Don’t let the fraudsters ruin VoIP for the rest of us—Posted on February 6, 2008

The technology press does seem to like a good scare story, and VoIP has seen more than its fair share. This month it was the turn of BT to get in the firing line as an ‘ethical hacking’ group claimed to have found a serious flaw in its Home Hub product which meant it could be used as a platform to launch nefarious VoIP frauds. It turns out that this was probably no more than a storm in a tea-cup as BT issued a strenuous denial and pointed out that they had spotted the flaw months ago and fixed it. Regardless, this incident did serve some value in once again raising the issue of Internet fraud.

Phishing and pharming attacks are almost old hat by now. I received two phishing attacks this week alone – one telling me I had won the lottery and the other from a ‘businessman’ asking me to partner with him in an exciting (undisclosed) project. Both would have involved me sending my bank details to the fraudsters and shortly after, no doubt, my account would have been cleaned out. Pharming can be a bit trickier to spot and involves fraudsters mimicking legitimate Internet sites (usually retail outlets or banks) to once again part their victims from their bank details.

Businesses, however, have not been slow to counter these threats, and with a combination of good firewalls, SPAM filters and employee education there is no reason for anyone to fall victim to these rather unsophisticated fraud threats.

Vishing, however, is a different kettle of fish and it is here that VoIP is getting an entirely undeserved reputation. Vishing is where a user is called, or makes a call to an automated system that asks them for personal information (bank details for example) and then records the answer. The recordings are then used by fraudsters to liberate money from the victims account. The victim doesn't have to actually have a VoIP system either - it's just that the VoIP technology reduces the costs to the fraudster.

Unfortunately the association between this particular use of VoIP for fraudulent purposes tends to tarnish the entire technology with the same dirty brush. It's a little like assuming all automobiles are evil simply because some of them are used as get-away cars after a robbery.

Sure, the VoIP system here has enabled this new type of crime. But there are reasons for this, the VoIP system is flexible, relatively cheap, quick to implement, based on standard IP components and provides a great set of customisable features. Bear in mind the entire crime is possible with older technology - it was just too much of a pain in the neck to carry out. Whatever we do, we must make sure that we reclaim VoIP from the fraudsters and let legitimate businesses and home users claim the benefits for themselves.

Matt Cantwell – Head of Product Portfolio

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