security, as it will address spoofed calls from all telecom providers.
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Telecommunication
Cyberattacks CyberCrime Cyberfraud Cybersecurity CyberThreat Technology Telecommunication

Government Shuts Down Two Telemarketing Giants for 5.5 Million Fraudulent Calls

 


Several telemarketing entities, notably V-Con Intelligent Security and OneXtel Media, have been suspended by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for disseminating malicious messages through their services. According to a report by the Economic Times (ET), these two telemarketers alone were responsible for sending a record 55.5 million spam messages since January of this year. 

In light of the escalating incidence of SMS fraud within the country, the DoT has taken decisive action to suspend these two telemarketing companies, aiming to mitigate the risks associated with such scams. The DoT's directive, issued on July 15, identified V-Con Intelligent Security and OneXtel Media as platforms for sending customers malicious and phishing SMSes. Reports submitted to the Sanchar Saathi portal, particularly from the 'Chakshu' facility listed under the 'Services' section, highlighted these malicious activities. 

Comprehensive analysis of information provided by citizens enabled the DoT to make significant discoveries and undertake specific interventions. In its efforts to combat the proliferation of malicious SMS activities, the DoT has issued orders for the suspension and blacklisting of 131 Principal Entities (PEs), as well as approximately 5,000 SMS templates and 700 SMS headers linked to these activities. Despite these measures, new headers emerge, allowing fraudulent SMSes to be sent to citizens and raising ongoing concerns. 

Investigations have revealed that Onextel Media Pvt Ltd and V-Con Intelligent Security Pvt Ltd were responsible for a substantial portion of these malicious SMSes, accounting for 5.55 crore out of the 5.66 crore reported incidents. The DoT directive also mandates telecom companies to file police complaints against these telemarketers for circumventing the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) platform and distributing phishing messages.

The DLT platform is utilized to authenticate registered telemarketers and their messaging components, preventing unregistered entities from sending promotional messages. The DoT's actions were prompted by numerous complaints from telecom users regarding malicious SMSes. In response, the DoT employed facial recognition technology to block 6.76 lakh SIM cards and 10,296 mobile phones in Gujarat that were linked to cybercrime activities. 

Further investigations revealed financial connections between the identified companies and various organized transnational crimes, including fraudulent stock investments, prompting the Gujarat Police to launch inquiries. Despite the collaborative efforts involving telecom companies and regulatory bodies such as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), significant challenges persist in curtailing spam and scam activities. The continuous evolution of spamming techniques poses a formidable challenge, necessitating ongoing adaptation and enhancement of countermeasures to effectively mitigate such threats.
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Telecommunication
AI Tool BharatGPT ChatGPT Technology Telecommunication

Three Ways Jio's BharatGPT Will Give It an Edge Over ChatGPT

 

In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries worldwide, India's own Reliance Jio is rising to the challenge with the launch of BharatGPT. BharatGPT, a visionary leap into the future of AI, is likely to be a game changer. Furthermore, it will enhance how technology connects with the diverse and dynamic Indian landscape. 

Reliance Jio and IIT Bombay's partnership to introduce BharatGPT appears to be an ambitious initiative to use AI technology to enhance Jio's telecom services. Bharat GPT could offer a more user-friendly and accessible interface by being voice and gesture-activated, making it easier to operate and navigate Jio's services. 

Its emphasis on enhancing user experience and minimising the need for human intervention suggests that automation and efficiency are important, which could result in more personalised and responsive services. This project is in line with the expanding trend of using AI in telecoms to raise customer satisfaction and service quality. 

Jio's BharatGPT has a significant advantage over ChatGPT. Here's a more extensive look at these potential differentiators:

Improved localization and language support

Multilingual features: India is a linguistic mosaic, with hundreds of languages and dialects spoken across the nation. BharatGPT could distinguish itself by providing support for a variety of Indian languages. It also supports Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, and other languages. This multilingual option would make it far more accessible and valuable to people who want to speak in their own language. 

Cultural details: Understanding the cultural diversity of India is critical for AI to give contextually relevant solutions. BharatGPT could invest in a thorough cultural awareness. Furthermore, this enables it to produce both linguistically accurate and culturally sensitive responses. This could include recognising local idioms and comprehending the significance of festivals. It also integrates historical and regional references and adheres to social conventions unique to India's many regions. 

Regional dialects: India's linguistic variety includes several regional dialects. BharatGPT may excel at recognising and accommodating diverse dialects, ensuring that consumers across the nation are understood and heard, regardless of their unique language preferences. 

Industry-specific customisation 

Sectoral tailoring: Given India's diversified economic landscape, BharatGPT could be tailored to specific industries in the country. For example, it might provide specialised AI models for agriculture, healthcare, education, finance, e-commerce, and other industries. This sectoral tailoring would make it an effective tool for professionals looking for domain-specific insights and solutions. 

Solution-oriented design: By resolving industry-specific challenges and user objectives, BharatGPT may give more precise and effective solutions. For example, in agriculture, it may provide real-time weather updates, crop management recommendations, and market insights. In healthcare, it could help with medical diagnosis, provide health information, and offer advice on how to manage chronic medical conditions. This technique will boost production and customer satisfaction in multiple sectors. 

Deep integration with Jio's ecosystem 

Service convergence: Jio's diverse ecosystem includes telephony, digital commerce, entertainment, and more. BharatGPT might exploit this ecosystem to provide seamless and improved user experiences. For example, it might assist consumers with making purchases, finding the best rates on Jio's digital commerce platform, discovering personalised content recommendations, or troubleshooting telecom issues. Such connections would improve the user experience and increase engagement with Jio's services. 

