News Wings

Tag: mobile networks

  • Cybersecurity Evolution: Zoracom’ s Visionary Approach to Safeguarding Digital Assets

    Cybersecurity Evolution: Zoracom’ s Visionary Approach to Safeguarding Digital Assets

    In an era of rapid digitalization where organizations worldwide are heavily investing in digital assets, the persistent threat of cybersecurity breaches has underscored the critical need for robust cybersecurity partners. Rising to meet this demand is Zoracom, a technology company for cybersecurity, observability and infrastructure management based in Lagos that has achieved significant milestones since the establishment of its Network and Security Operations Center (NSOC), touted as one of the most sophisticated in both Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.

    Zoracom’s NSOC has made remarkable advancements in capacity building for cybersecurity experts and the mitigation of digital breaches. Speaking at a media parley, John Nwachukwu, Chief Strategy/Executive Officer – CSEO of Zoracom, emphasized the evolving nature of the digital landscape, stating, “As the digital landscape is constantly changing, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to protect against the various forms of cyberattacks that are targeting organizations of all sizes.”

    Zoracom has strategically invested in state-of-the-art technologies and strategies within its NSOC (Network & Security Operation Centers) to stay one step ahead of cyber attackers. The facility specializes in providing cybersecurity solutions and network monitoring capabilities to public and private organizations, offering services such as network security monitoring, security incident response, vulnerability management, compliance management, security analytics, and security training and education.

    Furthermore, Zoracom operates as a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP), offering services such as threat analyses, ransomware detection, 24/7 expert-led threat monitoring and response, compliance monitoring, and forensic analyses. The company is committed to empowering businesses with the right technology to secure their digital footprint, gain flexibility, and achieve agility in connecting, securing, managing, and analyzing data.

    Highlighting their commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR), Nwachukwu emphasized Zoracom’s engagement in Young Talent training within the community where they operate. He stated, “We proudly underscore our unwavering commitment to nurturing and empowering interns, fostering talent specializing in cybersecurity, network management, and software development.”

    In the realm of cybersecurity training and awareness, Zoracom has achieved ISO27001 certification and provides training and programs to keep businesses informed about the latest cybersecurity best practices.

    Expanding their impact, Zoracom has played a pivotal role in maintaining a reliable and efficient network and service management, enhancing the digital service and cybersecurity defenses in the telecom industry. The company proactively manage, monitors and maintains networks, including broadband access networks, mobile networks, LoRa Access Networks, Radio Networks, Optical/SDH, Ethernet, IP/MLS Aggregation, Optical, IP/MPLS Backbones, Security/Firewalls, Voice/Soft Switch, Change and Config management for MNOs

    In response to the booming fintech sector in Nigeria, Zoracom has seamlessly integrated its services, offering data analytics, enhanced customer engagement through Miro–Service Management solutions, regulatory compliance, risk management, and innovations in payments. The company’s advanced data analytics services enable swift decision-making, while AI-powered solutions assist fintech companies in resolving complex queries. Zoracom’s risk assessment capabilities identify potential risks, while its automated network and service management solutions save time and reduce operational costs.

    The cornerstone of Zoracom’s success is its cutting-edge NSOC facility, which is equipped with tools and resources to monitor network service and cyber threats in real time. Launched in December 2022, the facility has brought a proactive approach to network monitoring and cybersecurity, resulting in various achievements and awards for the organization.

    Looking ahead, John Nwachukwu outlined Zoracom’s vision, stating, “We envision an exciting chapter marked by strategic international partnerships that will propel us to new heights. With a focus on global collaboration, we anticipate forging key alliances with organizations from diverse countries to deliver excellent digital observability.

  • Cybersecurity in Africa: Many still believe cybercrime ‘won’t affect them’

    Cybersecurity in Africa: Many still believe cybercrime ‘won’t affect them’

    …Criminal masterminds, smart attack vectors, clever phishing tactics and sophisticated cybercrime methodologies are putting people and platforms at risk

    The digital landscape is overflowing with an ever-evolving array of solutions and services created to make lives easier, offices smoother and engagements richer. Smartphones, applications, social media, artificial intelligence (AI) platforms and multiple other tools have all become part and parcel of daily life on the African continent, transforming how people connect, collaborate and engage. Unfortunately, they have also opened up cyber windows that let in the attacks and the threats that compromise organisations and individuals. For Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist at KnowBe4 AFRICA, it has become critical for organisations to invest in training and awareness programmes that help them to identify criminal tactics and mitigate risk.

    “We undertook a poll to assess cybersecurity awareness in Africa and discovered that some of the key issues facing organisations right now were awareness and understanding,” she explains. “Many people still feel safe online and believe that cybercrime will not affect them personally. Others expect their work to take care of their cyber safety or do not know how to mitigate the threats themselves.”

