Cybersecurity

Payment giant Mastercard has officially announced the launch of TRACE (Trace Financial Crime) in the Asia Pacific region. Described as a sophisticated network-level solution that harnesses artificial intelligence to identify and prevent money laundering and financial crime, it has begun its rollout in the Philippines.

Philippine telco Globe Telecom says it has signed a data-sharing agreement (DSA) with digital bank GoTyme in a move meant to combat digital fraud and other online financial crimes.

Malaysian telco Maxis said on Monday it is offering a new “mobile identity” solution based on open network APIs designed to verify user IDs for mobile banking, e-commerce and other digital services without having to use SMS-based one-time passwords (OTPs).

Telecom Namibia confirmed on Monday that a hacker group exfiltrated customer data from its systems and posted it onto the dark web on Friday after the telco refused to pay a ransom to prevent it.

Cybersecurity and digital privacy company Kaspersky and AFRIPOL, the African Union’s dedicated police cooperation body, have signed a cooperation agreement focused on preventing and fighting cybercrime.

Kenyan service provider Safaricom has announced a strategic partnership with Cloudflare, a global web infrastructure and cybersecurity provider, and Copycat, a leading systems integrator in East Africa. This collaboration, it says, will significantly reduce the costs of integrated cybersecurity services for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

State-owned Uzbektelecom JSC (a.k.a. Uztelecom) and Internet Initiative Japan (IIJ) said on Thursday they will collaborate to develop network security services for Uzbekistan as well as the broader Central Asian market, starting with zero-trust access.

Indonesian operator Telkomsel says it is trialing facial recognition to facilitate its processes for prepaid card registration and card replacement, making it the second telco in the country to embrace the biometric technology.

The second major announcement related to Indian operator Vodafone Idea and Nokia in only a few days sees Vodafone Idea strengthen its network security with Nokia NetGuard Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR).

Indian telco Bharti Airtel said on Wednesday it has launched what it claims is India’s first network-based, AI-powered spam detection solution to alert customers of suspected spam calls and text messages.

Indonesian telco XL Axiata says it has launched a new prepaid SIM card registration process that uses facial recognition technology as a biometric ID verification measure, following a successful trial earlier this month.

Philippines telco PLDT, its wireless unit Smart Communications and the government’s Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) said on Friday they are spearheading a public-private project to protect telecoms infrastructure.

Malaysia’s Communications Ministry has instructed the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to stop forcing local ISPs to redirect domain name service (DNS) traffic away from third-party DNS servers.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) seems to have confirmed reports that it has been quietly working with ISPs to redirect traffic from alternative DNS providers back to local DNS servers, preventing users from accessing web sites blocked by the MCMC.

Malaysian 5G operator Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) says it has signed a collaboration deal with national cybersecurity specialist centre Cybersecurity Malaysia (CSM) to boost cybersecurity for 5G networks.

Thai telco AIS and Malaysian telco Maxis signed MoUs with Singtel on Thursday to use its open API-based solutions suite that authenticates digital identities for consumer services – a day after the Bridge Alliance launched a new regional telco API exchange to facilitate such deals.

Telcos across Southeast Asia said that they were mostly unaffected by a global internet disruption on Friday caused by a flawed software update from endpoint security firm CrowdStrike that crashed millions of Windows-based computers worldwide.

The North Korean government has reportedly made plans to strengthen security of its mobile network by the end of this year by ditching Chinese telecoms equipment – just months after deploying it.

VGS, a major name in payment tokenisation has announced a strategic partnership with Onafriq, Africa’s largest payments network, that is aimed at bolstering security and innovation for fintechs across Africa and the Middle East.

Cambodia-based Smart Axiata tapped telecoms cybersecurity firm SecurityGen for software to bolster its defences, as connectivity adoption rises in the South East Asian nation.

For the second time in just over a year, the Nigerian government has thought better of a plan that would, effectively, tax users of mobile communications: this time it’s a levy intended to raise money to enhance cybersecurity.

Telkom Indonesia announced on Thursday that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with cybersecurity firm F5 to collaborate on cybersecurity services and strengthen Telkom’s own security capabilities.

Saudi Arabian operator Zain KSA and network security specialist Enea have announced a collaboration to pilot the world’s first mobile network signalling overlay technology, which, they say, significantly extends signalling firewall capabilities.

Egypt’s National Telecommunication Institute (NTI) has partnered with Arab Security Consultants (ASC), a distributor of the International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council) in Egypt, to bolster collaboration in network security and cybersecurity.

PLDT’s wireless unit Smart Communications said on Tuesday that in the first quarter of this year, it has blocked more than 13 million SMShing (a.k.a. “smishing”) messages designed to help criminals take over people’s social media accounts.

The Saudi Arabian market is to welcome a new player in the cybersecurity solutions field through a venture established by a Public Investment Fund-owned company alongside Korean security solutions business AhnLab. 

The GSMA has announced that China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom have commercially launched an open API from the GSMA Open Gateway initiative to help reduce mobile fraud, while CITIC Telecom, Huawei and ZTE have joined the initiative.

Eviden, a leading name in digital, cloud, big data and security, has announce the opening of its new Security Operations Centre (SOC) in Monterrey, Mexico, to enable advanced cybersecurity services to organisations across North and South America.

Malaysian operator Maxis revealed on Tuesday that it has signed an MoU with Dell Technologies to design cybersecurity and 5G-powered endpoint solutions for enterprises.

Thai telco AIS has released its first batch of Open APIs for app developers, solution providers, and businesses via the GSMA Open Gateway Initiative, mainly aimed at fraud prevention.

Telcos in Indonesia and South Africa on Thursday launched new API services focused on enhancing security and customer experience as part of the GSMA Open Gateway initiative.

Globe Teleservices announced on Monday it has entered into an exclusive strategic alliance with Tigo Tanzania to deploy its intelligent firewall solution for A2P SMS.