The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has mandated that businesses whitelist all URLs, OTT links, and APKs included in their SMSes to customers. This move aims to empower end users to identify the source of incoming SMS messages.
However, despite good intentions, the current approach is not efficient. For instance, banks and financial institutions in India are struggling to keep up with TRAI's evolving regulations, hindering their ability to send essential OTPs and alerts via SMS.
While registered businesses are complying with the rules, the real issue lies with personal mobile numbers that evade TRAI's oversight and contribute significantly to phishing attacks.
To effectively combat spam and scams via SMS, TRAI should extend its focus beyond businesses and address the misuse of personal numbers for commercial and illicit activities.
In a major step to curb the misuse of URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) in messages, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued a Direction on 20th August 2024, instructing all Access Providers to block any traffic containing URLs, APKs (Android Package Kit), or OTT (Over The Top) links that have not been whitelisted. The Direction is set to be implemented by 1st October 2024.
To ensure smooth flow of SMS traffic containing URLs, TRAI advises registered senders to promptly upload their whitelisted URL/APK/OTT links to the portal of the respective Access Providers. So far, over 3,000 registered senders have complied with this requirement by whitelisting more than 70,000 links. Senders who fail to whitelist their links by the due date will not be able to transmit any messages containing URL/APK/OTT links.
This initiative by TRAI is designed to safeguard consumers from unsolicited messages containing malicious links while fostering a transparent and secure communication system. By complying with these new rules, both Access Providers and registered senders can help in creating a more reliable and safe messaging environment.
Source : https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2058943#:~:text=The%20Direction%20is%20set%20to,of%20the%20respective%20Access%20Providers.
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