July 2016

Calculating the Fraud Risks of the Digital Era

by Dror Eshet

Could you live without your mobile device? In 2016, admitting that you can’t is hardly a cause for shame.

Used continually for navigation, mobile purchases, downloading video, browsing news sites, exchanging WhatsApp messages — and even the occasional phone call — our devices are now part of us. And this use extends to storing sensitive information such as personal contacts, business and private emails, social media profiles, personal videos and photos, and so on.

What’s more, all major over-the-top (OTT) providers are competing with each other to sell us an array of storage solutions, such as Google Cloud Storage, Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services, to further encourage us to store almost every aspect of our lives on our mobile devices.

But there is another, sinister side to this revolution. Accompanying the upside are many new threats and risks — both known and unknown. And as digital technology continues to evolve at a frantic rate, keeping pace with the increased risks presents an enormous challenge.

Cyber Security Vulnerabilities are Turning into Fraud Enablers

To understand how the technology is fast being exploited for illicit gain, let’s look at Account Take Over (ATO) fraud, which while having been around for years, is now taking on a new life, thanks to digital technology.

ATO fraud occurs when a fraudster, posing as a genuine customer, succeeds in gaining control of a mobile user’s account and performs unauthorized transactions with their service provider (for example, switching SIM cards, posing as the user to order services and goods and so on).

In the past, most breaches were attributed to socially engineering¹, where users would unwittingly provide sensitive data to fraudsters — in email messages and the like — to obtain private information and credentials.

But today, fraudsters have evolved. They no longer need to directly solicit our information. Instead they purchase private information such as credit card details from the darknet or “underground Internet” for as little as $15.

The spread of mobile malware² is another modern-day example of ATO fraud. Since mobile users are generally unaware of what constitutes a risk, it’s fairly easy for an attacker to infect a device. Since we are constantly being pushed information from a variety of sources (messages, links, social media info, etc.), sometimes our curiosity is stronger than our sense of caution, and the mobile users clicks an illicit hyperlink.

Once a device is infected, the attacker gains free access to control the device from any location without the owner’s knowledge. They can generally access all information on the device, including passwords, which the attacker can then use to launch a take-over attack of the user’s financial accounts. The attacker may also operate other device features, such as the camera and video recorder, to capture even more sensitive information and in the most intimate of situations.

The problem is caused by the failure of mobile users to appreciate their devices for what they effectively are — powerful computers — and to protect them accordingly. Even traditional security-related threats, such as phishing, viruses and Trojan horses, which are typically associated with PCs and larger IT systems, remain equally applicable to mobiles. While some of these risks can be mitigated by downloading one of the many free mobile apps from major security vendors, ignorance of the risks means users often don’t take advantage of these apps to ensure even the most basic level of security.

As a result, we can now understand how the worlds of cyber security and fraud are merging into one, where any security breach can potentially serve as a fraud enabler. And while most of these threats are not new, they are becoming increasingly apparent as the world becomes more digital.

The Future: a World of Cyber Anarchy?

While the impact of fraud on the individual is clear, there is also a wider issue at stake: the effect on larger organizations, institutions and governments. Today, the need to adapt to the digital world has become almost universal. On one hand, this is due to considerations such as improving customer experience, efficiency and reducing operational costs. And at the same time, Internet of Things (IoT) technology has become an enabler to expand digital capabilities into new, more industrial spheres. The result is they can gain the ability to remotely manage large operations conveniently and accurately, over wide geographical areas in the fields of transportation, agriculture, communication, construction, utilities and more.

But accompanying the benefits are huge security risks — far greater than has been the case until now. That is why for these organizations, the enthusiasm to embrace the potential benefits of the digital world is often tempered by the inherent complexities and dangers. Complicating matters, while they know they must approach digital transformation in a manner that is rational and responsible, in some cases, they do not know how to even start doing so.

There’s good reason for such caution. Imagine the implications of a successful cyber-attack on a smart grid belonging to a national utility company or transportation infrastructure such as SIM-equipped traffic lights. Worse still, consider the implications of a cyber-attack on one of the more than 1,100 operational satellites that provide communication services to populations worldwide. The result would cause chaos and almost certain loss of life.

Awareness is Key

To combat the increasing threat of cyber-fraud, awareness and smart strategies are key.

As individuals, we need to be constantly aware of potential cyber-attacks that can cause us damage, either financially, privacy-related, or otherwise. As such, we must ensure that we act responsibly when it comes to our “digital behavior”. This includes installing security apps on our smart devices, only opening media that originates from trusted parties and staying aware of potential phishing attempts.

