Is VoIP Secure?  You Make the Call
by Steven Taylor, Distributed Networking Associates, Inc
Posted 4/22/03

Abstract:

Voice over IP (VoIP) is no longer tomorrow’s technology. High-speed networks that support quality-of-service (QoS) technology have come a long way in mitigating performance and availability issues. 

But what about security? If your network is robust enough, securing VoIP is manageable. But if you’re contemplating Internet telephony, you’re entering dangerous territory.

Internally, voice running over your data lines is essentially no more or less secure than any other application in your IP infrastructure. And, in some respects, it’s at least as secure as traditional telephony. VoIP is here, now, and growing. When we examine VoIP in the context of well-known issues of IP data and traditional telephone security, implementation remains a security challenge—but not necessarily a nightmare. 

About the Author:

Steven Taylor is president of Distributed Networking Associates and publisher of Webtorials.com, a Web site dedicated exclusively to technology tutorials in the broadband packet areas of frame relay, ATM and IP. Taylor also is a columnist for Network World and coauthor of Network World's "Wide Area Networking" and "Convergence" newsletters. Taylor can be reached at taylor@webtorials.com. 

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