SEGF meeting in Argentina addresses mobile ecosystem collaboration against the threat of cyber-attacks

segflatam2015More than 60 executives in the areas of security and fraud from mobile operators in 15 Latin American countries attended the meeting of GSMA Latina America’s Security and Fraud working group (SEGF). Held on 17 and 18 November in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the SEGF meeting was a mobile industry gathering of international experts and representatives from mobile ecosystem companies.

GSMA has an essential role in Latin America to coordinate the response, initiatives and integrated strategy of the industry in relation to security incidents. Through the SEGF, cooperation is achieved among players in the mobile ecosystem, including mobile operators, device manufacturers and infrastructure providers, to ensure timely and appropriate response to threats that affect services, networks and devices.

Some of today’s main security threats to the mobile industry are malware, the potential vulnerability of SS7, cyber-attacks, spam and phishing.

“It’s essential to jointly develop the capacity for predictive and strategic reporting of potential cyber threats and for timely response to these threats, to mitigate their impact,” said Lucas Gallitto, GSMA Latin America’s Technology & Policy Advisor and SEGF group coordinator.

Others issues on the SEGF discussion agenda included:

  • Detection of malware and OTT services using integrated tools
  • IT security: ethical hacking and cybersecurity
  • Cybersecurity from the police point of view and connection to the mobile industry
  • Updates on the work carried out by ITU-T on fraud and security
  • Best global practices

Syniverse was the main sponsor of the regional meeting, which was held at the Telecom Personal headquarters.

The SEGF meeting in Buenos Aires was the second this year for the working group, responsible for bringing together regional and international experts in security and fraud. GSMA has four working groups, headed by the executives of GSMA member companies.