For commercial entities and national institutions whose mission is to provide greater virtualization and digitalization, expert advisory services need to be a part of the transformation process. Only such an approach will ensure that risks are minimized and systems are adequately secured to protect both the organization and its customers.

As vendors, we are at the forefront of the battle. Fighting it requires an intelligent mix of cyber-security, traditional fraud methodologies and domain expertise. We must continuously develop new detection and prevention techniques that enabling organizations to respond in real time to any security breach. At Amdocs, we are playing our part by employing advanced and sophisticated real-time correlation techniques, as well as powerful machine-learning capabilities to create solutions that can proactively predict and prevent the next fraud event.

NOTES:

¹ Social engineering is an attack vector that relies heavily on human interaction and often involves tricking people into breaking normal security procedures.

² Mobile malware is designed specifically to target a mobile device system, such as a tablet or smartphone to damage or disrupt the device. Most mobile malware tries to disable a mobile device, allow a malicious user to remotely control the device, and/or steal personal information stored on the device.

Dror Eshet

Mr. Dror Eshet is a leading expert in telecom fraud with more than 15 years of experience in fraud detection and prevention at various large enterprises.

Mr. Eshet joined cVidya in 2008 as its global fraud prevention consultant. In 2012, he was promoted and became the company’s FraudView product manager. In this capacity, he was responsible for the company’s flagship FraudView product suite.

In January 2016, cVidya was acquired by Amdocs, a leading provider of customer experience, OSS/BSS solutions for telecom and since then, Mr. Eshet serves as the fraud solutions product manager in Amdocs’s Revenue Guard practice.

During 2007 and 2008, Mr. Eshet took on the role of fraud prevention manager at MIRS Communications Ltd., a provider of cellular communication services (currently part of HOT Telecommunication Systems Ltd. (TASE:HOT), a leading provider of cable television, Internet, broadband and telecom services in Israel).

Before joining MIRS, Mr. Eshet served nine years as a fraud prevention manager at Bezeq International a part of Bezeq (TASE: BEZQ), Israel’s largest and leading telecom group, offering full range of telecom services.

