TMCnet News
Reality Bytes: Dire warnings about VoIP from vested interests(Sunday Business Post Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)So IT security professionals think its too risky to switch to internet calls. And companies, in particular, shouldnt transfer their activities over to the technology, lest hackers infiltrate them. Thats what they told a major technology conference, Infosec, last week. The security dons are wrong: internet calls are worth the risk. First, the dangers. According to the sceptics, internet telephony creates a new class of global telephone hacker. Whereas hacking into ordinary telephone systems isnt too difficult, they say, at least the perpetrators are local and face a higher risk of capture and prosecution. The next argument is that the relevant software and protocols - the techie engineering behind internet calls - arent sufficiently bedded down for reliable security options. Theres a Wild West element at play and companies are leaving themselves open. The crucial point missing in both these arguments is why, other than for information as to times of gold bullion shipments, a hacker might be bothered intercepting telephone calls. There are several typical profiles of criminal hackers. Of those who do so for profit, it is information they require to allow them to set up fraudulent financial transactions. Normally, this is one of five or six key pieces of data, such as a bank account number or a pin code. The information is retrieved in one of a few ways: monitoring telephone calls is not one of them. It is simply too labour-intensive. Now look at the benefits of internet calls. First, theyre free or almost free. If you sign up with services such as Skype, calls to other Skype users cost zero cent per minute, with unlimited minute allowances. Even Irish services such as Blueface.ie offer unlimited Irish calls for e20 per month. At the Infosec security conference last week, one pro-VoIP speaker claimed that Pret A Manger, the British sandwich shop chain, was saving e14,500 a month because it had switched its communications to internet telephony. Whatever deficit features VoIP had compared to traditional landline telephony is fast disappearing, too. Internet telephones now have caller ID, voicemail and conferencing options. And the handsets are not geeky headsets anymore, but proper cordless phones. At home, internet telephony is a wonder. Although it is dependent on having broadband, it lets people stay in touch cheaply with friends and family in far-flung places. None of this seemed to impress IT security debaters at last weeks technology conference, who rejected a motion that the business advantages of VoIP outweigh the security concerns. Leading the denunciation were bankers. But bankers rarely adapt to something without five to ten years pondering. And IT security professionals rarely let an opportunity go by without reminding us that, without their help, we could be ruined within minutes of switching on our computers. Blog: www.yourtechstuff.com |