There is no doubt that the technology has surpassed all our expectations and progressed to a new era altogether. But like every coin has two sides, similarly even technology has its benefits and loopholes. The current technology for VoIP calling has brought about a revolution to place calls using the internet. Since hacking into internet has become a common phenomenon these days, VoIP has also the joined this league.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) networks has unchained users from the autocracy of telecom giants, allowing people to make telephone calls over the Internet at affordable prices. However VoIP may be simple and economical, it’s notoriously deficient in security. With nominal effort, hackers can snoop on conversations, interrupt phone calls, modify caller IDs, introduce unnecessary audio into existing phone calls and gain access to secured information.

The data vulnerability gets affected because IP phones don’t comprise the public phone network, where hacking requires a precise, physical link in terms of a wire. With the help of a defined protocol analyzer it becomes easy intercepting calls being transmitted over the LAN, WAN or Internet. Hence this practically allows anyone entry into the data being transmitted which could be your personal information or business information.

Obviously you wouldn’t want an anonymous person tapping into your conversations and hampering your regular activities. The only way to ensure this doesn’t happen is to encrypt your VoIP connection. Since VoIP deals with data traffic being transferred over the network in the form of voice, VoIP can also be encrypted just as any computer data. Hence a cautious arrangement will help guarantee that your enterprise’s VoIP data flows securely.

VoIP Security Requires a Different Approach
Listed below are few ways which would ensure data protection if you are using VoIP:

Internal Encryption: Installation and configuration of encryption with the VoIP calls clients at both the end-points of communication is necessary. For instance Skype Ltd has incorporated and configured encryption onto their proprietary software due to the client’s demand. These days it is necessary that users check if the VoIP client provides them with encryption.

Securing Transport Layer: Transport Layer Security (TLS) is another method of securing data movements between applications and devices. This method offers good security as it frequently authenticates users on the network. This security system is also very easy to deploy and incorporate.

VPN (Virtual Private Network): Most of the organizations offer their employees VPN facility to be able to connect to the network shares from home. It’s essential that data is encrypted even if users connect from home or when traveling from their laptop through a secured gateway.

Using of multi-level protection embedded with security for instance WPA, IEEE offer built in encryption and authentication technology. Using a VoIP firewall that would prevent unwanted traffic trying to gain access to VoIP through wireless devices is also recommended. Lastly, making people aware of the importance of VoIP encryption is very important and every organization should conduct training for their employees to educate them.