The implementation of VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol telephonic systems is becoming more and more common. This has made it possible to connect more legacy systems and network to public networks. As result of which improving offerings and reducing costs becomes possible for organizations, while users are able to enjoy various advanced and new services.
However, VoIP telephone calls are prone to call eavesdropping, DoS attacks and malicious call redirection. Particular security challenges are also presented by VoIP, however, secure VoIP calls can be ensured by taking one or more of the following steps:
1. The use of a variety of protocols and vendors for VoIP telephones can be beneficial. However, it should be made sure that the chosen telephonic systems meet desired requirements, rather than the other way around. It is a bad habit to change requirements so that a VoIP telephonic system from a specific vendor can be supported.
2. When too many protocols are being used, there are always unknown vulnerabilities if those protocols are exploited. If unnecessary and useless protocols are allowed to remain enabled, this will only extend the window of opportunity of a hacker. Therefore, not only unnecessary VoIP protocols, but also other unnecessary services provided by the telephonic system should be turned off.
3. Remember that every element in a VoIP infrastructure that can be accessed on the network such as any computer will be prone to attacks. Even if it looks like telephones, VoIP elements are actually software components that run on hardware. Make that managing the underlying operating system is possible. Since life-cycle considerations have undergone development, the older versions of operating systems that VoIP systems are often based on tend to be vulnerable. Those elements must also be protected.
4. When it comes to VoIP networks, the concept of dividing and conquering should be implemented. What this means is that VoIP infrastructure and any other IP-based infrastructure should be separated from each other using logical or physical separators.
5. It is possible to remote manage and upgrade VoIP terminals. It should be made sure that only authorized personnel are used from authorized locations, on the basis of unique IP addresses and usernames. The last thing that is needed is the services being managed by an unauthorized remote attacker.
6. VoIP telephonic systems should be separated from the internal network. The VoIP signalling commands cannot be fully understood by several security devices. As a result, dynamic communication ports can end up becoming open, which can leave the network susceptible to bounce attacks.
7. A security system that performs particular VoIP security checks can also be used. The security system should be capable of looking within the VoIP system so that the call state is analysed and service content is checked. This way, the consistency of all parameters can be ensured.
When implementing a VoIP phone system, security happens to be an important consideration that should not be ignored. Since even VoIP telephonic systems are vulnerable to attacks and threats, the above steps can be carried out to increase the safety.
