VoIP has revolutionized the concept of communication in the business fraternity and the technology is attractively inexpensive. This is why even small businesses that run on shoestring budgets can afford to have this technology installed. However, the technology is not without any downside. In fact, it comes with a number of VoIP security issues that smaller businesses cannot afford to ignore. We discuss some of these VoIP security issues here.
The Danger of Hacking
Over the last few years, the numbers of hackers who like to break into VoIP systems has seen a steady increase. This is a major threat for businesses, especially the smaller ones. The VoIP security issues includes unauthorized call barging and recording, getting unauthorized hold of sensitive and confidential information that are discussed during the calls, and phone hijacking for making long duration overseas calls, which are pretty expensive. In order to negate this threat, it is imperative to regularly change the default password. Keeping the default password intact and unchanged for a long period increases the threat of phone jacking and hacking.
Denial of Service Attacks
As VoIP phone lines carry out transmission through the Internet, they are extremely vulnerable to DoS or Denial of Service attacks. A DoS attack chokes the line with a flurry of data so much so that nothing can get past that data cluster. This knocks out the service completely until the service provider fixes it, which can be a time consuming affair. Hence, it is highly imperative that a proper pre-screening of the VoIP service provider is done. This is important to make sure that the provider does have a proper DoS mitigation in place. Since this is not a part of any VoIP security issues that you can manage, choosing your VoIP vendor carefully is critical.
Piggybacking
Technically speaking, this is not a VoIP security issue, but a mistake that the companies at times end up making. This is generally committed by the companies that use a single router for Internet services as well as VoIP services. This technique leaves these companies completely exposed and thus, extremely vulnerable to hackers. A VoIP router that is unencrypted can be the gateway for a hacker to get into a particular network, which may be otherwise protected. Hence, the smaller businesses need to be sure that they have a dedicated line for data that they exclusively own.
VoIP Phishing
Phishing is the practice of scamming or soliciting someone via e-mail by a person or an organization that appears to be credible and genuine. It is most commonly and easily done on VoIP, in which the perpetrator sends a phishing e-mail to the victim, with a particular number for that person or company to call back at. As soon as the call is made, the person or that organization is asked to provide banking and other financial information with the use of the keypad. Once that is done, all the information provided is recorded to withdraw money from an account or to access other vital financial information. This is a genuine VoIP security issues that each and every business needs to be aware of.
It is not that all the VoIP security issues that we discussed here have nothing to with the bigger companies. However, the fact is that the bigger companies, because of investment capabilities, are in a better position to take evasive actions against these VoIP security issues and even if they are victims of these threats, they have the financial backup and other cushion that will help them to recover. However, smaller businesses do not have that leverage and hence, are in a more treacherous position when it comes to countering these threats. Hence, smaller businesses need to be extra cautious to defend against these threats.
About One Call Communications
One Call Communications is a leading provider of phone systems in North Carolina. We serve thousands of clients across Greenville, Rocky Mt., Goldsboro, Smithfield, & Wilson. We sell, install, and service business telephone equipment, voicemail and, voice and data network cabling. We install and service premium quality products from Toshiba Telecom. We serve both commercial and industrial clients.
Call us today for your networking and communication requirements.
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