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Reports have emerged that the Dutch Government was hacked earlier this week, resulting in widespread disruption across a range of its sites. This attack has also included telephony systems, and so the conversation is now focused on VoIP security and what it means for the rest of the world relying on IP services. UniVoIP recently announced that it has tapped Sonus for its SBC 5100 Session Border Controllers in its two data centers, meaning that users can rest a little easier when it comes to VoIP security.

According to reports, Sonus’ SBC 5100 is capable of protecting against DDoS attacks such as the one which brought the Dutch governments IT. These types of attacks are sadly common, but with the right measures in place, IT departments can safeguard data and communications systems.

“SBCs are the first line of defense in a voice and video communications network. So it’s not an understatement to say that our entire business depends on our Sonus SBCs.  We weighed the decision to choose Sonus very carefully, because we knew our customers would be weighing their decision to choose UniVoIP based largely on security and reliability,” said Matt Ladewig, vice president, Network Operations, UniVoIP in a statement to the press.

In spite of misunderstandings, some decision makers feel that VoIP is insecure, but the truth of the matter is there are plenty of sophisticated defense measures like firewalls, redundancy and encryption to ensure solid, reliable security. VoIP is safe in the same way online banking is safe, as they share the same data lines.

Of course, there are proper security measures to put in place to ensure that VoIP is, in fact, ultra secure, and recent headlines put emphasis on securing VoIP lines.

There are some best practices that organizations can implement to avoid business VoIP fraud, including ensuring that all manufacturer default passwords for system administration are changed promptly, using lengthy and complex alphanumeric passwords. In addition to secure passwords, organizations should set and enforce standards for complex passwords for voice message mailboxes. Require period password resets for these mailboxes.

Of course, utilizing solutions like those from UniVoIP can add additional safeguards against malicious attacks.

VoIP is a complex technology and this complexity can lead to all types of vulnerabilities, however taking the proper precautions and using a few simple solutions will ensure that business VoIP security is nothing but a concern, not a reality.