Australia has announced telco regulations that prevent fraudsters from hijacking mobile numbers to access personal and financial information, and reduce phone scams, reports ZDNet. “Under the new industry wide measures, telcos will be required to introduce two-factor authentication, such as inputting a code on a website or responding to a text message, before mobile numbers can be transferred from one provider to another. Pre-port verification measures are already being used by many Australian telcos, including the major players Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone.
However, the government believes there are still one million services that are yet to have these consumer safeguards implemented.” “The government expects all telcos to pull their weight. I want Australians to be confident that every telco has put in place strong verification processes to stop fraudulent mobile number porting and the devastating consequences it can have for victims,” said Paul Fletcher, minister for communications, cyber safety and the arts. “That is why I have issued a formal direction to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to make new rules mandating stronger identity verification processes before mobile numbers can be transferred. The entire industry needs to put in place a solution otherwise those telcos without safeguards in place will be a magnet for fraudsters.” Fletcher said the ACMA will have until the end of April next year to ensure that all telcos meet this industry standard. Read more
Australia has announced telco regulations that prevent fraudsters from hijacking mobile numbers to access personal and financial information, and reduce phone scams, reports ZDNet.
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