Rising DDoS Attacks Puts Increase Focus on VoIP Security, Closed Networks

Malware and viruses often get the bulk of attention when it comes to cybercrime, but Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are becoming increasingly popular weapons for hackers looking to completely compromise network activity. In fact, a Nexusguard report found that DDoS attacks  jumped nearly 223% in 2021 alone. The issue is becoming so severe that the government agencies in both the US and UK are currently investigating instances with some of the leading global VoIP service providers.

A new article from UCToday highlighted a recent cyberattack on Bandwidth.com, where hackers were able to flood network traffic so much that online services became completely unavailable for some time. DDoS attacks can be devastating from a business perspective, ultimately leading to unsatisfied customers and service failures. But these successful attacks point out a much more significant issue, which is the ability to cut off emergency services in times of crisis. Unprotected VoIP network that falls victim to a DDoS attack could put thousands of people in jeopardy, by preventing access to vital communication lines in time-sensitive situations.

Cloud-based VoIP service provider Wildix is attempting to resolve this problem by promoting the use of “closed” networks, which are not directly accessible by the internet.

“A standard SIP provider’s services have to be open to the outside world because they don’t know where customers are going to be. We are not susceptible to those same attacks because of the way our network is designed. On Wildix we’re only providing Wildix call termination to Wildix PBXs. So, we know where they’re coming from, or we can accept traffic from Wildix customers and not from anyone else. Ours is a closed network, whereas everybody else is an open network.”

Taking advantage of the closed network approach from VoIP traffic should certainly be considered for businesses and enterprises. However, to guarantee life-saving emergency services are never affected by DDoS attacks, lawmakers should seriously consider making this a mandatory system.

Edited by Maurice Nagle