    The KnowBe4 Cybersecurity in Africa survey polled 800 employees across multiple sectors in Mauritius, Botswana, Egypt and Ghana to assess their cybersecurity awareness. The survey focused on their levels of connectivity, the digital devices and platforms used, their perceptions of cybersecurity, the ways in which they work and their understanding of the threats.  Of those surveyed, 97% use a smartphone, 74% use a laptop, 47% have a smart TV, 31% use a tablet, 17% have a gaming console, 8% use a feature phone and less than 1% had none of these devices.

    When asked what applications they use for work, the most prevalent was WhatsApp (89%), followed by email (80%), Facebook (59%), Telegram (46%), Instagram (45%), Twitter (42%), Zoom (42%), LinkedIn (36%), Microsoft Teams (18%), Snapchat (18%), Slack (5%), WeChat (4%), Signal (4%) or other tools (1%). On the personal front, the picture remains largely unchanged with Facebook ranking second (78%), followed by Instagram (57%), email (46%), Telegram (40%), Twitter (39%), Snapchat (25%), LinkedIn (14%), Zoom (11%), Signal (3%), Microsoft Teams (2%) and other tools (1%).

    “WhatsApp is the most used app across both personal (98%) and business use cases,” says Collard. “While email remains the most popular form of business communication on the continent, it is still immensely popular for personal use. Both platforms are high-risk for cyber threats such as phishing, ransomware and fraud, so these should be a priority for organisations looking to drive awareness and training.”

    Connectivity is, of course, a key concern, as it often introduces vulnerabilities into both professional and personal networks and devices. The survey found that 71% access the internet through their mobile networks, overlapping with the 71% who access the internet through home Wi-Fi, and 36% who go online through work/office networks, while 12% access the internet at internet cafes, and 15% use free Wi-Fi at public places.

    “The question is – do people understand the risks associated with accessing the internet in public places and are they putting the right security protocols in place?” asks Collard. “Often, people do not even know that they can be hacked while they access free Wi-Fi, or that they can have critical information, like passwords, stolen while they are online.”

    This concern is reflected in the research around cybercrime awareness. On a scale of one to five, most said that they were concerned with cybercrime, with 29% saying they were ‘very concerned’ and 38% saying they were ‘concerned’. However, 19% said that they were ‘somewhat concerned’ but that they did not understand the threats or how to mitigate them while 7% said that they did not believe it affected them personally because their work took care of it and 7% felt safe and ‘not at all concerned’.

    “The problem is – everyone should be concerned about cybercrime,” says Collard. “All it takes is for one person to introduce a virus to a system or open up a doorway or lose their passwords, and the entire organisation is put at risk. Training has never been more important, especially when there is a clear trend around people feeling like they do not know enough about cybercrime to protect themselves or feel like they do not understand what they need to do to stay informed about the risks.”

    This is reflected in the biggest concerns raised by those who were worried about cybercrime, with respondents citing online fraud (51%), identity theft (24%), children and family (14%), lack of understanding (10%) and other concerns (1%) as their primary worries. While over half said that they had received cybersecurity training from their employers, only 21% agreed that the training was adequate, while 10% felt it was not adequate at all. And it is worth noting that many people still were not entirely sure what their roles and responsibilities were around information security (11%) and 45% said that they ‘somewhat agree’ that they could recognise a security incident. Only 34% of people said they felt ‘very confident’ that they could recognise a security incident if they saw one.

    Most respondents are hesitant to give away personal information, with 29% saying they tended not to share personal details such as their identity number, and 51% saying they would share this information only if there was a real need to do so, and they understood what it was being used for. 13% part with personal information if they cannot avoid it. Worryingly, 7% are comfortable sharing personal information, with 4% saying they are likely to do so if they can get something in return – such as a discount, and 3% saying they share personal information all the time.

    “Then, we look at issues like cyber hygiene and discover that only 43% of respondents could identify what ransomware was, and only 61% could identify a strong password,” says Collard. “A worrying 20% selected P@$$word!, 25% selected thisismysuperwonkyapp#1, 16% chose Summer#123  and 3% chose Grandma1959. 6% said none of these were strong passwords. Only the 62% who chose DSM@8043&! were correct.”

    Digging deeper into how well people understand security, the survey asked people to define two-factor authentication, and 60% said it was ‘using my password plus something I own, such as a One Time Password generator’. However, 20% said it was ‘Entering my password twice for extra security’, 8% said it was Captcha generators, 9% said it was using two different passwords and 4% said it was using a password manager. Only 17% say none of the common cybercrime tactics have affected them. More than half (51%) said they had previously had a virus infection on their computer, 32% had lost money due to a scam or con artist, 26% had clicked on a phishing mail, 21% had been scammed from a phone call and 17% had forwarded a scam or hoax email.

    When checking to determine whether an email is legitimate, 55% said they only trusted emails from people they knew, 54% do not click on links or open attachments they were not expecting, and 27% check for bad grammar or spelling as a sign the mail is not legitimate. 31% Google the sender or topic to see if it is a scam, 23% hover over links to see their origin, and 11% do all the listed checks.

    Add to this the risks of working from home – 32% said they had moved to work from home and among the 20% who were affected by cybercrime while working from home, a multitude of scams and cybercrimes occurred. These scams ranged from being tricked in crypto investment schemes and identity theft, through to accidentally downloading viruses and being hacked. 

