As companies of all sizes go through a period of transformation thanks to the impact of globalisation, there's a lot of focus on achieving key terms like innovation and growth. One such opportunity is the transformation of communications, both for employees and customers around the world. Many businesses have already turned to the cloud to help unify their communications and lower costs. But they are failing to pay attention to one of the most critical aspects of this new operating environment – protecting it against fraud.
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Katia Gonzalez[/caption]
BICS is focused on helping service providers, digital operators, and enterprises proactively combat cloud communications fraud – which, through its growth in recent years, has become the perfect environment for fraudsters to target. To discuss the steps that businesses should take to prepare for the future, we spoke to Katia Gonzalez, the Head of Fraud Prevention at BICS. Katia is also a Chair for the i3F Fraud Workstream.
The i3F Fraud Workstream began as a group of wholesale carriers establishing how to migrate their IP solutions on a global basis. However, when these companies saw the depth of the issue regarding fraud, they decided that they had an obligation to deal with it. The group then began to build guidelines on combating fraud, to help companies and operators move in the right direction.
What's the Most Popular Kind of Fraud You See Today?
Katia's background, both as Head of Fraud Prevention at BICS and chair for the i3F Fraud Workstream, puts her in an excellent position for a complete overview of the marketplace. She's been working in telecoms for around 15 years, with a huge focus on fraud and protection.
"BICS realised early on how significant the problem of telecoms fraud was in the marketplace. We decided that we had an ethical role to play in helping protect against it."
"The fastest growing fraud issues we see today in terms of money loss and financial impact is misuse of cloud communications services. However, there's a big problem out there in the form of phishing and end-user attacks that damage the overall reputation of brands, too"
While phishing and similar attacks might not put as much money at stake, they do have a huge impact in terms of image damage and potential churn. When customers feel unsafe with a company, they will look elsewhere, no matter what services and solutions they offer.
Is There a Bigger Impact Anywhere Geographically?
Since BICS is a global carrier, people like Katia have an excellent overview of the worldwide marketplace. "We have a broad range of customers in America and Europe, as well as in developing regions. Regardless of location, fraud hits everyone equally."
However, while the broad threats associated with telecoms fraud are universal, Katia noted that different parts of the world have more specific issues to deal with. For instance, the UK is the world’s biggest target for fraudulent telecoms traffic. Despite regional differences in the management and ownership of phone numbers, and in the threats posed to them, all countries are dealing with fraud almost in the same way.
