When you started selling VoIP, you agreed to be a part of a $140 Billion-dollar industry. What you did NOT agree to be a part of was the $29 Billion dollar industry of telecom fraud.
If you sell or use VoIP, it exposes you to telecom fraud daily. In a matter of minutes, an entire company can go bankrupt from toll fraud. Keep reading to hear some of our tips for preventing telecom fraud.
Password Protection
When you first get set up on your PBX system, it is important to replace all the default passwords they gave you. This will limit access to your PBX if your provider were to get hacked. It is important to avoid using poor passwords when you set up new ones. It sounds obvious, but more and more users are getting hacked because they are setting easy passwords.
For example, it is common for users to make their pin number the same 4 digits as their extension. Setting your pin number, the same as your extension is like making it “0000” or worse, “1234”.
Enable/Disable International Calls
Some of your clients will not need to place international phone calls. If that is the case, you should only enable international calling for the clients who request it. When hackers gain access to your system they will go straight for the premium rate international numbers because they are the highest earning revenue. If you offer your clients the option to enable/disable international calling, you can get one step ahead of the hackers.
Set Limits
If your clients need to place international phone calls, you can still protect them by setting limits. Setting a low credit limit for the master extension will only allow hackers to spend so much before the credit runs out. For example, you can put a cap of $10 on all international calls. Once the $10 is reached, no one can play any more international calls. This tactic protects companies from thousands of dollars in losses.
Check Call Usage/Monthly Bills
When a company falls victim to telecom fraud, you often hear them say “I had no idea this was happening”. Unfortunately, that is true. These tragedies normally happen outside of normal working hours, like on the weekend. Hackers use this strategy to go undetected and therefore can get away with it for longer. Companies should do routine checks on call usage and request a monthly bill from their provider. This will allow them to get ahead of any hacking that could be happening under their nose.
Install SIP Protectors
Last but not least, you should install SIP protectors. Bicom Systems has two products that together protect and ensure the quality of the calls being placed and received. sipMON is constantly monitoring the SIP packets that are being received and sipPROT is working in real time to protect against SIP attacks.
Want to learn more tips? Download the recording of our fraud protection webinar with our friends from ThinQ.