Voice over IP has turn out to be the indispensable face of communication in businesses of all sizes. But the mode of communication has certain security issues that need to be considered seriously. Numerous security threats exists among which the denial of service, spit and fraud stand out as most dangerous. However you will find ways to safeguard your business from the serious threats.
Distributed denial of service otherwise recognized as the DoS attack is the most serious risk to VoIP. Any web connected device and works could be impacted by flooding networks with spurious visitors or server requests. The attack is usually caused by machines that have been compromised by a virus or other malware. The entire system grinds to halt and the affected servers are unable to process any valid requests as a result of huge improve in visitors. Particular DoS assaults specifically target VoIP systems but the real time nature of voice traffic means they have a massive influence. Usually the users would detect drop off in service quality and eventually the IP handsets stop working.
Even though it is extremely tough to defend the networks against DoS assaults, business can stop their machines from becoming part of the issue by updating antivirus software and also by installing firewall. The impact of these attacks can be mitigated by maintain good network practice like changing login defaults and utilizing firewalls. Also businesses have to look carefully at their VoIP infrastructure and make certain that all unnecessary applications are removed.
Soon after considering the network vulnerabilities mentioned above, attention ought to be given to potential danger of spam over web telephony or spit. There is really a palpable fear that VoIP would suffer the same fate with the email spam. And 1 of the main downsides of VoIP spam is that email anti spam techniques would not work for it. In this scenario, the potential risk posed by spit is making persuading vendors to develop alternate anti spam solutions. The solution would filter the calls that come in the network and check if it is really a spam call by verifying the source.
There is a significant area exactly where the malware can pose a severe problem for VoIP users. The biggest concern for company would be the premium rate fraud exactly where hacker enters the telephony system and make calls to the premium rate number. This type of fraud isn't a new thing as PBXs have currently been vulnerable to these attacks. Such type of fraud attacks are particularly a menace towards the consumers than to companies since the fraud methods utilized in email phishing would be honed in voice calls. There are much more chances of huge fraud in voice phishing as individuals tend to merely trust the telephone messages than emails. There have currently been some phishing assaults that use a combination of email and also voice for obtaining credibility towards the scam. Even though the security threats faced by VoIP are genuine, the businesses can ensure the safety of the voice communication by taking correct precautions.
Kevin Lowry is a VOIP Services expert. He shares his knowledge everyday on his blog.
Orignal From: Voip Security Explained
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