Security plagues voice, video use of Internet

By Richard Braddell

WELLINGTON - Internet telephony may be the way of the future, but security problems must be overcome before it is the vehicle of choice for voice and video communications, an expert on Net telephony says.

Christian Schmidt, who until recently was the voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) product manager for the German telecommunications giant Siemens, says that while many companies are keen to capture the cost savings of VOIP, many are unaware of the very real security risks.

The system is more open to fraudulent behaviour than on conventional circuit switched telephone networks where the routing of traffic is under the firm control of known network operators. Without sophisticated, and potentially expensive, encryption solutions, data such as credit card numbers, passwords for authorisations and records stored on central IP telephony services could be vulnerable to attacks ranging from simple intrusion to complete destruction.

A corporate using VOIP had two options. To rely on a trusted "gateway" or Internet service provider to encrypt VOIP traffic when it entered its network, or to encrypt the traffic on entering the public network.

However, Mr Schmidt said that could result in significant cost increases because of the systems upgrades required to maintain the same quality of service.