Mobile industry warns patchwork cyber regs are driving up costs

Mobile operators' core cybersecurity spending is projected to more than double by 2030 as threats evolve, while poorly designed and fragmented policy frameworks add extra compliance costs, according to industry group the GSMA.

The lobbying organization has pushed out a report calling for national policymakers to simplify compliance and incident reporting to make the job of the network operators easier. It also wants to see greater international coordination between governments and regulators to build those frameworks around common standards.

In many countries, providers face a patchwork of overlapping laws and sector-specific policies, or are at the mercy of multiple regulatory bodies, the GSMA claims. This can result in higher compliance costs and duplicate reporting, diverting resources from effective risk mitigation efforts to ensuring compliance instead.

The 42-page report [PDF], The Impact of Cybersecurity Regulation on Mobile Operators, notes that security threats are rising rapidly worldwide, with the number of attacks ...