Simply put: VoIP is a term used when referring to Voice over Internet Protocol, popularly known as voice over IP. This system employs a protocol to transmit sound waves as data packets over a network, in this case the biggest of them all, the internet. In any case, this data network can be the already mentioned or a smaller home internal network. As expected from an evolving technology many VOIP products are not completely understood or worse, their purpose is not understood at all!, that is why we must comprehend all the acronyms, features, advantages and disadvantages that come with this new technology.
With the creation of this new technology, many questions and issues have come to light, for example, are our VOIP calls being recorded or monitored by third parties, which directly violates our privacy?. The fact is that the probability of being wiretapped by using a VOIP line is almost the same as using a normal phone. Some have made ‘traditional phone communication’ sound like they have some sort of secret security features, when in reality this is not true.
This discussion started because VOIP systems transform sound waves into data packets which are then transmitted through the internet to it’s destination, so just like a data network, a voice over IP network can be attacked if proper security measures aren’t taken. This is especially relevant to business owners who want to establish an internal PBX (Private Business Exchange System) along with VOIP and a data network.
In the scenario described above, if the VOIP network which is linked to the data and internal communications network is bridged, then all communication may be lost and important data may be compromised. A good security measure in this case would be to split the voice and data networks and implementing firewalls accordingly.
In the United States of America regulations which directly preempt ‘privacy policies’ in exchange for national security have become effective. Such is the case of CALEA also known as ‘The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994) which grants the government access to ‘phone conversations’ regardless being landlines or IP managed communications.
This doesn’t directly affect a great percentage of users unless they are involved in some sort of illegal activity, of course!. But in order to assure ‘privacy’ to it’s users, IP companies are developing security features which will be built into phone sets. Currently, companies such as Skype encrypts all the communication transmitted through the internet between users from start to finish.
Another software technology which is yet to be implemented in phone sets is ZRTP which is an extension to real time transport protocol that works by initiating a cryptographic key agreement between the two parties engaged in a conversation. While this sounds like geeky “mombo jombo”, all the user needs to do to make sure a third party is not eavesdropping in their conversation is to compare a ‘keyword’ with the other person running the same software.
These programs have yet to be fully implemented in handsets, so Voice over IP companies recommended to: update your Operating System, change factory passwords on your equipment, etc. The truth is that internet phone users who do not handle ‘sensitive information’ through these lines shouldn’t worry as much as business owners.
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Author: Ivan A Cuxeva
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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