Attacks on VoIP fueled by botnets and the cloud

As VoIP becomes more popular with businesses, it becomes ever more important to protect IP communications from hackers. The rise of VoIP has presented some tempting targets for opportunists with the right skill sets.

According to two reports put out by Cisco and Sipera's Viper Lab, hacker attacks on VoIP are on the rise. Toll fraud, where hackers use compromised VoIP lines to make long distance calls, racking up charges by having a VoIP system call premium numbers the company gets billed for, and Vishing, which involves hackers spoofing VoIP numbers to get employees to give up valuable data granting access to funds, are all popping up as ways hackers are taking advantage of VoIP users. According to researchers, attacks on VoIP have risen to about 30 percent of hacking attempts online. The most concerning trend is that hackers are tapping into botnets and using cloud resources to brute force many of their exploits, making it easier for them to break in.

The companies see the lack of good security, the popularity of the technology, and the ease with which hackers can attain cash through the exploits as all major reasons VoIP is getting more attention from criminals. Viper Lab has used unsecured honeypots to lure in hackers to track their actions. The company has determined that criminals are mainly operating from China, Russia, the U.S. and South Korea.

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