Hacking of your VoIP systems can spell doom for the business because either you will end up paying thousands of dollars as telephone bills or incur business loss through leakage of sensitive business information. Hacking incidents are on the rise, especially for the Internet based communication systems like VoIP. Over the last few years, researchers have been trying to secure VoIP systems by using various types of hardware and software enhancements; however, full-proof protection still not been achieved. In the wake of recent developments, you will have to use a combination of hardware and software enhancements along with a rigid VoIP policy to protect the communication system of your organization against hackers. In this article we are going to look at some of the ways to prevent your VoIP systems from getting hacked.

The Dangers of Hacking

Once your VoIP systems get hacked, the hackers are going to make unlimited calls to expensive international numbers. This phenomenon is not going to stop till they have bled your entire credit limit or till the time the phone company stops their services to your company. There have been numerous instances of companies having to pay huge telephone bills for the calls that were never made by the owner or employees of the organization.

Stop Misuse of VoIP Systems

You can take some simple steps to stop the misuse of your company’s telephone system and it can all begin by writing a letter to your VoIP service provider. You will need to inform your VoIP service provider about the daily or monthly expenditure limit that you want to authorize. You will also have to make it extremely clear that you are taking this step as a security measure and that any violation of this policy will lead to severing of business ties with the provider. Now, this letter can be produced in the court in case any kind of dispute arises because of a misuse of your VoIP service by any hacker. Once your phone company comes to acknowledging your letter, they would implement the credit limit and if the company lines are misused by anyone at any point in time, the service provider will be able to cut the lines once the credit limit (mentioned by you in the letter) is reached.

Change Your Service Provider?

Change your service provider if you receive any fraudulent bill as the illegal use of the company’s VoIP system will make it extremely vulnerable to other security breaches in the future. VoIP service providers might compel you to pay the bill in the end but you always have the option of protecting the company’s interest in the near future.

You need to be careful about the dealings with telephone companies as they have numerous departments with experienced personnel who are experts at manipulating and compelling customers into paying their bills. They are not bothered whether your VoIP systems were hacked or some rouge employee misused it – they only need the money against the usage. Surveys have pointed out that several organizations across the globe have been victims of VoIP system hacks.

Watch Your Telephone Bills

It is imperative to keep a watch on your telephone bills as that would give you a clue of any kind of misuse. You will have to note any kind of anomalies you find in the telephone bills and inform your service provider immediately. This would certainly stop the misuse of communication systems at your office. You can also use SIP proxy to control the calls in a better manner and offer additional layers of security to your VoIP systems.

Firewalls need to be installed and updated on a regular basis as that would help you to keep any kind of Trojans or malware at bay. The more layers of protection you can add to your communication network, the tougher will it become for the hackers to break into the system.