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How to Successfully Prevent VoIP Eavesdropping

With the recent spate of cyber-attacks via Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) eavesdropping, the safety of your communication systems is at risk. With the surge in cybercrime, it is never too late to take precautions to protect your VoIP phone systems. Consider these strategies to stay ahead of an attack:

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1. Never deploy with default configurations

Everyone wants to get things rolling as quickly as possible, but this can result in VoIP phones being deployed with their default configurations. This is not a good idea because a cybercriminal can search vendor documentation. Depending on your VoIP solution, you should have the option of changing default handset configurations. Otherwise, consider coming up with a manual process to change phone defaults when you roll handsets out to your employees.

2. Listen to your handset vendors

An ideal example of VoIP handset vulnerabilities happened in 2015 when Cisco detected vulnerabilities in IP phones which enabled an unauthorized attacker to listen in on phone conversations. Luckily, security alerts prevented several companies from becoming victims of eavesdropping. The lesson learned here is the importance of regularly monitoring advisories from your hardware vendor. Without oversight, you won’t know how susceptible your corporate VoIP phones are to being eavesdropped.

3. Update session border controllers

Another tactic to combat VoIP eavesdropping is to constantly update your session border controllers (SBCs). By doing so, you’ll be updating your VoIP’s antivirus software; because cyber threats are constantly evolving, your security products should as well.

4. Encrypt VoIP calls

Many cloud VoIP providers offer call encryption guidelines, and some even offer it as a premium service. For some industries, call encryption is necessary to maintain compliance (such as healthcare or finance). Determine the best encryption options for your company by working with your VoIP provider and hardware auditors.

5. Create a hardened VoIP network

Another method to fend off VoIP eavesdropping is to build a hardened VoIP network that includes the following protections:

  • IP private branch exchange (PBX) using minimal services so that the hardware can only power the PBX software
  • Firewalls with access control lists set to include call control information
  • Lightweight Directory Access Protocol lookup, and signaling and management protocol
  • Reinforce end point security with authentication at the endpoint level

In order to protect your business from VoIP eavesdropping, businesses need to take a comprehensive approach; including effective policies, deployment, and security protocols to keep hackers and cyber criminals from listening to your calls. Contact us here or call 1-866-969-8359 for further information on how to protect your business. We offer Business VoIP services for companies of any size.