Telecom

Industry Situation

With extremely large databases of customer information to protect, and numerous access points, telecom companies are one of the prime targets for organized crime, foreign governments, and malicious insiders. These organizations experience attacks against their online web applications, as well as the software used to run their networks. As the cell phone and wireless industries have grown over the last 10 years, so to has the opportunity for attack. Telecom companies must not only ensure their web applications are secure enough to handle financial and personal information, but also that the software running their networks is secure.

Key Challenges for Telecom

• Legacy code bases that were not designed to be accessed via a Web Application, a mobile phone, or other access points
• Increased activity being conducted via wireless devices
• Outsourced code development where security isn’t a guarantee
• Limited security expertise in the development group
• Short deadlines for development
• Focus on new features and not on security

Actions Taken by Telecom

In order to counter these growing threats, Telecom companies are beginning to deploy application security technologies and developing new processes. The most common technologies include

Source Code Analysis
Several Telecom companies throughout the world have started the process of rolling out source code analysis in their security and development teams.

Dynamic Security Testing:
Dynamic security testing can include pen testing, web application scanning, attack path tracing, and other techniques to test an application once it’s actually up and running. Some of these techniques, such as pen testing, are designed for security professionals, while others are designed to be used in the QA group.

Real-Time Protection
Many organizations are beginning to deploy real time solutions to monitor and protect Web applications once deployed. This provides insight into the types of attacks

How Fortify can Help

Fortify offers a comprehensive suite of solutions, called Fortify 360, which enables a telecom company to conduct static analysis of an application’s source code, dynamic analysis of a running application, and real time monitoring and protection for a deployed application. No other company offers all three of these solutions in one integrated platform. Fortify brings these technologies together and correlates the results, helping an organization prioritize issues and understand the security state of an application at any point in time. Fortify is trusted by more telecom companies that any other application security company and is at the cutting edge of vulnerability research, tool development, and deployment practices.