As VoIP Popularity Rises, So Do Security Threats

VoIP is growing in popularity around the world with individuals and companies alike as it offers much cheaper phone calls between computers, landlines and mobile devices. However, as the popularity of VoIP services grows many people are concerned about the associated security threats that may come from malicious hackers.

David Cole, senior director of security product management at Symantec, talked about his fears over the security threats saying that VoIP “opens up a whole new role of attacks, where we receive fraudulent phone calls or recorded spam.” To combat the rise of VoIP targeted security threats companies such as LineSider Communications Inc. are releasing a applications to encrypt voice and data to reduce the chance of attack from hackers.

“VoIP is a regular Internet application. We take the same precautions that Yahoo or Google would do on their Web portals. It’s network security 101,” said Bryan Martin, 8×8Inc. chairman and CEO.