Phone Security

The use of public VoIP telephony, which puts the user's voice and the call control signaling data packets transmitted on the public open accessible Internet, largely enhances a corporate's telecommunication capability in terms of operational agility, flexibility, mobility and portability at none of repeat spending on maintaining PSTN (POTS) end-point equipment on distributed sites and/or leasing costly private network connections (VPN). This is even truer for those inter-regional or international businesses.

However, the good of VoIP (especially of public VoIP) also comes with some telecom security issues or risks. As reported by researches (see reference below), in general, it needs more effort and skills to maintain a highly secured communication for VoIP users than for that PSTN / PLMN users (e.g. circuit-switched landline or cellular). Using non-encrypted and non-authenticated VoIP telephony on the public Internet exposes the communication to more threats and risks than using the same on a secured private network.

Sticker on a telephone warning users of phone tapping by the government.
Photo courtesy Wikipedia.org

As can see from the above, applying encryption and authentication measures on your VoIP system may be a doable solution to better secure your phone talk. You can find more information or resources about Secure Communication and Secure Telephone on Wikipedia.org.

While VoIP technology provides strong features of operational agility, flexibility, mobility and portability, it still remains relatively vulnerable and weaker to prevent from either lawful or unlawful threats of phone security issues today, such as wiretapping, remote eavesdropping, intercepting and so on. Still many works to do for making better reliable and secured VoIP uses, and POTS can still last for a foreseeable future. Need not to criticize or laugh on each other technology. Sharing an interesting quote from an Italian wisdom saying:

Declare someone dead before his death and you prolong his life.

But, neither the PSTN / PLMN stays safe and sound all the time. What if big boss wants agencies spying on your phone? Best practice: Off your phone. The old golden rule No. 1 is still true today:

Do not be talky on the phone. Keep matters off the line.

Suilah, that's it.


Related post:

• How to make call from your web to your phone?
• Built for Your Multi-site Business Telephony

Reference:

• Reports on telephone related security issues, updated to 2005, by SANS Institute.

• Security Issues and Solutions for VoIP Compared to Circuit Switched Networks, 2004, by Andon Batchvarov, University of Stuttgart.

• Risk Analysis on VoIP Systems, 2011, by Knútur Birgir Otterstedt, University of Iceland.

• Prosecutors official catched an alleged influence-peddling case by skillful telephone tapping on legislative speaker (parliament chairman) and an opposite party's lawmaker, and presented it to the general public by a loud announcement on a press conference Friday, Sep. 6, 2013. (ref. 1, ref. 2, ref. 3.)

• News - Back doors may be opened. Perhaps only encryption can work and help. Using strong open-source crypto systems would be still the most reliable. "Security through obscurity is unreliable." Abstracted from a news story on The Economist.

• 5 tips of staying secure online, by Bruce Schneier, theguardian.com.