Ongoing telecom security concerns

The big security news this month was the discovery of widespread hidden firmware on Android smartphones. Kryptowire announced that it has identified several Android phone models available through major retailers such as Best Buy and Amazon that contain hidden firmware collecting sensitive personal data without user knowledge or consent and that this data was being transmitted to third-party servers without disclosure or the users' consent.

Growing concern about device and data security has spurred increased efforts to protect users’ privacy. A new study from Juniper Research released this month has found that biometric authentication is now ready to move beyond fingerprints alone and use a range of identifiers, from facial recognition to voiceprints. This advanced type of biometric authentication is being installed this year on an estimated 190 million mobile devices, such as smartphones and wearables, and will exceed 600 million installations by 2021.

The exploding robocall problem

Highly visible and annoyingly persistent, the growing robocall problem cannot go away soon enough for consumers in the U.S. and now Canada. The latest YouMail Robocall Index released this month reveals that, while robocalls have declined 6 percent in October from September, they have increased 261 percent from one year ago. The nation’s robocalling epidemic appears to have stabilized lately, as September and October marked the first time that the country's robocall volume has fallen for two consecutive months. Still, YouMail estimates that U.S. phones have received more than 24 billion robocalls so far this year. 

 And the epidemic appears to be spreading on both sides of the border. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced this month that it has signed an agreement with the FCC to combat the growing issue of unwanted and annoying robocalls and spoofing that is threatening citizens in both countries. This formal agreement will allow both organizations to work more collaboratively on the growing threat that unwanted robocalls (also known as automated dialing-announcing device calls) pose to Canadian and U.S. citizens.

Technology companies and telecommunication services providers are both stepping up to address the problem. Smart communications platform provider Ooma this month announced the launch of its new customizable call-blocking solution that enables a number of call treatment options to tailor the level of response to telemarketers and robocallers. Ooma home phone service customers who subscribe to the company’s Ooma Premier service have a number of new ways to fight spam, including blocking all calls, except from numbers they specifically allow, and blocking calls based on caller name, which is more difficult for telephone spammers to manipulate than phone numbers.

Transaction Network Services (TNS) announced that Sprint will be deploying TNS subsidiary Cequint's new caller ID solution that features an advanced telephone number scoring and categorization algorithm to more effectively protect subscribers from robocalls and ID spoofing. Sprint is the first carrier using Cequint’s Enhanced Caller ID service in conjunction with TNS Call Guardian service to identify fraudulent and nuisance callers as well as caller ID spoofing. The combined service provides Sprint’s Premium Caller ID customers with unparalleled protection against problem callers.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is broadening its pressure on telemarketers, issuing this month a statement clarifying restrictions on auto-dialing and specifying that robotexts are subject to the same limitations as robocalls. Accordingly, text messages sent to cell phones using any automatic telephone dialing system are subject to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (“TCPA”). The TCPA places limits on auto-dialed calls and prerecorded- or artificial-voice calls to wireless numbers; emergency numbers; guest or patient rooms at hospitals, health care facilities, elderly homes, or similar facilities.