Voice over Internet Protocol technology runs via internet, therefore up till now VoIP security has not concerned many critics yet, however considering its rate of expansion in the consumer and business market and considering the flow of information on VoIP networks, security concern will have to be addressed in the near future to maintain user confidence.
Your VoIP provider fulfills the duty of dealing with the issue of security rather than the VoIP provider relying on the freeware security software on the internet. Firewall is a primary defense for a computer system. A firewall acts as primary barrier between your computer and security threats that exist on the internet, such as hackers and viruses. Firewall filters any inbound and outbound data to ensure maximum security. However, VoIP data is a bit complex for the existing firewall software as it breaks down voice signals to digital data packets which are then transmitted over the internet therefore your standard firewall may not be sufficient to protect your system against threats. Due to this, VoIP providers have state of the art firewall systems installed on their main servers, which offer protection to any system linked to their servers. As the security is the VoIP provider’s responsibility then it is imperative that you register with a legitimate or authentic VoIP provider like Vonage.
VoIP services security should be considered no different from any other activity that you run on your system for which you require absolute security, such as your password. Once you can restrict to only the intended users y authentication then you will be able to make sure that there is no unauthorized access to the network. It is important note that not all VoIP providers offer such facility so it is imperative that the VoIP provider you register with has sufficient security protocols in place.
You can start by ensuring whether your service provider offer encryption facility or not. When data is sent over the internet the data s encrypted, which means that if the data is intercepted by a third party, it will be of no use for them, as it will. Data is encrypted once it is being transmitted to the intended user and when it reaches the intended user, the data is then decrypted to make the data readable. This makes sure that your data or data transmitted by VoIP is as secure as possible.
If a VoIP provider is not able to provide a secure connection then it will not be able to penetrate the commercial user, therefore nowadays VoIP providers are trying to ensure secure connections rather than working towards the quality of the service. Conventional PBX have been replaced with server based IP PBXs which run on ubiquitous Microsoft Windows operating system. This system is highly vulnerable to an attack from a hacker, which would lead to compromising personal and sensitive data. Considering the stakes, it is imperative that adequate systems should be in place to protect the VoIP user.
VoIP calls made to other networks are exchange via VoIP gateways. VoIP data is converted from a digital signal to analogue signal making it transferable on public networks therefore VoIP gateways are the weakest link in the chain making the network vulnerable to security threats. This again requires adequate authentications and encryption protocols to be in place to bare hackers from using the network.
It is imperative that you ensure adequate security protocols are in place and the above mentioned loopholes are addressed in order to ensure that your data i.e. conversations are protected. Therefore, it is advised that you sign up with a VoIP provider, which is recognized in the market and has adequate firewalls and encryption protocols in place.
