All posts tagged: VOIP security

Worried About VoIP Security and Encryption? We Aren’t

Worried About VoIP Security and Encryption? We Aren’t

Published by Webster

Any modern business using a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system knows that maintaining security is essential for confidentiality, customer trust, and regulation compliance. Industries like healthcare, for example, have strict regulations governing communications, and HIPAA-compliant VoIP providers offer security, privacy, and access management tools to help companies follow these regulations — even when employees access the network from far away places. Meanwhile, poor encryption and security can also affect your bottom line, as scammers and fraudsters will find ways to exploit weaknesses to commit VoIP fraud on unsecured phone systems. Toll fraud works by hijacking a company’s phone system to make artificial and high-volume long-distance calls. The owner of the system gets charged for these calls (often without noticing), and then fraudsters are given a share of the revenue from colluding carrier services. Along with toll fraud, there are many other vulnerabilities of VoIP systems — but if you are using one of the best business phone services, your vendor is going to take over the challenging parts of VoIP security and encryption. …

7 Ways to Stop VoIP DDoS Attacks from Crashing Your Phones

7 Ways to Stop VoIP DDoS Attacks from Crashing Your Phones

Published by Webster

A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack vector attempts to overwhelm a VoIP server with phony user requests. Because this massive volume of traffic is more than your network can handle, it can force your online service or website offline, preventing legitimate user requests from processing. Cybercriminals can use them to disrupt your Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network services, which form the backbone of most modern business phone services and call center software. VoIP services are highly susceptible to DDoS attacks because attackers don’t have to knock them offline to disrupt communications — a VoIP DDoS attack that ultimately fails may still significantly degrade voice call services. Attackers can crash a business phone system in seconds. Imagine the damage to a popular brand during peak holiday shopping season, or to a power company during a blackout. Let’s walk through how these attacks happen and specific steps you can take to defend against them. 1 CloudTalk Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Any Company Size Any Company Size Features …

7 Reasons to Not Use MPLS and 4 Better Alternatives

7 Reasons to Not Use MPLS and 4 Better Alternatives

Published by Webster

Multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) is a network technology for routing and packet forwarding in private, wide-area network (WAN) connections. It is a switching mechanism that uses labels to decide the shortest possible path instead of the usual network address. In general, these labels are more effective for directing data through paths than traditional internet protocols — which use long, less efficient network addresses when moving data from one internet node to another. 1 CloudTalk Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Any Company Size Any Company Size Features 24/7 Customer Support, Call Management/Monitoring, Contact Center, and more MPLS was designed for yesterday’s enterprise MPLS has some good aspects, but it actually falls short when it comes to fulfilling today’s dynamic network needs. Originally, MPLS arose from the need to resolve internet routing issues by creating standards that improved quality of service (QoS). This was ultimately meant to boost efficiency across networks due to better data packet performance. When MPLS showed up, it was attractive because of its protocol …

Vishing, Wangiri, and Other VoIP Fraud Tactics On the Rise

Vishing, Wangiri, and Other VoIP Fraud Tactics On the Rise

Published by Webster

VoIP fraud is a serious and growing threat to businesses, with attackers increasingly targeting cloud phone systems to exploit vulnerabilities for financial gain. This type of fraud involves unauthorized access to a VoIP network, often for making costly international calls or redirecting traffic to premium-rate numbers. But there are many types of VoIP fraud, and not all of them rely on premium-rate number schemes. In this post, we’ll explore common VoIP fraud tactics and offer practical steps to protect your business from these threats. 1 RingCentral Office Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Medium (250-999 Employees), Enterprise (5,000+ Employees), Large (1,000-4,999 Employees) Medium, Enterprise, Large Features Hosted PBX, Managed PBX, Remote User Ability, and more 1. Vishing Also known as voice or VoIP phishing, vishing is a tactic that involves social engineering to extract company credentials, like logins, passwords, employee IDs, and other types of business or personal data. Scammers often use VoIP, along with voice-altering software, and other tactics to disguise their identities to pretend they’re …

Yes, You Can Trace a VoIP Call

Yes, You Can Trace a VoIP Call

Published by Webster

Traditional phone calls are easy to trace since they’re done through established carriers. Phone companies manage the physical phone lines and can trace the origin of each call. When you want to trace a VoIP call, it can get a lot more difficult. VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, and refers to the technology that lets people make phone calls over the internet instead of using a landline connected to the Public Switched Telephone Network. Fixed VoIP numbers are tied to a specific address, and they are no trouble to trace at all. The issue is that most unwanted calls come from non-fixed VoIP numbers, which are only tied to a user, which could be a burner email address set up with a fake identity. There are limits to what you can find out on your own if a caller takes steps to conceal their identity. But that doesn’t mean you’re powerless to take action. In this guide, we’ll show you how you can trace a VoIP call on your own and, if necessary, …

Setting Up Your Network Security? Avoid These 4 Mistakes

Published by Webster

Before you go and spend a ton of money on some “next-gen” network security solution, make sure you have the fundamentals locked down. Nearly one-third of businesses suffered a data breach in the last year, many of which were caused by common mistakes like: Weak passwords. Outdated software. Poor training. Excessive privileges. If you can avoid these mistakes, you make your organization a much less enticing target for hackers. In this post, we’ll walk through these and other network security fundamentals, and offer tips for making sure your data doesn’t end up on the dark web. Must-read security coverage The four most common network security mistakes 1. Weak passwords Out of convenience, employees will use simple passwords, or use the same password across multiple accounts. Both of these types of weak passwords put your organization at risk. A determined hacker can bypass a weak password, and if that password works across other accounts for the same user, that hacker is going to be all over your network in a matter of minutes. Here are some …

How to Use a Conference Bridge to Run a Smooth Meeting

Published by Webster

A conference bridge is a perfect solution for businesses that need to convene a lot of people on the same call. Most modern phone systems can set up this type of call with very little effort. Participants dial a single phone number from anywhere worldwide to join your conference bridge. These calls can be secured with conference ID code that prevents unauthorized people from joining. Even if you have never set up a conference bridge before, chances are your phone system can do it, whether you have a landline or VoIP. It’s easy, but there are a few things that trip up first-time hosts and participants. How to set up a conference bridge in seconds We’re illustrating how to set up a conference bridge with Nextiva, a popular VoIP phone service. If you don’t yet have a VoIP phone system, check out my Nextiva review to see if it’s right for you. The exact steps will be a little different if you are using another product, but the fundamental steps are going to be more …