Rise in spoofing, cyber traffic in 2024

MUSCAT, MARCH 24

Majority Omani government-owned Omantel, the nation’s biggest integrated telecom company by market share, has reported a significant increase in malicious telecom and cyber activities targeting its sizable subscriber base in the country during 2024.

Publicly-traded Omantel noted in its 2024 Annual Report that its “resilient security infrastructure continues to prevent millions of signalling attacks and thousands of potential threats, ensuring uninterrupted network operations”.

Malicious telecom and cyber threats burgeoned during 2024 in trend with the expanding digital footprint of individual, corporate and institutional customers, the telecom operator said.

Last year alone, around 34 terabytes (TB) of “malicious bad traffic” was blocked by the operator’s Security Operations Centre, effectively safeguarding customers from large-scale cyber threats.

Additionally, more than 8,000 “true security incidents” were tackled by the centre by deploying AI capabilities, it said.

Spoofing and voice call impersonation have been on the upsurge as well, according to the operator. An average of 600,000 “bad calls” were blocked through the implementation of advanced controls. Digital identity protection was ramped up as well with the goal of safeguarding digital identities.

Significant strides were made in enhancing its cybersecurity posture in 2024, Omantel noted in its MDA report.

“We have expanded our DDoS threat detection and mitigation capacity, secured our cloud infrastructure and established one of the world’s most secure signalling networks.

With the rapid expansion of our 5G coverage, Omantel has proactively implemented new security measures to protect subscribers against cyber threats.

Resultantly, Omantel carries the honour of its global recognition by the international regulatory bodies, Omantel actively contributes to global cybersecurity advancements through organisations such as GSMA and ITU, shaping best practices and regulations in network security.”

Omantel’s total domestic mobile subscriber base as of 2024-end comprised 3.96 million customers (including Mobile Resellers) compared to 3.62 million in 2023, its growth driven by a rise in postpaid mobile connections, mainly M2M sims.

Omantel’s Mobile market share (excluding Mobile Resellers) stood at 40.2 per cent, while the fixed broadband market share as of December 2024 was 54.4 per cent.

Omantel’s domestic revenues climbed to RO 622.6 million in 2024, compared to RO 606.5 million for the corresponding period 2023. The growth in domestic revenue was driven by a 6 per cent increase in Mobile Postpaid revenue and a 7 per cent rise in Fixed Broadband revenues. Net profit for the year 2024 stood at RO 69.7 million compared to RO 68.3 million.