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Last Updated: Feb 18th, 2008 - 14:39:01 |
VoIP: The Issue of Security
Early quality and reliability problems with VoIP have largely been overcome, but security remains a real issue. As the Internet has shown, a flexible, open, digital communications platform attracts parasites. It's only a matter of time before we see voice spam on VoIP systems, along with viruses, worms, and security breaches. Any business looking at VoIP systems should carefully assess its security needs and ensure that vendors can meet them. It should look at securing its VoIP infrastructure the same way it secures its intranet, e-mail system, and corporate databases.
There is no technical reason why VoIP systems can't be as good as, and probably better than, conventional phone systems in these areas. Skype, for example, encrypts every call end to end, providing more privacy than any traditional phone company. The potential security threats to VoIP are real but are no more worrisome than the security issues that are an accepted part of using the Internet in business. Companies simply need to appreciate that VoIP makes their phone systems part of the IT infrastructure, rather than a black box they trust a phone company to secure and manage.
Though VoIP's biggest payoffs will accrue to those who deploy it strategically, there are several approaches for test-driving the technology without betting the farm.
Follow the upgrade cycle. Many companies are deploying VoIP today because their phone systems are becoming obsolete. Companies should therefore look at their upgrade plans as opportunities to move toward VoIP. But this evaluation shouldn't be limited to a review of communications systems. Planned upgrades to the corporate data network and computer hardware also provide an opportunity to introduce VoIP. Some firms will find themselves deploying the technology first through their customer relationship management systems. Others will introduce it as a tool for supply chain management, to make it easier for supply chain partners to communicate. Others will deploy VoIP as a feature of the corporate help desk so that computer support calls can be handled more efficiently. These deployments may be more tactical than strategic, but that shouldn't delay the initial activity.
A VoIP analog to VisiCalc and ICQ is Skype, the free VoIP software. Though it's used principally by individuals looking to save on their long-distance bills, half of Skype users say they have used the service for business communications. Managers should welcome employees' experimentation with Skype and similar VoIP software packages. The VoIP killer app in an organization may be one that the CIO doesn't anticipate but that an employee devises out of personal necessity. By observing users who bring in VoIP through the back door, often on their personal PCs, managers may gain insights into how the company can use the technology and the cost/benefit equation for bringing VoIP through the front door.
Of course, companies shouldn't ignore the security issues that any software on the corporate network can create. The beauty of software like Skype is that it operates through the public Internet without requiring access behind the corporate firewall, obviating many security concerns.
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