Business VoIP is an amazing technology packed full of advanced features available at a fraction of the cost of traditional phone services. That much we know. However, it’s important to take steps to ensure your VoIP solution is secure. Due to its digital nature, VoIP is frequently a target of hackers who use distributed denial of service attacks to bring down service. DOS attacks are better known as a way of bringing down websites on the Internet by overloading it with traffic, often from a suite of personal computers previously compromised. Now, scammers have adapted these attacks to exploit vulnerabilities in Voice over Internet Protocol telephone systems by overloading phone lines.
Security experts and those involved in law enforcement are seeing the frequency of attacks rise. While generally it’s used for scams, such as making calls and charging them to someone else, it’s possible that hackers could use it to knock out crucial communications. There’s no evidence of such an attack or whether it would truly be possible, but it remains a national security concern.
Of course, Business VoIP security is less about national interests and more about ensuring your communication system is protected against attacks. Due to VoIP running over the Internet, a phone number often isn’t attached to a person or physical location, which makes it hard to track down scammers. While this may sound frightening, there’s no reason to deny your business the benefits of VoIP simply out of fear that one day you may be targeted by outside hackers. The situation is no different from using the public Internet; while there is a risk due to its open nature, these risks can be minimized with proper precautions and the pros of use far outweigh the cons.
Just as with the Internet, your Business VoIP service should have firewalls in place to block malicious calls. VoIP is, after all, just a means of sending voice as data, so some of the same data security measures can be applied. Features such as caller ID can also help pick out bad calls and protect your business. If you want to avoid the public Internet entirely, then you also have the option of using a virtual private network. A VPN, like MPLS, is a private provider managed network that has controlled access and so limits the risk of outside anonymous intrusions. With the appropriate steps to secure your service, you can get the benefits of VoIP with a free mind.