PBX hacking is big business for criminals, with fraud losses estimated to be in the region of $4.4 billion. This type of fraud does not discriminate on size of organisation and the costs to businesses can be substantial.
Toll fraud – the unauthorised use of a communication system by hackers – is a method increasingly used by organised criminals who realise that while businesses are often up-to-speed in protecting their networks and PCs against sophisticated attacks, their communication solutions often prove to be a soft target. Organisations usually only discover they have become victims when presented with the bill!
Key indicators to look out for are a high volume of calls placed to international numbers from the same internal phone; a peak of long distance, out of hours calls; or an alert from your telephone operator showing multiple short-duration calls to a premium rate number. By this time you have probably been hacked.
Here are the top three factors that put your business ‘at risk’ to hacking: ageing systems, outdated security policies and careless configuration – particularly when it comes to integrating VoIP phones.
But if you answer ‘Yes’ to any of the questions below, then your business is at risk:
It is in response to this growing menace we have introduced a Toll Prevention Audit service to help companies introduce best practices and protection mechanisms to avoid many toll fraud scenarios. Here are the key elements of introducing best practice to help reduce toll fraud:
Businesses who apply the right protection mechanisms can make themselves much less appealing to fraudsters, and by following these simple steps it’s possible to ensure your communications solution is not a easy target.
This article originally appeared on The Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Blog and is re-published with permission
Since the late 80’s ISDN has been the de-facto telephony connectivity solution of choice; however, with no significant development in over a decade and a BT switch-off date set for 2025, it’s time to retire your ISDN for good.
Getting on for 2 million channels being used today, SIP trunking is fast-becoming the obvious replacement for traditional ISDN services. Aside from the significant financial savings possible with SIP, this has been driven by both the need for a more flexible approach to ‘voice’ and the requirements of Unified Communications.
1 – Save money on call costs and line rental
SIP delivers less costly, more reliable connectivity than ISDN over an IP connection. It can save up to 50% on line rentals and 25% or more on call costs.
2- Free internal calls and great features
Perfect for medium or large organisations with multiple sites, not only will you save on your line rental and call costs, but you’ll get free internal calls within your organisation and a whole host of great features.
3- Scale up and down when you want
SIP trunks are ideal if you are moving, upsizing or downsizing and want to keep your existing numbers. Scale up lines during busy periods and back down again afterwards. You can add lines, take them away, split calls at any time. You are always in control.
4- Built-in Business Continuity
SIP trunks can handle emergencies easily. They are inherently disaster recovery / business continuity ready, letting you reroute calls to an alternative location quickly and easily.
5- Compatible with Skype for Business
Our SIP trunks are integration tested and approved to interoperate with Microsoft Lync / Skype for Business, allowing you to directly connect to the platform to make external calls.
Contact Amillan today to learn more about our SIP Connectivity Solutions.
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