4 Areas in the Telco Industry Where You Can Expand Network Security

With the development of methods for cyberattacks, which unfortunately are becoming more and more advanced and effective, all companies related to the telecommunications industry should take care of network security. The physical locations of data and users are fundamental, as shown by the ongoing conflicts. Do you know how to prevent data leaks or intentional attacks? Discover four areas where advanced network protection will be needed, especially in 2023.

All in cloud vs. keep it separate

Everyone agrees that the trend of moving IT and telecommunications to the cloud is irreversible. But how will cloud operators (including Comarch) deal with the ever-increasing data separation requirements? Will it be difficult (or even possible) to find a profitable balance between optimal sharing of resources (servers and network) and drastically increasing obligations? Examples:

• Separate (physical) network devices for strategic projects, network segmentation and segregation
• Separation of personnel (no cross-access)

All in cloud vs keep it local vs electricity costs in network security

As a provider, we are starting to see bills (and thus requirements from customers) to locate data exclusively in the country (literally "national territory"). Clearly this is incompatible with cloud principals, as even for the largest players there can be “no availability” zones or regions just about anywhere. On the other hand, a completely opposite trend stems from rapid changes in electricity prices, where the dynamics of increases favor the United States more and more (see Comarch's data center under construction in Arizona).
A hybrid is most likely to emerge: critical/strategic data vs. the rest.

AI vs. workforce

Qualified and experienced experts, not only from the telecommunications industry, are in high demand and short supply. We predict that, in 2023, solutions that will help replace the work of experts, at least to a small extent, will gain in value. It is not without reason that ChatGPT and its effectiveness in terms of auditing code vulnerabilities is very popular. Machine analysis of traffic logs, for example, is becoming standard at an ever-increasing pace.

Network security: testing vs. costs

The turmoil of the past two years shows that even the best procedures are nothing without practical testing. Perhaps significant change will not be innovation at all but actual verification and practical testing of fundamental things such as switch-over, backup systems, automatic network switching, power supply, etc. Testing ransomware protection is also part of this theme. The number of compromised organizations has affected the relatively lower perception of the cost of such practical testing.