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It’s easy to hack VOIP

Cyril Roger

Cyril Roger

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Dial up VOIPAt least that’s what UK based VOIP expert Peter Cox, demonstrated with his Siptap software, which is able to “monitor multiple Voice-over-IP (VoIP) call streams, listening in and (record) them for remote inspection as .wav files.” Run on a test network, the application was able to extract sensitive information from a normal VoIP conversation. Still proof-of-concept, the experiment would probably have to be run on a wider scale to really demonstrate that it can work though.

The lack of privacy in VoIP connections is nothing new though, as anyone with a bit of networking knowledge can access packets of a VoIP flow from an unencrypted network and easily eavesdrop on a conversation. That’s why VoIP users need to make sure they follow a few steps to guarantee a minimum of privacy while chatting away. The best is to set up an encrypted network and just make sure you’re not giving away private information when you’re talking over VoIP. Also check out this list of 25 ways to secure your VoIP network. It includes tips like restricting VoIP to a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN), monitoring traffic on your VoIP network, setting up firewalls or using proxy servers. You’re never too safe.

Cyril Roger

Cyril Roger

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