GMS Network Protection Webinar: Key Insights and Strategies for Protecting Messaging Revenue and Network Integrity

The recent GMS Network Protection Webinar titled "A2P business: The cost of inaction​" gathered GMS experts Mariia Slabkovska, Anton Demchenko, Attique Khawaja, and Denis Rumnici, who addressed critical issues and solutions in the evolving landscape of network security, mainly focusing on A2P messaging.

Industry Challenges and Repercussions

Anton Demchenko, Sales Director at GMS, highlighted alarming trends from recent industry reports. In 2024, MNOs faced significant increases in SMS and Voice fraud, with grey routes comprising up to 20% of traffic. Flash calls have emerged as an incredibly challenging issue, anticipated to cause operators to cumulatively lose approximately $1.3 billion due to traffic migration from SMS to cheaper verification methods by 2027.

Real-world cases revealed substantial impacts in South, Central, and Southeast Asia due to flash calls, sender ID manipulation, content manipulation, and alternative channels. For instance, one Asian operator observed up to 80.6% of legal traffic post firewall and Flash Call Management deployment.

Strategic Approaches to Network Protection

Attique Khawaja, Managed Services Director at GMS, discussed advanced protective measures, emphasising the integration of artificial intelligence and robotic process automation. These technologies significantly enhance the efficacy and responsiveness of fraud detection systems, substantially reducing Sim Box detection time from hours to mere minutes.

Key elements of the proposed Network Protection Suite include proactive SMS fraud detection, signature-based analysis, continuous monitoring, and comprehensive signalling protection. The suite integrates voice call profiling and validation, management of flash and robocalls, and fraud forecasting. Khawaja further explained how operators could leverage RPA to automate routine processes, minimising human errors and increasing operational efficiency.

Best Practices and Technical Insights

Denis Rumnici, Solution Architect at GMS, deeply delved into the SMS Firewall architecture. Highlighting low latency, flexible fraud detection capabilities, and ongoing enhancements, Rumnici detailed the firewall's operation from message decoding through rules engine filtering and actions (allow, block, modify, or alert). The enhanced firewall system incorporates advanced analytics with technologies like Kafka and Elasticsearch for real-time threat detection and mitigation. He also stressed the importance of building a robust fraud database, continuously updated through machine learning algorithms, to stay ahead of emerging threats.

What's next?

The webinar reinforced the urgent necessity for MNOs to actively deploy advanced security solutions to protect revenue streams and maintain network integrity. Our experts emphasised GMS' commitment to continuous innovation, offering scalable and AI-powered solutions to address emerging threats effectively.

Participants were encouraged to secure their networks proactively, leverage the latest AI and RPA technologies, and conduct regular network audits and testing, using services such as GMS's free network test, to identify vulnerabilities promptly and implement corrective measures efficiently. By doing so, operators can better safeguard their networks, optimise messaging revenue, and sustain long-term operational stability.