Cloudflare, the renowned cybersecurity and CDNs company, presented this Monday a SIM card – or eSIM, rather – for companies. And no, Cloudflare is not looking to compete with AT&T, Telefónica, Vodafone or other carriers. The company’s objective is different: to improve the security of the mobile devices used by the numerous clients of the North American company to work.
The SIM card is often a weak link when it comes to cybersecurity. They are the gateway to SMS with attacks from phishing, they can become duplicates if the operator does not take the necessary security measures, etc. In all these scenarios, Cloudflare’s proposal promises to be much more robust.
Three cases where the Cloudflare SIM improves security
- Using a Cloudflare SIM allows you to protect its users from sites with malware either phishing. When you enter a web address in the browser, the device consults a DNS list to which server it should connect to obtain the content associated with said URL. If you connect using a mobile network, your device will most likely use your carrier’s DNS to make that association. This is where the differential value of the Cloudflare SIM comes in. As it is they –instead of a conventional operator– who manage this DNS list, they can filter, control and even block connections, thus preventing access to portals with malware either phishing.
- Protects from SIM spoofing and cloning. Cloudflare’s SIM promises to protect customers from techniques such as SIM-swapping –which consists of obtaining a duplicate of the victim’s card to receive two-step verification codes or gain access to accounts–. The company doesn’t detail exactly how they do it, but they do mention two things: a eSIM first –although they will also offer physical SIMs– and the possibility of anchoring SIM cards to individual devices –so that they do not work in others smartphones–.
- Use SIM as password. Each SIM can be associated with a device, so that it could act as a key together with other parameters to access corporate services. This can also be useful, as they mention, for IoT devices.
One more layer of protection that is also easy to install
Cloudflare’s approach also makes the setup process easy, because all the employee has to do is scan a QR to enjoy the benefits of this solution. Nothing more. Nothing to install profiles or configure specific applications.
This proposal also protects all outgoing or incoming traffic when the device is connected via a mobile network. It doesn’t matter the app or the type of content. When it does not intervene is when the device is connected to a Wi-Fi network. In those cases, other solutions would be necessary.
Cloudflare, however, not only looking for companies to use their own SIM cards. It also invites operators to implement this solution in its products for companies. That is to say: Telefónica could close an agreement with Cloudflare so that the operator’s corporate clients can enjoy the protections of this system.
Of course, Cloudflare SIM cards do not protect customers from all types of threats, however, if it’s about a solid layer of protection which should help reduce a large number of attacksAs the phishing.