Can Brazilian Businesses Protect Their Mobile Communications from Interception?
In a recent case in Brazil, private conversations between Mr. da Silva, ‘Lula, ’the former president and Dilma Rousseff, the current President, were intercepted and publicized. The publicity has led to mass protests as well as lawmakers pursuing impeachment and criminal investigation.
While much publicity surrounds this particular case, less attention is garnered over the concern that conversations of high-profile politicians are monitored and intercepted, and in this case, released to the public. And, the much broader issue; the frequent targeting and interception of Brazilian business people’s mobile phone calls and text messages, is receiving virtually no attention at all.
Mobile Interception not Exclusively Targeting High-Profile Communications
Many Brazilian businesses are beginning to understand that it isn’t only the high-profile executive’s communications that are intercepted. Just as Lula’s conversations were hacked, ordinary Brazilian business people, in every industry, are at risk of having their communications intercepted daily.
Mobile communication security is a major challenge in the region; calls are tapped by competitors, organized criminals, hackers and even the Brazilian and foreign governments.
Interception of mobile phone calls and text messages can result in direct financial losses. As an example, competitors don’t need to “steal” sensitive data in order to benefit. All they need is knowledge of their competitor’s negotiation strategy. If a company is aware that their competitor will bid on a proposal, and other information such as the actual bid or details relating to the deal, they can simply underbid in their response and win the business.
Such attacks are becoming much simpler and less expensive to conduct. And, as the cost and complexity comes down, their frequency increases. Today, a relatively inexperienced person can intercept phone calls and text messages of others with equipment that sells for less than $1,500.
The only difference between Lula’s intercepted communications and those of regular business people is that Lula receives protection from the government, whereas regular businesses do not, leaving them vulnerable to interception.
Where there is public outcry about the interceptions of the communications of the well-connected, there is no publicity surrounding the larger issue – that of ordinary businesses.
How can government organizations and businesses secure their mobile communications from interception?
KoolSpan enables businesses to protect their mobile communications by encrypting mobile phone calls and text messages.
KoolSpan empowers any business to speak and text securely and confidently, ensuring no one other than the participants in the call or the sender and recipient of a text message, can access the information.
For more information, download the TrustCall Solution Overview, or contact KoolSpan.
