Chapter 1 - Introduction to VoIP Security

Abstract

This chapter explains that Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) security is dependent on management of process, as the business of securing private data is becoming more important and more relevant each day. The benefits of electronic communication come with proportionate risks. Critical business systems can be and are compromised regularly, and are used for illegal purposes. There are many instances of this: Seisint (Lexis-Nexis research), Choice point, Bank of America, Pay Maxx, DSW Shoe Warehouses, Ameriprise, and T-Mobile are all recent examples. Processes define how individuals perform their duties within an organization. For securing VoIP networks, the processes include proactive ones such as formulation of security policies, identity verification management, hardening of operating systems, firewall deployment and configuration, system backup procedures, penetration testing, and reactive processes such as log analyses, network monitoring, forensics, and incident response. The security policies, processes, and standard operating procedures (SOPs) that have already proven successful in securing data networks need to reused and extended. The ones that don't work should be discarded.