Internet is now a way of life. Technology is pushing the boundaries of internet and redefining way of life. No matter, you are at work, in a restaurant, outdoors or relaxing at home – you are physically exposed to ever increasing unfamiliar networks and their users. Network security is extremely critical as our devices are connected with or without our knowledge. Its importance will only increase with rise of social networking amongst larger populations, advent of smart devices and internet of things.
The research paper named VoIP security on Data Network by Errol A. Blake addresses some of the most significant security issues of VoIP. Although VoIP is becoming famous due to low costs, the author of this paper has documented some serious concerns with regard to the security of the communication. The paper’s main focus is to deal with voice spam/spit, toll fraud, brute force attempt, DoS attacks and eaves droppers. I examined the paper and I found out that the author had included the history of VoIP. I feel that the author has included this information so that even someone without a good knowledge of VoIP could get some valuable information
Voice over Internet protocol is a technology that allows one to make voice calls using a broadband internet connection. VoIP uses the session initiation protocol which is responsible for establishing, maintaining and terminating calls. VoIP services convert one’s voice into a digital signal that travels over the internet. VoIP can allow one to make phone calls from the computer a special VoIP phone or a traditional phone connected to a special adapter and also wireless hot spots can help a caller to connect through the VoIP. The Internet security system has stated that VoIP has become famous. Most of the enterprises seeking to cut down costs and getting enhanced features are using VoIP. But it also states that enterprises wishing to utilize this technology must understand that maintaining security of those packets is an integral part of the overall VoIP deployment.
The history of the VoIP dates back as far as 1995 when a small company called Vocaltec released the first internet phone using the H.323 protocol instead of the SIP protocol which is mostly used today. But in the 90’s there was bandwidth availability problem which caused poor quality in the calls. Later on however things had changed and by the year 2005 major voice quality issues were addressed such as priority of voice over data to ensure reliability and clarity. The low costs can be incorporated with the no taxes for the calls made over the internet. Long distance calling being cheap over VoIP was another attractive feature.
The drawbacks of using the VoIP mainly is its reliance upon electricity was a cause of concern. This was a major disadvantage as the normal PSTN telephone did not require any power supply. This was a serious issue because if the power went off during an important call then the call will be dropped. Being attached to the internet also increases the vulnerability of being attacked by viruses. Some of the common threats faced by the VoIP include the following: Viruses, spams, data, sniffing, phishing, toll fraud, hacking attempts, hijacked calls, intrusions, mismanaged identities, identity thefts, Denial of service attacks and lost and stolen data.
The current solutions which are available for the above mentioned threats. Features like availability of caller identity can help the receiving party decide whether to pick up the call. But there is a disadvantage as there is no secure way to verify that the domain of the caller is the one that declared the identity present in the message. A method to secure the VoIP networks was done by University of Houston. The institution put its call manager and network out of direct access from the internet; its IP PBXs are in a domain separate from its other servers and hence access is