Inet: Network security for telco carriers
Effective network security is one of the prime factors for assuring mobile customers the peace of mind to conduct transactions over the air. With the increasing complexity of network connections and the advent of next-generation technologies, such concerns are of greater import than ever.
Inet Technologies, a provider of communications software for next-generation networks, is advocating its GeoProbe Mobile network management solution, which claims to be I seamlessly carried across to Voice-over-IP (VoIP), 2.5G and 3G protocols.
The company prides itself on the concept of Total Network Visibility, which means continuously monitoring every link, analyzing every message and reconstructing every call and event within a mobile network. The GeoProbe Mobile system provides a complete, comprehensive view of any network - SS7 or IP - allowing for new revenue opportunities, reduced operational costs and assured revenue streams.
This software solution has already been selected by two leading mobile communications providers in Hong Kong and one mobile operator in China to support the carriers' revenue assurance objectives.
One main feature of the GeoProbe Mobile system is fraud detection. Suspected wireless fraudulent activity are detected and reported instantaneously, and the call and transaction information gives investigators the tools and time needed to take action before high usage charges are accrued.
Internal, subscription and premium rate fraud account for the largest losses for network operators, and is often the most difficult to detect, especially among new subscribers. GeoProbe Mobile allows detailed reports to be generated, showing which customers are making the most calls to international and premium rate numbers, allowing suspected fraud perpetrators to be identified.
GSM network carriers often don’t receive Call Detail Records (CDRs) from roaming customers for up to three days, With more than half a billion GSM cellular subscribers worldwide, roaming customers can select their carrier of choice with the simple press of a button, which adds complexity of tracking details.Inet claims to be able to feed fraud application companies with real-time information about roamers’ location and level of activity, making detection and profiling a more realistic task.
GeoProbe Mobile gives wireless carriers in the Asia-Pacific region and around the globe the ability to manage their networks from a customer and service point-of-view, ensuring consistent network and service quality as well as proactive customer care. Such competitive differentiation allows carriers to protect and increase revenue streams by acquiring and keeping high-margin subscribers and roaming visitors.
"Securing consumer loyalty—particularly from roaming visitors—can provide GSM carriers with high-margin revenue streams," said Luis Pajares, Inet's senior vice president of sales and marketing. "Our new mobile-driven network management technology gives both IS-41 and GSM-based carriers the ability to offer the network performance and services that position them as the carrier of choice among home subscribers and roamers alike."
In addition, the real-time, switch-independent data and analyses provided by the GeoProbe Mobile solution give carriers an advanced third-party review of carrier billing practices and interconnection activity. Such proactive interconnection management allows carriers to protect revenue through interconnection billing verification and reduce revenue leakage that can result from inaccurate billing data.
Other features of GeoProbe Mobile includes cyber-terrorism protection which continuously and pro-actively monitors pre-configured conditions, events and patterns, and alerts carriers of any suspicious cyber-activity detected, a SMS spam detection application which prevents subscribers from being inundated with advertising and nuisance messages.
British Telecom Cellnet Ltd, one of the United Kingdom's leading mobile phone operators, has awarded Inet Technologies a multi-million dollar contract that includes the GeoProbe Mobile™ and Short Message Service (SMS) Message Generator.
The carrier will employ Inet's wireless network management solution, GeoProbe Mobile, to aid in protecting and increasing revenues by ensuring consistent service quality for BT Cellnet's entire GSM network. Inet's IT:seven GeoRoam application will utilize signaling data gathered by GeoProbe Mobile to monitor service performance, as well as GPRS, SMS and USSD activity, for both visiting roamers and the carrier's own subscribers roaming into others' networks.
Deutsche Telekom AG, which is Europe’s largest telecommunications company, also announced a multi-million dollar contract to Inet technologies. The carrier will enhance the capabilities of its existing GeoProbe™ system with the addition of a new application – Programmable Content Call Detail Record™ (Programmable Content CDR™). This contract represents the second GeoProbe expansion Deutsche Telekom has awarded Inet within the past six months.Inet’s GeoProbe provides Deutsche Telekom, with a real-time, end-to-end view of its network operations. This visibility helps the carrier to protect and increase revenues by ensuring high levels of service quality and network security.
“The data and analyses provided by the new GeoProbe feature will enable us to obtain data and detect suspect activity faster, allowing us to respond immediately and enabling us to improve the high level of quality for the services we are delivering,” said Hubert Gottschalk, vice president of network security at Deutsche Telekom.
The new Programmable Content CDR application will enable Deutsche Telekom to define the type of data included in each CDR to fit its individual business needs. It also eliminates dependency on switch vendor development time to modify CDR content. In addition, the GeoProbe system performs real-time filtering of CDR data prior to sending the records to an external server.
This differentiating feature can reduce the bandwidth required to transport CDRs over a carrier’s data network. Competitive solutions can take hours to accomplish the same CDR filtering and require more data network resources.
“[Deutsche Telekom’s] decision to continue to purchase our business-critical applications speaks to our leadership position in signaling management solutions for today’s and tomorrow’s networks, and to the value our solutions bring to carriers’ businesses,” said Elie Akilian, Inet’s president and chief executive officer.
“Service providers need network solutions that provide quick and high returns on investment, which is one reason our GeoProbe and its business-driven applications continue to receive considerable demand within the marketplace.”
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