    “The entire landscape is a challenge and the only way to thrive within this complexity is to arm your people with the tools and understanding they need to protect themselves,” concludes Collard. “Training is the only way to ensure that all the protections and security investments made by the business are fully realised by those who use them. If people understand the threats, their role in mitigating the threats, and what to do to protect against them, they are empowered and more able to overcome the challenging landscape that lies ahead.”

  • Booming African mobile markets to get boost from Nordic Expertise

    Booming African mobile markets to get boost from Nordic Expertise

    SUBTONOMY (https://www.Subtonomy.com/), the leading Network Experience Platform provider in the Nordics, has announced that it will be attending AfricaCom in South Africa (8-10 November 2022) to bring its world-class digital customer support offering to Africa.

    The African digital revolution

    It’s time to reappraise Africa’s place in the global digital market. Long held back by affordability and availability issues, the advent of cheaper smartphones and ubiquitous, higher-capacity mobile networks have provided a huge springboard for growth. Young, internet-savvy Africans are optimistic and opportunistic about tech, utilizing it as a platform for their creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, and thirst for education. Already the world leader in mobile money[1], Africa is poised to leap forward, unencumbered by legacy technologies and processes, and empowered by youthful demographics[2]. The continent’s rapid transition to a mobile-first, digital economy means that it already has more smartphone users than North America and by 2025 Sub-Saharan Africa will have 474 million internet users (39% of the population[3]).

    New demands on the network, new customer expectations

    Whether it’s using their phones for banking, finding work, shopping, creating, listening to music or watching their favorite shows, young Africans have moved far beyond their parents’ expectations of mobile services. While the future of the African mobile market may look rosy, it’s not without challenges, however. In the next few years, African operators will have to cope with onboarding large numbers of new customers[4] and find cost-effective ways to support them while they transition from 3G to 4G, from feature phones to smartphones, and from simple to complex service offerings.

    As if all of this were not enough, the expectations of African Gen Z customers are also rising rapidly. Like their social media friends around the world, they expect high-quality uninterrupted services backed by world-class, 24/7 customer support when things go wrong. If they don’t get it, they’re more willing than ever to simply walk away[5].

    And this is precisely where African operators can benefit from the experience of other mobile-first markets such as the Nordics. Operators in the Nordics have pioneered efficient and cost-effective digital customer care for years. Subtonomy’s customers, for example, are already able to automate 75% of customer support in digital channels, and increase contact center efficiency to deliver 60% fewer escalations and 47% faster call handling.

    Future proofing support

    With things moving so rapidly in Africa, it’s hard for operators to manage change cost-effectively or predict what their support operations will look like in a few years. Will future African customers have virtual reality-based support, or get help via their digital assistants? Whatever happens, operators must squeeze the maximum value out of their existing equipment to keep costs down and reduce disruption, while at the same time innovating their customer support offerings and preparing for what’s coming. Fortunately, there’s a win-win here as well. Subtonomy’s Network Equipment Platform takes data from any existing source – including legacy probes (eg Amdocs, Anritsu, Commprove, Empirix, Exfo, Polystar, Radcom, Tektronix, Teoco or Viavi), BSS and OSS, cell data and device data – to deliver a 360o real-time view of actual customer experience, empowering 24/7 holistic support.

    “As the African mobile market matures, customers will expect better support from operators. As researcher Herring Shava[6] recently pointed out, two of the biggest causes of dissatisfaction with support are operators’ reliability (not doing things when they said they would) and responsiveness (not informing customers when they intend to fix problems). We’re proud to have helped our clients fix both these issues in the Nordics and look forward to helping African operators revolutionize the way they support their customers in future – giving them both happier customers and a competitive edge.” Andreas Jörbeck, CEO, Subtonomy 

    To find out more about Subtonomy’s offering, operators are invited to meet with Subtonomy at AfricaCom 2022, Telcos of Tomorrow booth A52. Book a meeting here: APO Group rep (malika.bouayad@apo-opa.com).

    [1] According to the GSMA, Africa accounts for 70% of the world’s $1 trillion mobile money transactions.

    [2] Africa has the largest number of Gen Zers (also called ‘Zoomers’) in the world, and more than a billion people under the age of 35.

    [3] Forecasts from GSMA.

    [4] By 2025 the GSMA forecasts Africa will have 120 million new subscribers and 170 million new mobile internet users, taking the proportion of the population using mobile internet to 40%.

    [5] According to a BrandsEye study (2019), 47.2% of the complaints raised by customers in South Africa were about the quality of customer service. Approximately 37% complained about the mobile network provider’s turnaround time, and 44.4% of the respondents complained about the network provider’s failure to attend to queries posted on social media. But in cases where the network provider did respond, 61% of consumers ended up being dissatisfied with the quality of service provided.

    [6] See: H. Shava. Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Experience Among South African Mobile Telecommunications Consumers. Walter Sisulu University. Published in Eurasian Journal of Business and Management, 9(3), 2021, 217-232.