SEGF meeting in Colombia: Vulnerabilities in the signalling system and complexities associated with user privacy among key topics

About 71 high level executives representing 13 national mobile operators and 12 global companies in the mobile ecosystem attended the meeting of the GSMA Latin America Security & Fraud Working Group (SEGF) held on 18 and 19 March in Bogotá, Colombia. Hosted by Araxxe, Syniverse and Xura and attended by representatives from 13 countries, the meeting addressed collaboration and the common agenda of the industry to strengthen cyber security, focusing on users and fraud prevention in mobile networks.

Persistent threats, advanced malware and handset theft were some of the topics on which information was exchanged and preventive actions for the ecosystem were recommended. “Since the security holes in the SS7 protocol were exposed, the GSMA has been carrying out joint actions in high level forums such as the SEGF in Latin America to coordinate monitoring of our members’ networks, looking for intrusions or abuse in the signalling system,” said James Moran, Global Security Director of the GSMA.

During the SEGF meeting, the combined actions of the Latin American mobile industry to fight the plague of handset theft in the region were highlighted. It was agreed to continue strengthening the GSMA IMEI database and reinforcing information exchange through the database and collaboration with the justice and security agencies of the region’s governments.

The SEGF meeting began with extensive discussion about the main security matters on the mobile ecosystem agenda among representatives from mobile operators in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. Discussion was led by Luis Miguel Hurtado, Fraud Prevention Manager, Telefónica, and José Gilberto Fragoso, Fraud Prevention and IT Security Manager, América Móvil, chair and deputy chair of the SEGF Working Group.

Other items on the SEGF working agenda included the use of security intelligence tools and internal fraud, IoT security, SIM card security and bank fraud, and mobile money security.

The Bogotá meeting was the first this year for the SEGF working group, which brings together security experts from the Latin American telecommunications industry. The GSMA has four working groups, headed by the executives of GSMA member companies. The SEGF will meet again at Mobile 360 Latin America, in Mexico City, from 20 to 22 September 2016.

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