Kaspersky Reveals Cyber Threat Trends for the Telecommunications Industry in 2026

JAKARTA - Kaspersky revealed that the telecommunications sector is still under cyber threat pressure throughout 2025, and the situation is expected to continue until 2026.

Starting from advanced persistent threat (APT) activities, supply chain compromises, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, to SIM-based fraud continue to be the main challenges for operators.

In the latest edition of Kaspersky Security Bulletin, by 2025 telecommunications operators face four categories of APT that aim to gain hidden access to operator networks for long-term espionage.

Then, supply chain vulnerabilities are still a significant entry point, telecommunications ecosystems that rely on many vendors, contractors, and integrated platforms, and DDoS attacks that threaten the availability and capacity of services.

Between November 2024 and October 2025, as many as 12.79% of users in the telecommunications sector face online threats and 20.76% face threats on devices (on device). During the same period, 9.86% of telecommunications organizations worldwide experienced ransomware.

On the other hand, Kaspersky highlights the shift of the telecommunications industry from a phase of rapid development to the widespread implementation of technology.

This change is considered to open up new opportunities, but also carries additional operational risks that need to be anticipated in 2026.

There are three areas of technology transition that are of primary concern. First, AI-based network management, where automation risks magnifying the impact of configuration errors.

Second, the rush to implement post-quantum cryptography can trigger interoperability and performance issues. Third, the integration of the 5G network with satellites or non-terrestrial networks (NTN), which expands the footprint of services while adding new integration points.

"The threats that dominate 2025 will not disappear. But now these threats intersect with operational risks from AI automation, quantum-ready cryptography, and satellite integration," said Leonid Bezvershenko, senior security researcher at Kaspersky GReAT.

According to him, operators need to build security from the beginning with the support of continuous threat intelligence.