AT&T, Singtel and Telefónica team up on threat detection intelligence

AT&T, Singtel and Telefónica are bolstering their threat detection capabilities by sharing threat intelligence information using the AT&T Alien Labs Threat Exchange platform.

The collaborative effort falls under the auspices of the Telco Security Alliance, which all three are members of. A year ago, AT&T become the first North American telco to join the Telco Security Alliance. Etisalat, Singtel, SoftBank and Telefónica were the founding members of the security alliance when it was first announced in 2018.

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The Telco Security Alliance is a prime example of there being more safety in numbers when service providers and other organizations share information related to cybersecurity attacks. With increased use of business applications in the cloud, as well as more IoT deployments, security is becoming even more of a priority moving forward.

AT&T, Singtel and Telefónica are sharing the latest threat intelligence information and indicators of compromise (IoCs) related to cybersecurity threats and global attack campaigns. The information is pulled from a variety of sources, including anonymous data from alliance members' security operations centers (SOCs) and security team investigations.

Telco Security Alliance members can share insights and best practices for customers globally by tapping into the expertise of more than 6,000 security experts and a global network of more than 28 SOCs.

"Joint threat intelligence sharing will allow our security analysts to take more proactive means to combat malicious activities," the Telco Security Alliance said in Tuesday's press release. "We will accomplish this by writing and pushing signatures for newly discovered malware and phishing campaigns across customer products and environments down to individual endpoints."

AT&T, Singtel and Telefónica are the first Telco Security Alliance members to participate in the threat intelligence sharing initiative, but other members are expected to join the fray.

“This relationship supports the global fight against cybercrime,” said Jaime Blasco, assistant vice president of product development for AT&T Cybersecurity. “This initiative already proved valuable to AT&T’s visibility into current threats, and as we continue to work together, our focus is on utilizing this relationship to deliver better threat intelligence to our customers.” 

AT&T increased its cybersecurity capabilities with its deal to buy cybersecurity company AlienVault for an undisclosed sum in 2018. AlienVault develops tools that identify and manage cyberattacks through its Unified Security Management platform.