Securing Your VoIP System

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Saturday, July 3rd, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed

By now you are well aware of how business VoIP can benefit your company. VoIP has great features and will cut your phone bill down to size. Before you jump head first into the business VoIP realm of possibilities, there are a few things that you need to be careful of. While there used to be quality of voice issues when VoIP first came into being, those issues have been fixed. Nowadays, the issues with VoIP revolve around security.
Hackers have found ways to take advantage of VoIP users like they have done with internet surfers. People are still using the internet, despite the threat of hackers. Likewise, people should still freely use VoIP systems despite the threat of hackers.
It takes a just a few simple steps geared towards prevention to secure your VoIP system from hackers. This article will explain to you how someone could take advantage of you via VoIP, and how to protect yourself against these attacks.
1) Remember that just because your VoIP is plugged into an already secure network does not necessarily mean you VoIP line is secure. The process is not that simple.
2) Remember that securing your VoIP and data network is somewhat complicated since you are combining voice and data into one network. Getting your VoIP system secure is a complex process, but it is completely worth the time.
Why is it imprtant to secure your VoIP?
For every VoIP service account, there is a specific IP address. It is easy for spammers to send their messages (voicemails) to thousands of IP addresses. If this happened to you, your voicemail could be completely overrun with spam, possibly beginning a chain of events of problems for your business. In addition to this, many spam messages carry viruses and spyware along with them; this type of problem with your VoIP program could slow down your company. One other issue you could come across is phishing. Phishing is when an outside party tries to steal your sensitive information (credit card numbers, passwords, etc.) by pretending to be a bank, government agency, or another trusted entity.
How to secure your VoIP system from attacks:
-Whenever you are concerned about a strange company calling you, do some research on the company, and feel free to call them back. Know that many phishing attacks are made through an automated phone, so you’ll want to talk to a real person when you call.
-To protect yourself from outside hackers, double-check to find out if your call manager software detects and filters out suspicious calls. Talk to your business VoIP provider about anti-phishing and hacker protection.

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