New report analyzes thousands of U.S. telecommunications providers and identifies practical steps to strengthen critical infrastructure resilience
ATLANTA, July 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — SureShield & BorderHawk Cybersecurity announce the release of The State of U.S. Telecommunications: Cyber Risk in a Critical-Infrastructure Sector, an industry-level report examining cyber risk indicators across the U.S. telecommunications sector.
The report analyzes publicly-available data across U.S. telecommunications providers, including 3,106 operators reviewed and 2,132 with in‑depth profiles. It found that 65.5% of analyzed providers sit in an elevated cyber risk band, indicating cyber risk in telecommunications is not limited to small outliers, but reflects a broader industry resilience issue.
Designed for industry awareness, board discussions, policy engagement, and operational planning, this report aggregates sector-wide findings without naming or assessing individual providers. It relies entirely on public, non-intrusive data to highlight systemic risk trends across the sector.
“Telecommunications is the layer everything else runs on,” said Jay Harmon, CEO of BorderHawk. “Emergency services, government operations, healthcare, financial systems, energy, and public safety all depend on telecom. This report gives the industry a sector-level view of risk, not as a compliance checklist, but as a practical resilience benchmark.”
The report identifies ordinary, well-documented, and addressable indicators as major contributors to elevated risk, including CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities, weak DMARC and SPF email authentication, dangling DNS configuration, public-facing service configuration, and outdated web components. Among analyzed providers, the report found dangling DNS indicators across the industry.
“This external, industry-wide cyber risk report developed from publicly available data is a first of its kind, and not only highlights what needs to be addressed but also the relatively easy remediation steps that can be taken to mitigate risk exposure for an industry that is part of our critical national infrastructure,” said Sanjaya Kumar, CEO of SureShield.
The full Telecommunications Cybersecurity Benchmarking Report is available [here], and organizations may also request a confidential benchmarking review for tailored insights.
About SureShield
SureShield strengthens cybersecurity resilience with governance, risk, compliance, and cyber maturity solutions. By combining technology and advisory expertise, it helps organizations build sustainable programs aligned with business goals.
About BorderHawk
BorderHawk provides CMMC, HIPAA, SOC2 and NIST CSF Compliance Readiness and supply chain risk management consulting for highly regulated organizations operating within the critical infrastructure sectors.
For more information contact Jay Harmon, CEO Borderhawk [email protected], (470) 945-1979
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SOURCE SureShield Inc
