TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: VOIP Cautions

VOIP Cautions

hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
18 Apr 2005 10:13:26 -0700

1010news radio reported that consumers need to be careful before
signing up for VOIP service. Some people think the service is as
reliable as landline when it is still experimental and bugs are being
worked out.

service still shaky
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/V/VOICE_OVER_PANIC?SITE=1010WINS&SECTION=TECHNOLOGY&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Risks
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/V/VOIP_ATTACKS?SITE=1010WINS&SECTION=TECHNOLOGY&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Issues
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/V/VOIPS_GROWING_PAINS?SITE=1010WINS&SECTION=TECHNOLOGY&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

"A hacker might trick a phone into obtaining a software update from a
rogue server, or toss a fake "hang up" command into the data flow -
perhaps as a caller is trying to land an important job interview.

Some services let you take phones on vacation, and hackers might
decided to trick the system and redirect your calls to them instead.

All kinds of mischief is possible: A rival might try to capture your
business sales lead. Or a snoop might listen in on a neighbor's secret
calls to a lover.

Though these attacks would be difficult to perform today, security
experts believe that as such phones get more popular, hackers will
have greater incentive to develop tools for automating such attacks -
just as they have with viruses and other computer threats today.

As for reliability, phone providers are still trying to make their
systems fully compatible with 911.

In some cases, phones might ring a non-emergency number or fail to
provide caller ID details like location - crucial when a caller can't
speak.

And during blackouts, traditional phones can draw upon electricity in
the phone lines, but an Internet modem will fail without backup
power."

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