Businesses Fail to Heed VoIP Security ThreatsExperts warn companies to start thinking about their risks ( old news - 09:33AM Sunday Mar 30 2008) tags: business · security · VoIPAt the end of 2007, analysts and journalists made their predictions about all things tech in 2008. Among those predictions were numerous warnings that VoIP security risks were going to be high this year. Businesses were forewarned to start protecting their VoIP systems from hackers and they took those warnings seriously for all of about five minutes. Despite being told that they should test their VoIP systems now to avoid security problems down the line, research indicates that most businesses aren’t doing anything to make sure that their VoIP systems are secure. Large companies (with 1000+ employees) seem to have taken the most precautionary measures; around 15% of them have tested out their VoIP systems. That’s about twice as many as smaller businesses who may not want to invest the money in testing out their systems until VoIP threats become more imminent. Of course, lots of gloomy predictions were made about technologies in 2008 and few have come to pass as we wrap up the first quarter of the year. Nevertheless experts remind business owners that risk-management is usually a far better approach to business than waiting to deal with the consequences is.
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TK Junk Mail
Go ahead, make my day
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Margate City, NJ
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|  VOIP not alone in vulnerability; GSM mobile phones are too
The security of the most widely used standard in the world for transmitting mobile phone calls is dangerously flawed, putting privacy and data at risk, two researchers warned at the Black Hat conference in Europe last week.
Researchers David Hulton and Steve Muller showed at Black Hat in the U.S. last month how it was possible to break the encryption on a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) call in about 30 minutes using relatively inexpensive off-the-shelf equipment and software tools. The hack means they could listen in on phone calls from distances of up to 20 miles (32 kilometers) or farther away.
Since 1991 when GSM networks debuted, the integrity of their security has declined as researchers probed. In 1998, the A5/1 and the A5/2, a weaker stream cipher, were broken.
Commercial interception equipment is available(NSA anyone) now to eavesdrop on calls, which can cost up to US$1 million. Hulton and Muller were game for a challenge and wanted to do it more cheaply. For around $700 they bought a Universal Software Radio Peripheral, which can pick up any kind of frequency up to 3GHz.
And now they're planning to commercialize the technique, although Hulton said they will vet buyers. Soon you won't have to be the NSA to eavesdrop on mobile calls using GSM.
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Nightshade
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join:2002-05-26
Salem, OR
edit:
March 30th, @11:15AM
| Re: VOIP not alone in vulnerability; GSM mobile phones are too Yeah, it's bad enough that the NSA can do it, but potientally every Tom, Dick, and Harry within a 20 mile radius, Un-freakin-real! I can only imagine the damage this can cause.
Hopefully the folks at GSM will be able to come up with some new, better encryption algorithms really quick. Otherwise, there's going to be some lawsuits a brewing and rightfully so.
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ureihcim
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join:2007-12-16
Miami, FL | Re: VOIP not alone in vulnerability; GSM mobile phones are too *michieru puts his phone in crypto mode and hops 6000 frequencies a second*
Good luck 
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