Your Regular Telephone Line or VOIP Phone Service?

A mother from Miami, Florida has a son who is currently studying for his business administration degree at the University of North Carolina. She usually communicates to her son through their regular home telephone line. Although she is willing to spend money just to check on her son at the university, she is now complaining about the high rates that the local Miami telephone company is imposing...

Continue Reading

Is Your VOIP Service Secure?

Ron King

For individuals, VOIP security is primarily a matter of preventing others from eavesdropping on their conversations. Some VOIP service providers offer voice security through encryption or separate data routes.

Regular precautions for transferring files should, of course, always be followed. A firewall should be in place for protecting your computer from the internet and any data or program that is downloaded should be checked for viruses.

But users should reealize that VOIP hardware devices are inherently more vulnerable to attack. Some types of equipment can be made unstable or inoperable when they receive certain types of data. Some internet phones are also susceptible to data piracy, revealing private information under certain conditions.

While this probably won't be of much concern when you're calling Uncle Tim, it is a huge concern for businesses that consistently use telephone communication for discussing sensitive business information. As VOIP popularity increases, security is becoming a growing concern and is now receiving widespread attention. Security Issues

It's mainly businesses that need to be concerned with security issues related to VOIP. They are more susceptible to the Denial of Service (DOS) attacks and other forms of obnoxious hacking because many businesses operate personal gateways and other equipment for connecting to the internet.

There are several security issues associated with VOIP. Eavesdropping is an understandable fear with both regular and VOIP calls, but there are additional concerns unique to this technology. Since VOIP data is traveling across the internet just like any other kind of data, it is vulnerable to the same types of attacks. Hackers have countless software tools available to them to retrieve information being transmitted over the internet. These tools are as effective with voice data as with any other kind of data.

Another security threat is the possibility of sending viruses with VOIP data. This hasn't surfaced yet, but viruses could potentially overload VOIP networks, reduced sound quality and create delays.

VOIP isn't secure against spam either. This refers to receiving unsolicited marketing calls from companies selling their goods and services.

There are several points in the transmission of VOIP calls that hackers can use to recover information. In additin to retrieving actual conversations, they can also access critical information such as user identities and VOIP phone numbers. With this information, a hacker can place phone calls using someone else's identity.

Attackers could also record phone calls while eavesdropping on conversations and even potentially restructure voice data to create discussions that never actually existed! Log files could also be accessed and altered.

There are ways currently available that address such security issues. The first is with encryption that provides the same sort of security used in sending credit card information over a secure data connection. The second is to separate VOIP data from other internet traffic by using a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN). Both methods can degrade call quality, but they present an alternative for sensitive calls.

About the author:
Visit VOIP Solutions to learn more. Ron King is a full-time researcher, writer, and web developer. Copyright 2005 Ron King. This article may be reprinted if the resource box is left intact.


Voice Over Internet Protocol - A Few Things You Need To Know First

Unless you have had your head in the sand lately you will have heard of VOIP. Everyone seems to be talking about VOIP, but you can be forgiven for probably not knowing much about it. VOIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol and if you believe the media hype this new phone service is about to revolutionise the telecommunications market. As with a lot of new technological developments there are a few causes for concerns that you probably will not hear the marketing campaigns talk about. What is it? Just to give you a bit of background lets take a look at how VOIP works for those of you that...

Continue Reading


The latest information and news on VoIP:

Google
VoIP Unlimited SIP trunks approved for PBXnSIP (Channel Business)
PBXnSIP , a specialist in SIP based IPPBX software has granted official interoperability with VoIP Unlimitedā??s business grade SIP trunk services.
Raketu Releases RakOut Dialout VoIP WebPhone Service for Mac and Linux Users ...
NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwire) -- 08/21/08 -- Raketu, a leading global Internet communications , information, entertainment , and social networking company, today released its beta RakOut WebPhone . The new service allows Mac, Linux , and Windows users to make computer-to-phone Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls from any web browser, on any computer, without a download.
CallCopy Introduces New VoIP Call Recording Solution for Businesses (Marketwi...
CallCopy, Inc., a leading provider of call recording and quality monitoring software, today announced the availability of CallCopy Essential, the company's new VoIP call recording solution that will help small businesses to quickly and easily capture and archive inbound and outbound calls. CallCopy Essential was developed specifically for the small office to help companies improve customer ...
Grandstream Networks, Bandwidth.com and VoIP Supply Align to Provide Full Sol...
Grandstream Networks, Bandwidth.com and VoIP Supply aim to capture the SMB market with a full solution package.
Indian Regulator Approves VOIP (CommunicationsDirect)
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is moving to relax restrictions on telcos and ISPs offering VOIP services in a bid to encourage the adoption of broadband services and push down the cost of rural telephony. In a letter to the Department of Telecom, the regulator notes that "policy and regulatory...
Fluke Networks acquires Viola VoIP management assets (Network World)
Fluke Networks' acquisition will enable the vendor to broaden its VoIP analysis capabilities and provide customers with pre-assessment, active network-performance and call-manager monitoring and visibility features.
Sony Gaming On Cellular Market (Forbes)
New version of PlayStation Portable comes with microphone to make VoIP calls.
Indian Regulator Approves VOIP (Light Reading)
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is moving to relax restrictions on telcos and ISPs offering VOIP services in a bid to encourage the adoption of broadband services and push down the cost of rural telephony.
Raketu Releases RakOut Dialout VoIP WebPhone Service for Mac and Linux Users ...
Raketu, a leading global Internet communications, information, entertainment, and social networking company, today released its beta RakOut WebPhone. The new service allows Mac, Linux, and Windows users to make computer-to-phone Voice over Internet Protocol calls from any web browser, on any computer, without a download. This is in addition to the existing RakWeb, browser-based communications, ...
Nortel goes 3D with web.alive (VNU Net via Yahoo! UK & Ireland News)
Enterprise communications vendor Nortel has acquired 3D audio technology firm DiamondWare in a $10m move designed to enhance its VoIP, multimedia and voice conferencing capabilities.

Getting Started with a VoIP Service

VoIP is a great new technology that is bound to replace traditional phone services. Unlike traditional telephone service, VoIP phone services route phone calls over the Internet. Using a public network like the Internet significantly reduces the cost of phone service. Anybody with a high-speed Internet connection is eligible for VoIP phone service. The first step in utilizing VoIP phone service is selecting a VoIP service provider. This can be a daunting task because the VoIP field has become crowded. Unlike traditional phone services, VoIP is made up of many smaller companies rather than a...

Continue Reading