This innovative solution allows the operator to offer advanced security and smart messaging features to their customers. tecSMSFirewall allows to detect and eliminate SMS Spam and to offer additional anti-fraud features, according to GSM Association AA.50 and AA.70171 recommendations.

The SMS Firewall basic module may be installed standalone or embedded in a tecways SMS-Center or SMS-Router. When installed standalone, the SMS Firewall will integrate seamlessly with the network operator backbone, including existing SMSC, HLR and other third party systems such as alarming, data warehousing and billing.

The core of the SMS Firewall is composed of powerful HLR and MSC proxies allowing the SMS Firewall to filter and process according specified rules all SMS to be delivered to the network operator's subscribers, from international and optionally domestic origins.

Additional modules described below allow offering spam filtering, advanced smart messaging options, Voice SMS delivery, parental control or sponsored SMS in order to deliver valuable new features to subscribers, increase customer satisfaction and faithfulness and generate more revenue.

All services and options are managed by a simple and powerful Web-based GUI, offering real-time configuration and monitoring. Each service offered by the SMS Firewall could be enabled for all mobile subscribers on the network or offered to mobile customers on a subscription basis.

Spam Filtering

The increased uncontrolled or illegal access to access to the SS7 backbone is leading to growing unsolicited SMS traffic (spam). Abusive spam may result in the following problem:

• Customer annoyance which lead to churn
• Network inefficiency due to flooding.
• Revenue loss
• Necessity for the operator to comply with the anti-spam laws issued by government and regulatory commissions

According to the message source trust level and defined filtering thresholds for this sender network, the Spam Filtering module may perform the following actions:

• Reject any message not coming from a known SCCP address
• Lets the message pass unhampered but count it to check the number of SMS submitted by a third party SMSC in a given time does not exceed the previously set limit
• Detect inconsistencies in the message addressing (e.g. compare MAP parameters SM RP OA and SCCP Calling Party address)
• Check on message similarity to detect spam when numerous identical or similar messages are submitted from a given source.
• Check on message content to find illegal keywords (refer to Content Filtering)
• Performs additional SCCP/MAP checks on both the originator identity and SMS delivery behaviour

When a message is rejected based on a filtering rule, the platform may:

• Return an error back to the originator SMSC invoking it not to retry any further delivery.
• Return a faked success status to the sender SMSC to make more difficult evasive actions by spammers.

For dubious cases, it is also possible to accept the messages and store them temporarily in holding mode in the SMS Firewall, so an operator can look at them and accept delivery if they appear legitimate.

Foreign SMSC Whitelist

The SMS Firewall will check the originating SCCP address matches an authorized roaming partner SMSC address defined in its whitelist, protecting the operator network from rogue SMSC having managed to connect to a SS7 network having signaling opened with the home network. Furthermore, the SMS Firewall may also check the correct SMS delivery sequence (SRI then forwardSM) is followed by the remote SMSC to detect inconsistencies.

Fraud Control and Confidential Data Masking

The Fraud Control module allows protecting the operator against the capture of the subscriber database using IMSI search requests; MAP search_routing_info_for_sm (SRI) commands without subsequent SMS delivery using (forward_sm). SS7 systems may validate known of presumed MSISDN numbers and even retrieve confidential information such subscriber IMSI and current attached MSC. As only the forward_sm SMS delivery is charged when AA.19 are in force, those SRI requests may be performed without any other cost than the small signaling charges.

The Fraud Control module will record the number of IMSI requests performed by a remote SMSC and may check they are indeed followed by SMS delivery.Furthermore, even for legitimate SRI requests, the system may mask sensitive subscriber data to the remote SMSC:

• Subscriber IMSI may be replaced by a dummy IMSI if preferred, as the IMSI is confidential information for example used to sign network trusted commands.
• Subscriber MSC (giving a rough idea of the subscriber location) may also be masked and replaced by the SMS Firewall MSC address.

Other than the smart filtering features that are made available by the tecSMSFirewall, this platform which runs on HP OpenCall technology also performs its best performance by providing:

• Easy integration in the current network
• Carrier-grade solution, scalable from thousands to millions of subscribers, with scalable building blocks.
• Load balancing & fault tolerant configurations
• Flexible licensing scheme: same platform may host all features
• Full SS7/MAP and SIGTRAN support
• Optional integration with IN Prepaid platform
• Web and SNMP management

The key benefits for this solution is as follows:

• Quick and easy deployment
• Proven and reliable solution
• Protect customer privacy, lower complaints and churn, increase network efficiency and revenues
• Allows to adapt to customer sensitiveness, background and use
• Increase SMS traffic and generate more revenues
• Expand both SMS usage (delivery and mobile) and SMS users (older people, blind, uneducated)?
• Safe mobile messaging environment for children
• Increase revenue and SMS use amongst youth
• Allows to offer advanced services to professional users