Detects and blocks malicious websites across all communications platforms including email, OTTs and SMSes in real time

In continuation of its fight against spam, Airtel today unveiled a new cutting-edge solution that will detect and block malicious websites across all communication Over-The-Top (OTT) apps and platforms, including emails, browsers, OTTs like WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Instagram, SMSes, etc., in real time. This safe service will be seamlessly integrated with, and auto-enabled for, all Airtel mobile and broadband customers at no additional cost. When a customer tries to access a website flagged as malicious by Airtel’s advanced security system, the page load is blocked, and customers are redirected to a page explaining the reason for the block.

The threat of online fraud is growing every day as a result of digital platforms becoming increasingly ubiquitous across the country and posing a serious risk to consumers. There is an alarming surge in such threats in the last few days. Fraudulent schemes have evolved far beyond mere OTP frauds and deceptive calls, with recent reports indicating that millions of individuals have fallen victim to malicious online scams. Recognizing the gravity of this situation, Airtel has implemented an AI-powered, multi-tiered intelligence platform designed to safeguard customers from the full spectrum of scams and fraud. It intends to do so by introducing a state-of-the-art threat detection platform that will conduct domain filtering across all platforms and block the link across devices.

Commenting on the initiative, Gopal Vittal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Airtel, said, “Over the last few years, we have come across several instances where unsuspecting customers have been defrauded by ingenious criminals of their hard-earned money. Our engineers have tried to solve this problem through the launch of our Fraud Detection Solution. We believe this will provide our customers with total peace of mind while browsing the internet without the worry of getting scammed. Our AI based tool scans internet traffic, checks with global repositories and our own database of threat actors in real-time and blocks fraudulent websites. Our solution has already reached a remarkable level of accuracy in the 6 months of trials.  We will continue working relentlessly until we have made our networks completely safe from spam and scam.”

The service is currently available in Haryana circle, with a nationwide rollout planned soon.