Original URL: http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2006/04/27/infosec_voip_debate/
Infosec Delegates at Infosec gave a resounding dismissal to a motion supporting VoIP deployment. The debate, “this house believes that the business advantages of VoIP outweigh the security concerns” ended in a fairly unanimous thumbs down, which implied security professionals don't think the technology is ready for big money corporate rollouts.
The proposers of the motion, a pair of technology consultants, said the cost benefits from switching to VoIP were great enough to make tackling the vulnerabilities head-on worthwhile. The sandwich technicians of Pret A Manger are saving themselves £10,000 per month on their communications spend having made the leap, they said.
The opposing pair, from investment banks, successfully argued that putting all their communications eggs in an IP basket is too risky at the moment.
Trial schemes and small deployments are absolutely relevant now, but piling the whole banking infrastructure on top of VoIP while still a toddler of a technology would be too much of an invitation to ne'er-do-wells, they said. Hacking traditional telephony is simple enough, but the difference with VoIP is that the attacker can be anywhere on Earth.
The feeling in the room was that VoIP needs time to crystallise as a technology. Genuine return-on-investment benefits, which will tip the debate in VoIP's favour (like a fully integrated communications desktop to increase productivity), are still further down the road.
In the meantime, it seems there's plenty of capital to be made from a burgeoning cottage industry in VoIP consultancy. ®
VoIP hacking exposed (3 August 2006)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2006/08/03/voip_hacking_exposed/
Skype bug lets 'buddies' swipe files (24 May 2006)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2006/05/24/skype_vuln/
Microsoft sets Live Messenger Beta free (9 May 2006)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2006/05/09/microsoft_messenger_beta/
Demon does VoIP (5 May 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/demon_voip/
AV firms rubbish MS Vista security claims (27 April 2006)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2006/04/27/av_on_ms/
Where have all the dolly birds gone? (26 April 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/26/infosec_blog_four/
Vonage hooks up with The Cloud (26 April 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/26/voange_cloud/
Phishing goes international (26 April 2006)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2006/04/26/international_phishing_survey/
UK PLC security prognosis mixed (25 April 2006)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2006/04/25/isbs_2006/
Voda eyes Tiscali, Bulldog (24 April 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/24/voda_tiscali/
IP telephony goes mainstream (21 April 2006)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2006/04/21/voip_market_forecast/
We're winning the war against hackers (20 April 2006)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2006/04/20/cisco_security_survey/
UPC picks Nortel for VoIP (19 April 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/19/nortel_voip_deal/
Skype blows $27m on VoIP firms (12 April 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/12/skype_buys/
UK SMEs clueless about VoIP (10 April 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/10/sme_voip/
© Copyright 2008