As the old saying goes, it’s better to be safe than sorry. If a hacker really wants to breach your system, they won’t stop until they succeed.
The reality, however, is that most attackers prey on the soft targets – businesses that have failed to take even the simplest of steps to safeguard their system.
So what easy measures should you be taking?
- Password Protection
In this technology-centric era of information overload, you are most likely accustomed to using passwords to access the accounts, applications and assets in your life. Whether you have numerous passwords for different requirements or just one or two passwords for your accounts (bank, email, SIP accounts, website CMS and other applications), the same discipline needs to apply to your business communications, including your telephony system.Use strong passwords and change them regularly. Just as you would not use an obvious alpha-numeric sequence (for example, your date of birth as your internet banking password), so, too, should you use a very unpredictable or cryptic password sequence that only you can possibly know.
- Firewalls
A decent firewall solution will do the decent thing by you and your business by ensuring your communications systems operate unhindered within a safe, secure environment. As a rule of thumb, you should only accept internet-based traffic that comes through your VoIP provider or ISP.One solution we provide is Hosted Firewalls, which includes content filtering and built-in AV (anti-virus) and anti-spam protection and which have the primary benefit of protecting your network from the perimeter of your network; that is, your system is comfortably insulated within itself and protected from would-be attackers or other threats active on the boundaries of your business communications system.
- Voice Traffic Security
Like many cloud-based practices, transmission of content or data via the internet is susceptible to potential eavesdroppers.
- Mitigate this by ensuring your Hosted VoIP provider offers SIP services (Session Initiation Protocol) which manage the termination as much as the initiation of video or voice call sessions over the internet or IP networks.
As we’ve said before, system hacking is not a habit of the bored but is a professional activity for some.
By contrast, don’t view your security needs as another expensive chore and time-drain. Instead, your security practices should be habitual and hard-wired into your brain. Doing everything possible to prevent attacks before then happen is better than mopping up afterwards.