Mr. Eshet holds a BA in Business Administration. Contact Dror via

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Navigating the Telecom Solutions Wilderness: Advice from Some Veteran Mountaineers — interview with Al Brisard — Telecom solutions vendors struggle mightily to position their solutions and figure out what to offer next in a market where there’s considerable product and service crossover. In this article, a veteran order management specialist firm lays out its strategy for mixing deep-bench functional expertise with process consulting, analytics, and custom API development.
Will Telecoms Sink Under the Weight of their Bloated and Out-of-Control Product Stacks? — interview with Simon Muderack — Telecoms pay daily for their lack of product integration as they constantly reinvent product wheels, lose customer intelligence, and waste time/money. This article makes the case of an enterprise product catalog. Drawing on central catalog cases at a few Tier 1 operators, the article explains the benefits: reducing billing and provisioning costs, promoting product reuse, and smoothing operations.
Virtual Operator Life: Enabling Multi-Level Resellers Through an Active Product Catalog — interview with Rob Hill — The value of product distribution via virtual operators is immense. They enable a carrier to sell to markets it cannot profitably serve directly. Yet the need for greater reseller flexibility in the bundling and pricing of increasingly complex IP and cloud services is now a major channel barrier. This article explains what’s behind an innovative product catalog solution that doubles as a service creation environment for resellers in multiple tiers.
Telecom Blocking & Tackling: Executing the Fundamentals of the Order-to-Bill Process — interview with Ron Angner — Just as football teams need to be good at the basics of blocking and tackling, telecoms need to excel at their own fundamental skillset: the order-to-cash process. In this article, a leading consulting firm explains its methodology for taking operators on the path towards order-to-cash excellence. Issues discussed include: provisioning intervals; standardization and simplicity; the transition from legacy to improved process; and the major role that industry metrics play.
Wireline Act IV, Scene II: Packaging Network & SaaS Services Together to Serve SMBs — by John Frame — As revenue from telephony services has steadily declined, fixed network operators have scrambled to support VoIP, enhanced IP services, and now cloud applications. This shift has also brought challenges to the provisioning software vendors who support the operators. In this interview, a leading supplier explains how it’s transforming from plain ol‘ OSS software provider to packager of on-net and SaaS solutions from an array of third party cloud providers.
Telecom Merger Juggling Act: How to Convert the Back Office and Keep Customers and Investors Happy at the Same Time — interview with Curtis Mills — Billing and OSS conversions as the result of a merger are a risky activity as evidenced by famous cases at Fairpoint and Hawaiian Telcom. This article offers advice on how to head off problems by monitoring key operations checkpoints, asking the right questions, and leading with a proven conversion methodology.
Is Order Management a Provisioning System or Your Best Salesperson? — by John Konczal — Order management as a differentiator is a very new concept to many CSP people, but it’s become a very real sales booster in many industries. Using electronics retailer BestBuy as an example, the article points to several innovations that can — and are — being applied by CSPs today. The article concludes with 8 key questions an operator should ask to measure advanced order management progress.
NEC Takes the Telecom Cloud from PowerPoint to Live Customers — interview with Shinya Kukita — In the cloud computing world, it’s a long road from technology success to telecom busness opportunity. But this story about how NEC and Telefonica are partnering to offer cloud services to small and medium enterprises shows the experience of early cloud adoption. Issues discussed in the article include: customer types, cloud application varieties, geographic region acceptance, and selling challenges.
Billing As Enabler for the Next Killer Business Model — interview with Scott Swartz — Facebook, cloud services, and Google Ads are examples of innovative business models that demand unique or non-standard billing techniques. The article shows how flexible, change-on-the-fly, and metadata-driven billing architectures are enabling CSPs to offer truly ground breaking services.
Real-Time Provisioning of SIM Cards: A Boon to GSM Operators — interview with Simo Isomaki — Software-controlled SIM card configuration is revolutionizing the activation of GSM phones. The article explains how dynamic SIM management decouples the selection of numbers/services and delivers new opportunities to market during the customer acquisition and intial provisoining phase.
A Cynic Converted: IN/Prepaid Platforms Are Now Pretty Cool — interview with Grant Lenahan — Service delivery platforms born in the IN era are often painted as inflexible and expensive to maintain. Learn how modern SDPs with protocol mediation, high availability, and flexible Service Creation Environments are delivering value for operators such as Brazil’s Oi.
Achieving Revenue Maximization in the Telecom Contact Center — interview with Robert Lamb — Optimizing the contact center offers one of the greatest returns on investment for a CSP. The director of AT&T’s contact center services business explains how telecoms can strike an “artful balance” between contact center investment and cost savings. The discussion draws from AT&T’s consulting with world class customers like Ford, Dell, Discover Financial, DISH Network, and General Motors.
Mobile Broadband: The Customer Service Assurance Challenge — interview with Michele Campriani — iPhone and Android traffic is surging but operators struggle with network congestion and dropping ARPUs. The answer? Direct resources and service quality measures to ensure VIPs are indeed getting the quality they expect. Using real-life examples that cut to the chase of technical complexities, this article explains the chief causes of service quality degradation and describes efficient ways to deal with the problem.
Telco-in-a-Box: Are Telecoms Back in the B/OSS Business? — interview with Jim Dunlap — Most telecoms have long since folded their merchant B/OSS software/services businesses. But now Cycle30, a subsidiary of Alaskan operator GCI, is offering a order-to-cash managed service for other operators and utilities. The article discusses the company’s unique business model and contrasts it with billing service bureau and licensed software approaches.
Bricks, Mortar & Well-Trained Reps Make a Comeback in Customer Management — interview with Scott Kohlman — Greater industry competition, service complexity, and employee turnover have raised the bar in the customer support. Indeed, complex services are putting an emphasis on quality care interactions in the store, on the web, and through the call center. In this article you’ll learn about innovations in CRM, multi-tabbed agent portals, call center agent training, customer treatment philosophies, and the impact of self-service.
21st Century Order Management: The Cross-Channel Sales Conversation — by John Konczal — Selling a mobile service is generally not a one-and-done transaction. It often involves several interactions — across the web, call center, store, and even kiosks. This article explains the power of a “cross-channel hub” which sits above all sales channels, interacts with them all, and allows a CSP to keep the sales conversation moving forward seamlessly.
Building a B/OSS Business Through Common Sense Customer Service — by David West — Delivering customer service excellence doesn‘t require mastering some secret technique. The premise of this article is that plain dealing with customers and employees is all that’s needed for a winning formula. The argument is spelling out in a simple 4 step methodology along with some practical examples.