IncognitoNet
Joined: 20 Aug 2004
Posts: 69
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| Beware! Bugs can attack Net phones |
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Beware! Bugs can attack Net phones
THEY are becoming increasingly popular because they are cheap. However, before you rush off to buy an Internet phone or Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone, you should know that they are...
By Mike Lee
THEY are becoming increasingly popular because they are cheap. However, before you rush off to buy an Internet phone or Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone, you should know that they are just as susceptible to hackers, who are finding new playgrounds on the still maturing technological frontier.
Recently, the New York Times reported that virus worms had jammed the servers at branches of a major insurer and a bank in the United States, causing around 1,500 Internet phone lines to lose voice service.
The economic loss for the two incidents was substantial, estimated at more than US$1 million (S$1.7 million). While the incidents happened thousands of kilometres away, consumers in Singapore would do well to adopt prevention measures.
This is because Internet phones are open to malicious attacks regardless of the user's or hacker's geographic location.
Mr Danny Lai, director of network planning at MediaRing, a locally listed company that provides VoIP services, says: 'In the cyberworld, there are no boundaries, making phone hacking easier than before.'
Internet phones essentially work on the same data network that carries your e-mail and data packets from websites that you surf. They break voice conversations into data packets and route them over the Internet, which is a lot cheaper and more flexible than traditional phone calls, which travel over copper wires.
The same problems like viruses and worms that plague computers and servers apply to Internet phones too, though not as frequently, at least for now.
Mr Charles Cousins, managing director of Sophos Anti-Virus Asia, says: 'I believe such incidents will occur in Asia in the future but I do not foresee this happening on a huge scale. No one should be unduly alarmed at this point.'
Both experts whom The Sunday Times interviewed say that they are unaware of any VoIP hacking incidents in the Asia-Pacific.
Besides virus attacks, Internet phones can also be targets for snooping.
Unlike wiretapping on traditional phone lines, tapping into Internet phones requires no special equipment and takes less effort.
Users should not assume that the Internet phone conversation they engage in is entirely private, even if hackers are more likely to be motivated to tap into Internet phones of businesses to steal information for profit.
To safeguard their privacy, home consumers should consider safety features such as encryption or a built-in proprietary security mechanism when choosing a VoIP solution, Mr Lai advises.
He adds that the ideal solution should also be able to operate effectively behind home routers and firewalls.
Both experts also advise users of personal computer-based Internet phones to practise computing prudence by using the latest anti-virus software and security patches.
The number of consumer Internet phone subscribers in the United States is expected to grow from around 600,000 now to about 7.4 million in 2008, according to research firm In-Stat/MDR.
In Singapore, tech-savvy individuals use free PC-to-PC Internet phone software from companies such as MediaRing and Skype to call friends overseas on the cheap. No figures are available.
MediaRing estimates that 15 million people worldwide are making use of its free services.
For those who prefer to use a handset rather than a PC, MediaRing's recently launched Global Talk subscription service uses a special handset that plugs into a broadband network. The service starts from $6.95 for 100 minutes of call time per month.
Meanwhile, SingTel is reportedly tying up with US company SI Phone to offer similar handset-based VoIP services.
Source: www.WebHostingZine.com
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