Security vendors talk up VoIP threats

Security vendors are talking up the potential for attacks on IP telephony systems, reckoned to be the next major market for security defences. The number of business IP phones sold will grow from 9.9 million in 2006 to 45.8 million in 2010, according to market watchers InStat. Although VoIP systems are becoming increasingly commonplace many firms are not yet prepared for the new security challenges inherent in the technology, creating a fertile ground for vendors across the security marketplace to talk up threats in the hope of kick-starting a market they can then sell into.

Symantec looks into the crystal ball for the year ahead and speculates that VoIP networks will become a new vector in phishing attacks. Scam emails are beginning to invite prospective marks to hand over confidential account details by phone instead of to a fraudulent web sites while other scams use voice networks to contact punters, Symantec researcher Zulfikar Ramzan reports. While conceding that such attacks are rare, Ramzan warns they represent a growing threat.

"These so called voice phishing or 'vishing' attacks leverage voice-over-IP. As a result, such attacks can be conducted cheaply enough that phishers might see a sufficient return on their investment. At the same time, there have not been many reported cases of such attacks, so it’s not clear if they will take off," he writes.