News

On this episode of the American Bankers Association podcast, iconectiv’s Kathy Timko, Head of LNPA Services, joins Paul Benda of the American Bankers Association to discuss the rising trend of phone number account takeover and how it enables identity theft and fraud. Kathy oversees all aspects of iconectiv’s U.S. number portability business, which includes managing the Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC), a system that supports number portability services for all telecom service providers including wireline, wireless and Voice over IP (VoIP) providers.

iconectiv has announced that two of its employees have been selected to take part in the Women in Cable Telecommunications’ (WICT) 2020 Rising Leaders Program. Sharon Oddy, head of marketing and corporate communications, and Kim Carter, senior software developer, will join other industry leaders for the immersion program that prepares women to undertake increased leadership responsibilities.

Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) Leadership Program iconectiv leaders to attend immersive leadership development program for the fourth consecutive year What’s the News: iconectiv’s Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications Sharon Oddy and Senior Software Developer Kim Carter have been selected to participate in the Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) 2020 Rising Leaders Program. Why it Matters: This is the fourth consecutive year iconectiv has taken part in this competitive program aimed at developing strategic practices, building alliances and effective advocates for diverse leadership in the telecommunications industry. Who’s it for: For all members of WICT and all stakeholders in the cable and telecommunications industry including service providers, mobile network operators (MNOs), application providers and enterprises.

As COVID-19 cases continued to rise worldwide, technology followed suit with many industries, including healthcare, amplifying their usage. Frontline heroes turned to telehealth technology with increased frequency compared to years prior as more than 46% of patient services were offered virtually. Although treating patients remotely is not new, (the earliest record shows telehealth in use in the late 1950s and early 1960s) privacy and security regulations have evolved to help safeguard patients seeking care. Since doctors and patients are continuing to maintain physical distance and leveraging communications to bridge this gap, it is more important than ever to confirm that the right patients are being reached.

In these days when ‘in-person’ is not often a viable option, the importance of adapting our means of communication via technology cannot be understated. The need and ability to connect is mission critical in a world without boundaries. Yet, while technological advances make communications simpler and more ubiquitous, interconnecting it across the infrastructure and delivering it to the right person is enormously complex. That’s what iconectiv does best. Efficiently interconnecting disparate applications, networks and devices in a world where accessing and exchanging information anywhere, anytime needs to be simple, seamless and secure.

Mobile phone numbers are the primary personal identifier in the U.S., with the vast number of Americans owning a mobile phone. Now as consumers use their mobile phone numbers to register for products and services, this data has become an attractive target for fraudsters. This is why organizations are looking to use mobile phone numbers to better assess risk, mitigate fraud and protect both their business and customers. The challenge is that many of these businesses are unaware of where this phone number data comes from, how to verify if it is accurate or if it has been obtained legitimately

Analyst Report Outlines How Phone Number Data Can be Used for Fraud Mitigation and Risk Assessment What’s the News: Black Swan Telecom Journal explores how leveraging phone number information can provide critical information for businesses to better assess risk, mitigate fraud and protect both their business and their customers. Why it Matters: The phone number is one of the top personal identifiers that consumers use to register for products and services making it an attractive target for identity thieves. Companies can now use phone number porting data as part of their fraud mitigation and risk assessment strategies. Who’s it for: Telecom operators, large enterprises, identity aggregators, credit bureaus and service providers.

I recently came across a 1984 article written about Mervin J. Kelly, the legendary American physicist whose career with Bell Labs spanned 23 years and multiple positions, from Director of Research to Chairman of the Board and everything in between. Described as a motivator who asked the right questions and found the best people to answer them, he is hailed as the driving force that steered the famed research enterprise into solid-state physics, a novel field of study that resulted in the 1948 invention of the transistor and the semiconductor chip. The building block for all digital communications, from home computers to space shuttles, its inventors, Bell Lab physicists William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, won the Nobel Prize in 1956. Upon Kelly’s retirement in 1959, he, too, won a top prize, the John Fritz Medal, the highest honor reserved for engineering greats such as Alexander Graham Bell, Alfred Nobel, Charles Kettering, George Westinghouse and Orville Wright.

Not all risk intelligence sources are of equal value. Some are so important that ignoring them might prove disastrous. One intelligence source of increasing importance is getting real-time notice of changes to telephone number ports and the carrier-of-record. There are good reasons why this intelligence is so vital. Indeed, checking on the security and stability of the smartphone account is now considered critical by enterprises and identity aggregators in banking, e-commerce, insurance, healthcare and many other industries. For instance, when a customer wants to do a large banking transaction using a smartphone, it would benefit the financial institution to know that the phone number was just ported a few minutes ago: that could indicate an increased risk and alert the bank that further identity checks are advisable.

Chile’s Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunication has awarded a 5-year contract to manage the country’s mobile number portability (MNP) database Telcordia Technologies Chile, S.A. Under the terms of the contract, Telcordia Technologies Chile, S.A. will now continue as the MNP database manager until 2025. In November, telecom regulator Subtel said a total of 19.3 million mobile numbers have been ported in Chile since the introduction of number portability in January 2012.