Attractive cost savings and the increasingly sophisticated features of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) are prompting more companies and households to switch to broadband telephony from traditional fixed-line networks.
There are various ways in which IP telephony can be deployed, but in recent years a growing number of service providers have departed from the practice of deploying VoIP over a leased line or a managed virtual private network to offer telephony solutions plugged directly into the public internet.
With the switch, however, comes a host of growing risks, network security experts warn.
Standard network attacks, once thought to affect data transmission only, are now crossing over to voice. And security experts warn that these are not limited to voice hacking or - as it is better known - eavesdropping.
Attacks such as viruses, voice spams, denials of service and spyware and other malicious codes can put phone numbers, access codes and conversations at risk, according to Geoff Johnson, Asia-Pacific vice-president of research enterprise networks at Gartner.
'The security issues facing VoIP are like those on any data network ... the whole gap in the IT industry today is that of security,' he said.
