Telecom
Infobip Identifies Five Frauds Impacting the Messaging Ecosystem
Infobip, global cloud communications platform has identified five common frauds impacting mobile users in the messaging ecosystem. Infobip explains the security challenges enterprises and mobile network operators (MNOs) face in the application-to-person (A2P) messaging ecosystem. Company also explains its role as a co-guardian of the A2P ecosystem with MNOs, helping protect brands and mobile users with its firewall.
With more and more brand-to-consumer interactions moving to digital channels, ensuring the security and privacy of this communication is vital to deliver a great customer experience. But, while the A2P market will grow to $29 billion by 2024, fraud and the revenues lost to fraud are also increasing. So, now more than ever, all organizations in the A2P ecosystem must protect mobile users and consumers by providing secure communication.
Infobip, which operates a state-of-the-art omnichannel firewall, has identified five critical security challenges MNOs and enterprises need to tackle:
- Artificially inflated traffic: Artificial inflation of traffic fraud uses bots to generate one-time PIN requests to generate undue costs and financially benefit the fraudster
- Flubot: spreading like flu, flubot starts with a fraudulent link leading users to a malicious site to download an app or security update, which infects a phone with malware
- Smishing: SMS phishing, or smishing, is where fraudsters deceive consumers into revealing sensitive data which is misused. It costs consumers $10.1bn, according to RoboKiller
- Grey routes: routes that bypass MNO’s charging systems to deliver messages to end users, costing MNOs revenue and leaving mobile users unprotected from security and privacy risks
- Spam: unsolicited messages have been plaguing mobile users and consumers for some time
Cédric Gonin, VP Global Business Support at Orange International Carriers, said: “As a leading connectivity wholesaler catering to the needs of operators and content providers globally, Orange International Carriers has been securing its customers’ and partners’ international voice and messaging traffic for decades.
“And we’ve witnessed a steady increase in the number of attacks over the years, with fraudsters getting smarter and new types of fraud emerging, causing financial and reputational losses to telcos and businesses but also emotional distress for the end-user.
“Orange and Infobip/Anam therefore took advantage of their joint expertise in telecommunications security to develop a robust A2P SMS protect solution, which identifies current and emerging risks, and proactively safeguards telcos, businesses, and end-users on most channels.”
To help protect consumers, Infobip recommends MNOs work with well establish Messaging providers who have direct relationships with the large brands and also introduce technically superior firewall solutions to their networks to protect the A2P ecosystem.
Infobip also calls for regulatory change to remove the restrictions on MNOs using particular modules like content analysis to protect the end users from different fraud scenarios, particularly in Europe. Content analysis is crucial for improving security standards while maintaining high privacy norms.
For Enterprises, Infobip recommends using Messaging providers who have direct connections with MNO’s, protecting consumers security and privacy through established communications platforms with global infrastructure.
Matija Ražem, Vice President of Business Development at Infobip, said: “As the largest player in the SMS firewall market, we take our responsibility to protect MNO, enterprises, and consumers seriously. But we are all co-guardians of the A2P messaging ecosystem.
“While fraudsters are becoming ever more sophisticated, we can reduce AP2 fraud with a combined effort from all involved.
“The system is only as strong as its weakest link, so MNOs and enterprises should invest in their security and adopt the latest technology to combat fraudsters and protect their customers and business.
“That is why we have developed features like data anonymization, where our firewall separates sensitive customer data from the content, so customer’s privacy can’t be compromised.”
Infobip has been voted the number one SMS Firewall for four years straight, as voted by MNOs. Its Anam Protect firewall helps protect some 120 MNO networks and safeguards 1.2 billion mobile users combined with MNOs as co-guardians of the messaging ecosystem.
Infobip processes around 63 billion transactions over its firewall solutions and blocks more than one billion fraudulent messages monthly every month. Infobip has more than 800 direct connections to mobile network operators, enabling higher security and quality connectivity for their customers.
Apart from its SMS Firewall, Infobip have launched officially its Signals as part of its telco security portfolio, which stands out by using advanced technologies like machine learning to detect and blocking fraudulent traffic precisely.
In the wake of increasing geopolitical tension, Cassava Technologies has unveiled its National Sovereign Cloud offering for African governments.
