{"id":5943,"date":"2025-11-25T14:32:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T14:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/?p=5943"},"modified":"2025-11-25T14:32:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T14:32:00","slug":"telecom-security-reboot-why-zero-trust-is-the-only-way-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/?p=5943","title":{"rendered":"Telecom security reboot: Why zero trust is the only way forward"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Telecom networks are everywhere. They keep the world moving \u2014 all the way from managing data, powering business, connecting people across continents and whatnot. For a long time, security in this space was pretty straightforward: build a wall, keep threats outside and trust everything inside. Back when networks were locked down and closed, that was enough.<\/p>\n

But those days are over. Now, workloads sprawl across hybrid clouds, edge devices multiply and third-party vendors are everywhere. The old perimeter? It\u2019s gone.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where zero trust comes in. Not just the latest buzzword, but a must-have survival tool. The problem is, a lot of companies think zero trust is something you can just buy off the shelf. That\u2019s not how it works.<\/p>\n

<\/a>The misunderstanding holding telecom back<\/h2>\n

Everywhere you look in telecom, \u201czero trust\u201d pops up \u2014 in boardrooms, strategy docs and vendor pitches. But somewhere along the way, people lost sight of what it really means. Too many leaders treat it like a compliance box to tick or another software rollout.<\/p>\n

The truth\u2019s pretty stark: Zero trust is a mindset. It\u2019s about swapping assumptions for constant proof. When that mindset becomes part of the culture, security finally stops being just another chore and becomes how you operate. But most telcos haven\u2019t made that mental shift. They\u2019re living with a false sense of safety and attackers are taking full advantage.<\/p>\n

<\/a>IT and OT: Impact is linked<\/h2>\n

Most OT attacks start in IT environments these days. Once attackers get hold of admin credentials or find a weak interface, they can jump straight into the network gear or base-station controllers.<\/p>\n

Bridging this isn\u2019t about shuffling org charts. It\u2019s about seeing everything at once and building a single rulebook. Shared access policies, clear patch priorities and unified threat detection \u2014 when you get all that working together, zero trust finally turns into something real.<\/p>\n

<\/a>The real enemies: Persistence and patience<\/h2>\n

Telecom operators aren\u2019t just up against lone hackers or ransomware gangs anymore. The big threat is patient, well-funded groups \u2014 nation-state actors who know how to stay invisible. Attacks like Salt Typhoon have proven these groups can live inside telecom networks for months, quietly stealing data with real geopolitical stakes.<\/p>\n

CISA has flagged Volt Typhoon and other China-linked groups for breaking into telecom operators all over the world since 2021<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Building trust where none exists<\/h2>\n

Zero trust isn\u2019t just a tech upgrade \u2014 it\u2019s about habits. And three habits matter most: always verify, give only what\u2019s needed and make sure problems can\u2019t spread.<\/p>\n

Always verify:<\/strong> Logging in isn\u2019t the end of the check. Every person, device and system gets watched \u2014 where they\u2019re connecting from, what they\u2019re doing and if it all looks normal.<\/p>\n

Least privilege:<\/strong> The less power someone or something has, the less damage they can do if things go sideways. Tightening that up slashes risk \u2014 no fancy new tools required.<\/p>\n

Segment the network:<\/strong> Stop trouble from spreading. Slice networks into smaller, isolated zones \u2014 micro-segments. When networks are divided this way, potential breaches can be minimised. \u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a>The elephant in the room: legacy tech<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s be honest \u2014 legacy infrastructure isn\u2019t going anywhere. Network hardware built decades ago still runs the show, designed for nonstop uptime when trust used to be automatic. Swapping it all out for something new? That\u2019s a massive risk, not to mention wildly expensive. But pretending you can just leave everything as is \u2014 that\u2019s worse.<\/p>\n

So, what actually works? You wrap old systems in modern \u201csecurity shells.\u201d Think secure gateways, centralized authentication and session monitoring. These layers let you boost security now, without gambling with service outages.<\/p>\n

Zero trust isn\u2019t about chasing some perfect setup. It\u2019s about uplifting security posture, step by step. Every verified connection, every workload you isolate, makes your network tougher.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a>Compliance that works across borders<\/h2>\n

Zero trust doesn\u2019t toss out your compliance rules \u2014 it builds on them. Whether you\u2019re dealing with ISO 27001, the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, the EU\u2019s NIS2 Directive or any other local telecom regulation, the bottom line stays the same: keep checking your risks, control who gets in and prove you\u2019re on top of it.<\/p>\n

Once you bake zero trust into these frameworks, compliance stops being a headache. Instead of just ticking boxes, compliance becomes part of everyday security. As threats shift, your protections shift with them. No matter where your network lives, you\u2019re covered and ready for inspection.<\/a><\/p>\n

Measurable momentum: 6 KPIs for the first 180 days<\/h2>\n

Executives don\u2019t want vague promises \u2014 they want proof. In the first six months of rolling out zero trust, here\u2019s what you actually track:<\/p>\n

You see fewer privileged accounts floating around.<\/p>\n

Strange activity gets spotted faster.<\/p>\n

Access approvals don\u2019t drag on \u2014 governance finally moves at the speed of business.<\/p>\n

More endpoints and workloads are under watch.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a drop in hackers sneaking around your network.<\/p>\n

IT and OT teams? They\u2019re running real joint-response drills.<\/p>\n

These aren\u2019t just stats to show off. They prove zero trust isn\u2019t hype \u2014 it works. Progress you can point to and build on.<\/p>\n

<\/a>From buzzword to baseline<\/h2>\n

Zero trust isn\u2019t just talk anymore. It\u2019s how you measure if a network\u2019s really secure. For telecom, adopting it isn\u2019t for show \u2014 it\u2019s survival.<\/p>\n

Gartner says that by 2027, 70% of organizations will start with zero trust for security<\/a>. That\u2019s up from less than 20% today.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re still clinging to old perimeter defenses, you\u2019re fighting yesterday\u2019s battles. The leaders see zero trust as a journey. They\u2019re building the networks we\u2019ll all count on.<\/p>\n\n

This article is published as part of the Foundry Expert Contributor Network.
Want to join?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Telecom networks are everywhere. They keep the world moving \u2014 all the way from managing data, powering business, connecting people across continents and whatnot. For a long time, security in this space was pretty straightforward: build a wall, keep threats outside and trust everything inside. Back when networks were locked down and closed, that was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5943"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}