Background
A leading global telecommunications company, with a significant presence in Ireland, faced increasing challenges in managing threats across its expansive mobile network. The company required a robust solution to effectively block malicious traffic and protect its network and customers.
Challenge
The telecommunications industry is a prime target for cyber threats, including malware, phishing attacks, and other malicious activities. Cyber attacks can be extremely damaging for telecommunications companies as they operate extensive network infrastructures that, if disrupted by a cyber attack, can lead to widespread service outages affecting a large number of customers. Additionally, an attack can compromise sensitive customer data, resulting in reputational damage and potential regulatory fines for data breaches.
The company was looking to mitigare these risks and as a part of the solution, needed to block malicious and illegitimate traffic in their mobile network. The goal was to find a solution that could seamlessly integrate with their existing infrastructure.
Solution
The company chose FastNetMon for its reliable and flexible blocklist-based filtering capabilities. FastNetMon’s ability to support a wide range of blocklist formats, including those stored on Amazon S3-based storage and accessible via HTTP or HTTPS protocols, made it an ideal choice for the telecommunications provider.
FastNetMon’s system works by downloading all the data from the connected blocklist, which includes IP addresses identified as sources of malicious activities. This data is then used to configure the company’s routers through a special BGP daemon process, which announces the blocklist information, effectively preventing these harmful hosts from accessing the network.
Implementation
The implementation process involved setting up FastNetMon to regularly receive updates from selected external intelligence feed providers. These providers specialize in identifying and tracking various types of online threats, ensuring that the blocklists are continuously updated with the latest threat data.
Once integrated, FastNetMon continuously monitors the blocklists for any new or updated entries. If changes were detected, the system automatically updated the internal list and announced the new blocked hosts to the routers. This dynamic approach allowed the company to adapt quickly to emerging threats and maintain a high level of network security.
Results
The deployment of FastNetMon significantly strengthened the company’s approach to network security in their Irish mobile network operations. The blocklist-based filtering system proved highly effective in blocking access to and from malicious hosts, significantly reducing the incidence of security breaches.
The flexibility of FastNetMon to handle multiple blocklist formats and its compatibility with various intelligence feed providers enabled the company to achieve comprehensive threat coverage. This proactive security measure ensured that both the network and its customers were safeguarded against a wide array of cyber threats the unblocked malicious traffic produces.
Conclusion
FastNetMon has provided the telecommunications company with a simple but powerful tool to enhance their threat detection and prevention capabilities. The ease of integration, combined with the ability to manage multiple blocklists simultaneously, has positioned FastNetMon as a critical component of the company’s cybersecurity strategy in Ireland. This case study demonstrates the effectiveness of FastNetMon in a large-scale enterprise scenario, highlighting its potential for other companies in the telecommunications sector.
About FastNetMon
FastNetMon delivers versatile DDoS detection software for companies at any scale. With extensive experience in the telecom, mobile, and cloud computing industries, we take pride in preventing DDoS attacks and protecting our customers’ networks to the highest standard.
Get in touch at sales@fastnetmon.com