IT EXPO West - Sipera exec offers anecdotes on the need for VoIP & UC security

LOS ANGELES - Sipera, maker of VoIP security solutions, prefers that customers proactively prepare their communications networks before serious problems arise. But Adam Boone, VP of marketing for Sipera, said some anecdotes from panels at IT EXPO West show that often security doesn't cross people's minds until it's much too late.

At a panel in which he participated, Boone said one presenter, an executive at a VoIP and UC reseller in Southern California, admitted just how costly failing to secure the company's network proved to be.

"No one likes to admit that they've been victimized by toll fraud," Boone said. "But he pulled out a monthly bill for $19,000 resulting from a hack over a weekend that resulted in 9,000 minutes of international dialing before the employees came back on Monday to discover something was wrong. Their usual monthly bill was only a couple hundred dollars."

Boone said it's best to identify weaknesses and vulnerabilities in a voice network during deployment, before "hair on fire" issues like toll fraud or corporate espionage demand immediate, costly attention.

He shared another story of a Fortune 100 client that was involved in major litigation with a competitor, who they believed was eavesdropping on their VoIP communications. Sipera diagnosed the vulnerabilities, but before fixing them, let the firm plant evidence in phone calls. Sure enough, that planted information was presented by the competition in the litigation soon after, and the client was able to prove that the competitor was up to no good.

Boone said the company plans to expand into IP video surveillance and video teleconferencing security in the next 12 months.