[February 03, 2009] NTA MONITOR: Skype Not A 'Quick-Fix' VoIP Solution For Businesses Tweet Feb 03, 2009 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- The significant increase in the use of VoIP, particularly for organisations and businesses with regional or international networks, reflects the undoubted business benefits it brings. However, companies that succumb to the temptation for the seemingly 'quick-fix', lower set-up costs and reduced international phone bills of consumer solutions such as Skype, may achieve short-term gain but undoubtedly long-term pain, warns market leading IT security testing company, NTA Monitor. "Consumer solutions are often based on 'closed software', making it hard to understand the code on which the product is based or exactly what is going on behind the scenes. As a result, security is an unknown quantity because the security community cannot assess it as readily," says RoyHills, technical director of NTA Monitor. "In the current economic climate, individuals and businesses alike are doing what they can to make savings, but we are increasingly concerned about the number of companies taking a short-term view that proves more costly long-term. Once implemented, Skype cannot subsequently be integrated into a corporate network infrastructure, so it has to be replaced by a commercial grade solution sooner or later. This is costly in terms of expense, time and potential disruption," continues Hills. NTA Monitor also highlights the issue that 'local' solutions such as Skype are often not governed by corporate security policy and tend to grow organically without any standard build having been agreed. "Organisations should be aware that because of the 'plug and play' nature of such solutions, the devices may be plugged straight onto the LAN, meaning that external traffic may come straight into the organisation," concludes Hills. NTA Monitor is urging businesses to consider their needs strategically and avoid opting for short-term solutions that could store up problems and expense for the future. About NTA Monitor NTA Monitor, www.nta-monitor.com, is a market leading, innovative IT security testing, auditing and consultancy company that helps to protect its 600+ customers from loss of revenue and reputation. The company provides a range of security services including vulnerability testing, web application testing, wireless infrastructure testing, BlackBerry and laptop security testing, IT risk assessments, security policy and procedure reviews and network architecture auditing in order to help prevent unauthorised access to organisation's networks and data. NTA regularly finds new vulnerabilities through its test projects and research and development programmes. NTA is a founder member of the CESG 'CHECK' scheme and the newly-founded CREST (Council for Registered Ethical Security Testers). NTA is also an Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV) under the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). CONTACT: Jacqui Delbaere, Delbaere Public Relations e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)560 249 6237 Tel: +44 (0)7770 828 791 Elaine Calvert, Delbaere Public Relations e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)7764 614 113 NTA Monitor WWW: http://www.nta-monitor.com M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to [email protected]. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]