The solution, the company claims, will help the continent’s governments ensure data is kept on infrastructure that remains under local legal and operational jurisdiction.
According to the official announcement, made yesterday, the solution provides “secure, locally-governed digital infrastructure that enables the deployment of AI-enabled public services”.
The overarching solution encompasses cloud, cyber security, AI computing infrastructure, as well as local language AI models and skills support for governments.
The announcement comes amid increasing uncertainty over the hosting of sensitive national data on cloud services operated by foreign hyperscalers, which are subject to legal frameworks, such as the U.S. CLOUD Act. The CLOUD Act opens the door to allow American authorities to access data stored on the servers of US hyperscalers, wherever those servers are physically located.
Cassava has claimed separately that currently, “approximately 33% to 45% of the world’s data is hosted in the USA”.
The company added: “A sovereign cloud reduces exposure to extraterritorial laws, improves cyber resilience, and ensures that model weights and training data for public AI remain under national custody.”
The Africa Data Centres Association’s 2026 Economic Report states that “data sovereignty has evolved from a legal aspiration into a strategic policy lever”.
Ahmed El Beheiry, Group COO and Group Chief Technology and AI Officer, Cassava Technologies said: “Across Africa, governments are accelerating their digital transformation agendas and are increasingly focused on ensuring that data and digital infrastructure remain secure and sovereign.”
Announced at the Mobile Word Congress in Barcelona, this week, the Sovereign Cloud offering launch accompanied the launch of Cassava’s Cloud Partner programme.
The partner programme targets mobile network operators and system integrators across Africa to resell and distribute AI, cloud, and other digital services using Cassava’s infrastructure and technology platforms.
El Beheiry added: “We are expanding Africa’s sovereign AI ecosystem to build solutions that address the continent’s unique challenges while creating new opportunities for growth and digital inclusion.”
The programme offers partners access to NVIDIA Cloud Partner solutions, Cassava’s AI Factory, its own native AI solutions and its AI Multi-Model Exchange, which supports both Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini models.
Mazen Mroue, a non-executive director at MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, has resigned effective February 27, 2026, to prioritise other responsibilities within the MTN Group, the company announced in a Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) filing.
MTN Nigeria
The notice, signed by company secretary Uto Ukpanah, stated: “This is to enable Mr. Mroue to focus on other priorities within MTN Group Limited. The Board wishes to express its appreciation to Mr. Mroue for his immense service to MTN Nigeria and wishes him success in his future endeavours.”
Mroue joined MTN Nigeria’s board on June 1, 2022, bringing over 28 years of telecom experience. A veteran MTN executive, he previously served as CEO of MTN Uganda and MTN Liberia, non-executive director at MTN Cyprus, and held leadership roles at MTN Ghana.
Since February 2022, he has been MTN Group’s Chief Technology and Information Officer, overseeing technology strategy and governance. Earlier, as MTN Nigeria’s COO from August 2018 to January 2022, he also sat on the MTN Nigeria Foundation board.
The exit follows MTN Nigeria’s stellar 2025 results, posting a ₦1.70 trillion profit before tax—reversing a ₦550.3 billion loss in 2024 driven by forex woes—marking one of the telco’s strongest rebounds.
Google has rolled out support for Yorùbá and Hausa languages in its AI-powered Search features—AI Overviews and AI Mode—enabling millions of Nigerians to get quick answers, summaries, and conversational web exploration in their mother tongues.
The update forms part of Google’s push to cover 13 African languages, including Afrikaans, Akan, Amharic, Kinyarwanda, Afaan Oromoo, Somali, Sesotho, Kiswahili, Setswana, Wolof, and isiZulu, selected based on high search activity across the continent.
Now, a Kano student can ask complex questions in Hausa, while an Ibadan trader seeks business tips in Yorùbá—both receiving culturally nuanced AI responses via text or voice on Android, iOS, or web.
Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s West Africa Communications Manager, said: “Building truly global Search requires nuanced local understanding. With Gemini-powered AI, we’ve made advanced capabilities relevant in Yorùbá and Hausa, so Nigerians converse naturally with Search in their mother tongues.”
To use: Open the Google app, tap AI Mode, and query in Hausa or Yorùbá for personalised guidance—breaking language barriers and making technology reflect Nigeria’s diverse identity.
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