Traditionally, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) networks, IP-PBX (News - Alert) and SIP phones have been vulnerable to hacking. That is why WebCDR, a provider of wholesale telecom operation support services (OSS), has unveiled a new cloud-based anti-fraud service to help companies fight VoIP toll fraud one and for all.

The solution continuously downloads and analyzes call detail records (CDRs) and alerts telecom carriers to potentially fraudulent traffic. In addition, the service helps service providers identify and eliminate VoIP frauds before they happen, saving tens of thousands of dollars in illicit usage.

To implement the solution, users aren’t required to purchase any additional hardware, software or any on-site components. There is also no disruptive integration with VoIP switches. The solution can be seamlessly integrated with any VoIP switch that outputs file-based or RADIUS-based CDRs.

"Three separate abuse detection algorithms alert you to atypical traffic," said Adam Nathanson, the founder and CEO of WebCDR in a statement, "often within minutes of a suspected incursion."

The service benefits wholesale telecom carriers in a number of ways including making collateral data for dispute resolution readily available.

"Documenting and proving a fraudulent incursion to the enterprise customer whose equipment was breached is difficult, at best," Nathanson added. "The customer will balk at the eye-popping bill with this as the likely outcome: A billing dispute, a lost customer, and no payment. Meanwhile, the underlying carrier will insist on timely payment for the traffic."

The VoIP fraud prevention solution has already been adopted by various providers. Steven Harrison, networkaArchitect at TeleBarbados (News - Alert), explains a scenario where his company used WebCDR solution to fight VoIP fraud.

"One of our clients, a major hotel on the island, runs a soft PBX," Harrison commented, “and someone compromised it and started running calls to Eastern Europe through it, sending the call in via IP and then having the PBX route the call outbound through our service. Previously, we would not find out about them until well at the end of the month, or even later when we ran billing. With WebCDR Anti-Fraud we were alerted within hours of the onset of the fraudulent traffic which enabled us to take prompt action to shut the fraudsters down."