Data privacy and security: Given Jio's experience handling large quantities of user data via its telephony and internet services, BharatGPT may prioritise data privacy and security. It can use cutting-edge encryption, user data anonymization, and strict access limits to address rising concerns about data security in AI interactions. This dedication to securing user data would instil trust and confidence in users. 

As we approach this new technical dawn with the launch of BharatGPT, it is evident that Reliance Jio's goals extend far beyond the conventional. BharatGPT is more than a technology development; it is a step towards a more inclusive, intelligent, and innovative future. 

While the world waits for this pioneering project to come to fruition, one thing is certain: the launch of BharatGPT signals the start of an exciting new chapter in the history of artificial intelligence. Furthermore, it envisions a future in which technology is more intuitive, inclusive, and innovative than ever before. As with all great discoveries, the actual impact of BharatGPT will be seen in its implementation and the revolutionary improvements it brings to sectors and individuals alike.
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Xfinity
comcast Data Breach Supply Chain Attack Telecommunication Xfinity

Comcast-Owned Telcom Business 'Xfinity' Suffers Data Breach


Comcast-owned Xfinity has suffered a major data breach, affecting more than 25 million of its customers. 

This intrusion not only demonstrates a risky and expanding practice among hackers, but it has also greatly increased the vulnerability of millions of US-based individuals. In certain cases, the situation is actually a lot worse than one may believe.

According to editor of Scamicide.com, Attorney Steven Weisman, this data breach is significantly dreadful for customers since threat actors were able to access the last four digits of social security numbers of the affected individuals. The first five numbers could easily be figured out by the hackers, as they are based on the owner’s residential address and the location where the card was issued.

“So if a criminal has the last four digits, the first three they can figure out easily, the second set they can get relatively easily, so it puts a lot of people in danger of identity theft,” explained Weisman.

Due to this particular issue of rather uncomplicated identification of social security numbers, the government had started randomizing the numbers in 2011.

Furthermore, these hackers are rather harmful. They introduced their malware in the software that Xfinity bought, rather than really hacking into Xfinity. According to Weisman, they are known as "supply chain" hacks, and their prevalence is significantly on the rise. 

“They put their malware into the legitimate software. A company like Comcast gets some accounting software that they have no reason to think is anyway tainted and bam – the malware is in there and the personal information is stolen,” said Weisman.

In the recent times, these types of data breach are becoming more common. Customers are being asked by Xfinity to check their credit, change their passwords, and sign up for a multi-step verification process after the company announced the incident on its website. Additionally, people ought to routinely check their credit scores and freeze their credit.

About Xfinity

Xfinity is a US-based telecommunications business segment, owned by Comcast Corporation, used in marketing consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the company. Xfinty, before being established in 2010 was operating under the common-label of Comcast, where the aforementioned services were marketed.  

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Trojan
Cyberattack CyberCriminal malware Mobile Banking Mobile Threats SharkBot Telecommunication Trojan

Mobile Banking Trojan Volume Doubles

 


There were nearly 200,000 new telecommunications and banking Trojans developed in 2022, an increase of 100% over the previous year and the biggest spike in mobile malware development seen in the previous six years, confirming the trend of mobile malware development being propelled forward in recent years. 

The information was provided by Kaspersky Lab's report entitled "Mobile Threats in 2022" which can be found here. During the year, the firm also reported that 1.6 million malware installers were detected as part of its telemetry as provided by telemetry. While malware creation surged ahead in 2020, there was a decline in threat activity (down from 3.5 million in 2021 and 5.7 million in 2020), despite the surge in attacks in 2021. 

Based on the report released today, cybercriminals are increasingly targeting mobile users. They are also investing a lot of time in creating updated malware to steal financial information, making these increased activities more likely. Similarly, it stated, over the last few years, cybercriminal activity has leveled off, with attack numbers staying steady after slackening in 2021. 

The truth is that cybercriminals continue to improve the functionality of malware as well as how it spreads. 

The banking Trojan is designed to steal mobile banking credentials and e-payment information, but it can quickly be repurposed to steal other kinds of information, including those related to identity theft and the spread of other malware. In the past few years, many malware strains have emerged that have become synonymous with the term "all-purpose malware strains", including popular strains like Emotet and TrickBot, for instance. 

There is a great risk that you might encounter a banking Trojan if you use a non-official app store, but Google Play has been repeatedly flooded with "downloaders of trojans such as Sharkbot, Anatsa/Teaban, Octo/Copper, and Xenomorph disguised as utilities." 

According to Kaspersky's report, unofficial apps pose the greatest risk. Sharkbot is an example of malware masquerading as a legitimate file manager that is malicious (and can evade Google's vetting process) until it has been installed. 

After that, it will begin to request permission to install other packages which will together perform malicious banking Trojan activities that can be considered malicious. In recent years, mobile banking Trojans have been one of the most prevalent and concerning mobile malware threats, used to implement attacks to steal data related to online banking and e-payment systems as well as bank credentials. This is the highest number of mobile banking Trojan installers detected by Kaspersky in the past six years. The number was double what Kaspersky detected in 2021 and represents a fifty percent increase from that year's figure. 

In light of this, cybercriminals are increasingly interested in stealing financial data from smartphone users, and this information is a target of their attacks. It is also clear that they seem to be investing heavily in updating their malware, which may result in severe losses for their targets in the long run. 

The Trojan banker malware is spread by cyber criminals through both official and unofficial app stores, through which they distribute their malware. Several banking Trojan families are still available on Google Play, including Sharkbot, Anatsa/Teaban, Octo/Copper, and Xenomorph, which are disguised as utilities but are downloaders for banking Trojans.  

In Sharkbot's case, they created a fake file manager in which they would distribute downloaders. A Trojan can request permission to be installed on the device of a user, thus putting the user's security at risk. Furthermore, these downloaders can request permission to be installed on the device so that it can operate on the user's device.
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