A dream-team of eight all-American telcos will band together to strengthen their collective cyber defences.
AT&T, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Lumen, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Zayo have agreed to establish the Communications Cybersecurity Information Sharing and Analysis Centre, or C2 ISAC for short.
Due to commence operations in June, it is guided by the reality that security threats have grown more sophisticated and complex – a scenario that is being compounded by AI – and the principle that no single company has full visibility into every threat or can address every risk alone.
Indeed, not much digging is required on the part of this correspondent to find examples of when a US telco's cyber defences have been found wanting.
In March, the details of 6 million Verizon customers were stolen when one of its largest reseller partners, Russell Cellular, was compromised.
In 2024, AT&T revealed that data on nearly all of its mobile customers was unlawfully accessed. Mercifully the data in question was broadly devoid of information that could easily be used to commit identity fraud.
Perhaps the most significant driving force behind C2 ISAC is Salt Typhoon, the Chinese hacking group that gained notoriety when it successfully infiltrated the networks of eight US telcos.
It was met with outrage by the US government and culminated in an international response when the Five Eyes intelligence alliance pledged closer cooperation to curb attacks on telco infrastructure.
With C2 ISAC, the industry seems to be taking matters into its own hands.
It will serve as a hub where technical experts can information and coordinate defence strategies with the aim of strengthening members' cybersecurity as well as the resilience of the US' critical communications infrastructure.
The eight founding operators will establish an initial board of directors, which will be composed of the chief information security officer from each company.
Valerie Moon, who has previously served as chief strategy officer at the US government's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and deputy assistant director of the FBI, will take on the role of executive director.
"The C2 ISAC will strengthen individual member organisations and support the resilience of the nation's critical communications infrastructure," she said Moon. "I look forward to getting started."
Rich Baich, inaugural chairperson of the C2 ISAC board, added: "Cybersecurity threats are more sophisticated and persistent than ever.
"With Valerie Moon serving as the executive director, the C2 ISAC is well positioned to expand trusted collaboration across the communications sector and help members address emerging risks."
With 63% of global operators targeted by advanced persistent threats (APTs) in 2024, according to Nokia , the C2 ISAC will need to hit the ground running.
Nick is a freelancer who has covered the global telecoms industry for more than 15 years. Areas of expertise include operator strategies; M&As; and emerging technologies, among others. As a freelancer, Nick has contributed news and features for many well-known industry publications. Before that, he wrote daily news and regular features as deputy editor of Total Telecom. He has a first-class honours degree in journalism from the University of Westminster.
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