Broadband VoIP Providers
Security with your residential virtual phone service
Broadband VoIP security should be as much a concern to any smart user, whether of business or residential virtual phone service, as general broadband Internet security. Fortunately, VoIP providers are becoming increasingly armed with many of the same or equivalent protections and defenses that today’s ISPs employ.
Before now, broadband VoIP security has taken a backseat to the broad and undeniable appeal of VoIP technology. And business and residential virtual phone service users got away with turning a blind eye to broadband VoIP security because most voice-over IP traffic in the past was restricted to local networks and enterprise networks, both of which were essentially sequestered from the Internet used by the mainstream public, and therefore mostly secure.
But today, VoIP use has become so commonplace that broadband VoIP service providers are now as prevalent as Internet service providers. Thus, business and residential virtual phone service users are finding themselves prey to the same security threats that have plagued broadband data networks since their own rise in popularity decades ago. To boot, the unique nature of voice data paves the way for a completely new influx of security risks as well. IP networks continue to be a weak point in any system’s defenses against unauthorized entry, and hackers can indeed intercept unsecured voice packets.
That’s why the phrase “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is as apropos in terms of broadband VoIP security as with one’s health or anything else. The following are several such ounces of broadband VoIP security risk prevention:
Before now, broadband VoIP security has taken a backseat to the broad and undeniable appeal of VoIP technology. And business and residential virtual phone service users got away with turning a blind eye to broadband VoIP security because most voice-over IP traffic in the past was restricted to local networks and enterprise networks, both of which were essentially sequestered from the Internet used by the mainstream public, and therefore mostly secure.
But today, VoIP use has become so commonplace that broadband VoIP service providers are now as prevalent as Internet service providers. Thus, business and residential virtual phone service users are finding themselves prey to the same security threats that have plagued broadband data networks since their own rise in popularity decades ago. To boot, the unique nature of voice data paves the way for a completely new influx of security risks as well. IP networks continue to be a weak point in any system’s defenses against unauthorized entry, and hackers can indeed intercept unsecured voice packets.
That’s why the phrase “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is as apropos in terms of broadband VoIP security as with one’s health or anything else. The following are several such ounces of broadband VoIP security risk prevention:
- Encrypt all VoIP traffic.
- Run VoIP traffic over a VPN (virtual private network).
- Lock down all server-based VoIP PBXs with antivirus tools and protections from denial-of-service attacks.
- Install a broadband VoIP firewall, and make sure your existing broadband firewalls are properly updated, upgraded, and configured.
- Place proxy servers in front of all your firewalls in order to more securely process outgoing and incoming voice data.
- Make sure your security providers support the H.323 broadband VoIP security protocol and SIP both, the two leading standards neither of which should be used in place of the other, but rather both together.
- Consider segmenting your voice traffic and data traffic with a virtual LAN, a measure that will minimize voice packet interception and any disruption in service should such an attack occur.
Broadband VoIP security will always be a concern, as long as users exist for business and residential virtual phone service. Much like the Internet, as VoIP use becomes ever-more widespread, the preponderance of purveyors of broadband VoIP security threats will increase in kind.
VoIP calls can best be secured by the proper implementation of one or more of the following mechanisms:
- Authorization – shields the system from DoS attacks by configuring it to permit traffic from a restricted set of IP addresses
- Authentication – the equivalent of password-protection or a security question that two communicating VoIP devices must both separately be able to answer
- Transport Layer Security (TLS) – creates a secure communications channel amongst two entities, providing data integrity and privacy alike, preventing eavesdropping and message manipulation
- Media encryption (SRTP) – digitally encrypting audio streams
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