Telecom – Integral to Critical National Infrastructure
Telecommunications is rightly recognised by governments as national critical infrastructure — a clear testament to the essential role reliable and resilient connectivity plays in our daily lives. From public services to economic systems, so much of what society depends on is underpinned by the need for secure and trustworthy communication networks.
As networks evolve into cloud-native and hybrid multi-edge environments, the challenges of maintaining both resilience and trust become increasingly complex. It is no longer just about keeping the infrastructure running — it’s about ensuring that users’ data, devices, and communications remain protected at every point in the network.
Telecom, like other critical sectors, has built a strong reputation for reliability, availability, and security—captured in the term “telco-grade.” Service disruptions are rare but headline-worthy because of their wide-reaching consequences.
At the same time, the industry is undergoing rapid transformation — particularly in the mobile space — driven by increased device diversity, edge computing, AI-driven softwarization, and next-generation connectivity. As these changes take shape, the network must also make important decisions regarding legacy technology infrastructure like 2G and 3G—whether to maintain, modernize, or decommission.
End users implicitly trust their mobile networks to function. This trust is grounded in core principles: Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, and Reliability — which guide the decisions of CISOs, planners, and operations teams. Any breakdown in resilience or trust can cause immediate disruption and long-term damage to both consumer loyalty and business performance.
The networks themselves provide critical infrastructure essential communication access while dealing with evolving risks both internal and external, ranging from accidental misconfigurations to deliberate cyberattacks. The industry has shifted from dealing primarily with unintentional issues to facing increasingly sophisticated, targeted threats.
Security fundamentals such as monitoring, testing, minimizing the attack surface, and applying the principle of least privilege (PoLP) remain valid — but in telecom environments, they are far more difficult to execute at scale. As mobile networks continue to grow and evolve, the potential attack surface expands.
In our latest eBook, Enea explores today’s most pressing threats to network confidentiality and integrity — with a focus on protecting users and preserving their trust. We examine real-world disruption scenarios and share insights drawn from our experience as a trusted telco-grade software provider.
- Network Transformation & Softwarization
- Customer Data Security, Integrity & Privacy
- Control Plane & Signalling Security
- Voice & Messaging Security
The detail is grounded in our real-world experience and industry perspective. Our goal is to share what we’ve learned to support the ongoing security and resilience of telco-grade infrastructure.
Want to know more?
