Brno, February 2026 – A quiet but structural shift is taking place in global cybersecurity, and Europe is at its center. Whalebone, a Czech cybersecurity company working directly with mobile network operators, is nearing commercial agreements with 100 telcos worldwide this year, with the user base of more than 1.6 billion SIMs, households, and businesses – roughly one third of the connected world.
The numbers point to a clear inflection. While the global cybersecurity market is projected to grow steadily at around 5–6 percent annually, mass-market cybersecurity delivered through telcos is expected to expand by up to 700 percent.
That growth is not driven by fear or regulation. It is driven by distribution power. Telcos already reach entire populations. When security becomes part of connectivity – bundled, embedded, clearly explained and promoted at scale, and activated at the network level – adoption follows naturally.
In practical terms, this means a rapid multiplication of protected SIM cards, households, and connected businesses over the next few years.
European telcos reached commercial maturity in mass-market cybersecurity earlier than most regions. Their deployment and monetization models are now being replicated elsewhere.
The combination of:
positions Whalebone at the center of a structural shift in how internet security is delivered.
“I am impressed by the leverage Telecom operators have in the cybersecurity space. What becomes clear only at a large scale is that only Telecom operators can realistically provide cybersecurity to the broad public. Traditional approaches, after 30 years of trying, have reached their limits.”
— Richard Malovic, Founder and CEO, Whalebone
Telco cybersecurity has crossed a threshold. The infrastructure exists. The commercial models work. The demand is proven. What remains is the speed of rollout.