The time to secure VOIP traffic is now, before
the threats outweigh the benefits of this cost-saving communications
technology. When it comes to voice over IP, progress is a double-edged
sword.
The technology offers a host of benefits, from lower calling costs and
greater mobility to advanced functions like unified messaging and collaborative
whiteboarding. But as VOIP matures, and as hackers become more familiar with
its intricacies, the threats may someday equal the benefitsunless companies
prepare now.
Today, the biggest VOIP-related security threats are inside a company's
firewall. That's because, for the most part, most systems still rely on a
combination of an IP network and the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network)
land-line network. Each time a device engages in a VOIP call, the VOIP phone
number's IP address is translated into a standard phone number, which is passed
through the PSTN network.
That can be exploited, for example by an employee
listening in on a phone call or changing a configuration setting to make the CEO's
phone ring at the employee's desk. A malicious usereither a disgruntled
employee or a hacker who managed to get inside the buildingcould launch a DoS
(Denial of Service) attack that would flood the network so thoroughly that
nobody would be able to make or receive calls.
Read the full story on eWEEK Midmarket.