Concerned about VoIP security and encryption? We are not

Any modern business using a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system knows that maintaining security is critical to confidentiality, customer trust and regulatory compliance.

Industries like healthcare, for example, have strict regulations on communications, and HIPAA-compliant VoIP providers offer security, privacy, and access control tools to help businesses comply with those regulations—even when employees access the network from remote locations.

Meanwhile, poor encryption and security can also affect your bottom line, as fraudsters and scammers will find ways to exploit weaknesses to commit VoIP fraud on unsecured phone systems. Payment fraud works by hijacking a company’s phone system to make artificial, high-volume long-distance calls. The owner of the system is charged for these calls (often without noticing it), and then fraudsters get a share of the revenue from coordinated operator services.

Along with payment fraud, there are many other vulnerabilities of VoIP systems – but if you use one of the best business phone services, your provider will take care of the challenging parts of VoIP security and encryption. Simply promote basic network security in your organization (strong passwords, access control, etc.).

Good providers handle VoIP security and encryption

A hosted VoIP service is a cloud-based communication solution that offers secure voice calls and messages over the Internet.

The beauty of these services is that security and encryption are built in. VoIP providers update software and firmware, maintain hardware and help with regulatory compliance for you.

Of course, fraudsters and scammers are constantly upping their game, but VoIP providers respond to these attacks in real time and keep your system safe from the latest threats.

With a hosted VoIP service, your employees have individual login information to access their VoIP accounts, and all calls your business makes go through the service provider’s network. This means that the VoIP provider handles the security and encryption while routing calls, not you.

It also means that your business is kept secure no matter where your employees are, because a VoIP service gives them access to the secure communication network from any softphone. Your employees are also not tasked with extra security-related tasks, as VoIP services use the latest measures across the entire network. Many of the headaches associated with remote work security are now completely off your plate.

What should a secure VoIP provider have?

A good VoIP provider should have robust encryption protocols to keep your data safe while in transit. That way, voice calls and messages are incomprehensible until they reach their destination, where only the recipient can decode them.

Similarly, a stateful firewall and/or intrusion detection system helps prevent attacks and unauthorized access. Enhanced login security measures such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and two-factor authentication (2FA), for example additional secure access, and a password-and-token system can also be an effective measure against unwanted infiltration.

The following technologies help VoIP providers secure their networks:

• Session Border Controllers (SBCs): An SBC acts as the gatekeeper of the network by regulating the IP communication flow. SBCs are particularly useful for protection against Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed DoS (DDoS) attacks.
• Transport Layer Security (TLS): TLS protocols use cryptography to secure a VoIP network’s signaling and media channels. TLS protocols use a digital handshake to authenticate parties and establish secure communication.
• Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol (SRTP): SRTP is a media encryption measure that acts as a certificate of authenticity that may be required before media access is granted.

Not all organizations require SBCs, but anyone using a cloud phone system can be the target of a VoIP DDoS attack. Work with your vendor to implement a future-proof VoIP phone system that follows network security architecture best practices.

The VoIP industry has standards and frameworks in place to guide companies with the best security practices available. In fact, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) publishes guidelines covering this sector.

A good provider should have the following accreditations and certifications:

• PCI Compliance: PCI compliance is an information security standard for card payments. Having this certification facilitates secure payments from major credit cards.
• ISO/IEC 20071: This Information Security Management System (ISMS) describes a global set of standards that help secure business data.
• ISO/IEC 27002: This Information Security Controls Code of Practice outlines the controls and best practices for securing information.
• ISO/IEC 27005: This certification refers to Information Security Risk Management. It provides guidelines for assessing and managing information security risks.
• ISO/IEC 27017: This establishes protocols for cloud service providers. It explicitly helps secure cloud services and their ecosystems.
• ISO/IEC 27018: This describes how to protect personally identifiable information (PII) on public clouds.

Secure VoIP providers must also be aware of their human security. Many scams stem from human error, so a company is only as safe if its employees are reliable. As such, businesses are vulnerable to social engineering attacks.

Social engineering is the process of manipulating individuals into giving up sensitive information. Instead of relying on technical vulnerabilities, many fraudsters use human psychology to obtain passwords, login information and other sensitive information.

Fraudsters often use phishing techniques to gain trust. This technique involves sending messages and emails that appear legitimate, ultimately causing people to give up passwords or new login information after trusting the source’s legitimacy.

VoIP providers can limit opportunities for social engineering by implementing 2FA or MFA as part of IVR authentication workflows. Simply put, the more authentication steps required, the more information a fraudster has to extract, and the more information a fraudster has to extract, the lower their chances of infiltration.

Employee education and awareness are also critical factors in reducing social engineering attacks, as monitoring communication patterns and identifying anomalies can root out social engineering attempts before they gain traction.

To combat these moves and further educate employees, Udemy, Coursera, and edX run cybersecurity courses that include modules on social engineering. Similarly, Black Hat and DEFCON include workshops on the relationship between psychology and security.

Self-hosted VoIP security and encryption is a challenge

Some companies choose to host their own VoIP server on their company premises. This comes with some advantages, as creating a self-hosted system from scratch gives you more options for customization and control.

However, several challenges make hosting a VoIP service impractical for many businesses. These areas include:

• Cost: Setting up a VoIP system is expensive compared to subscribing to an existing service. A VoIP service provider already has the necessary infrastructure, hardware and backend up and running.
• Responsibility: Self-hosting offers customization and control at a price. With your own VoIP system, you need to update software, manage hardware and troubleshoot technical problems.
• Scalability: Increasing the capacity of your self-hosted VoIP system may require hardware upgrades and other configurations. You can achieve the same capacity increase in a few clicks by using a VoIP service.
• Security and encryption: With a self-hosted VoIP system, security and encryption are your responsibility. For many business owners, this alone is enough to reject self-hosting.

Additionally, self-hosting is often only possible with a dedicated IT team or managed services provider. Without one, your security and encryption probably won’t be as good as a hosted service provider – which has its own team dedicated to running the latest security protocols.

Using a self-hosted VoIP also has complications for remote teams, as you need to configure the network for remote access while maintaining security. This process usually involves a virtual private network (VPN) or other secure remote access methods.

Let the professionals handle VoIP security and encryption

VoIP security is complex and constantly evolving, so outsourcing to a VoIP service makes sense for a number of reasons.

Even the cheapest VoIP phone providers do the heavy lifting for you, so there’s no need to buy, configure, and maintain expensive on-premises VoIP infrastructure that will be obsolete in a few years.

Meanwhile, security and encryption are the cornerstones of a good VoIP business, and most VoIP service providers will, in the long run, have better security and encryption than self-hosted solutions.

So unless you are in the telecommunications industry and have major security issues in communications, it is probably best to let the professionals handle it.