Five most overhyped security threats
A Gartner analyst has sought to debunk the most common security myths affecting the technology industry.
Research director Amrit Williams identified so-called threats to IP telephony, wireless technologies, the Internet and business conduct and explained how they could be overcome at a Gartner security summit in Melbourne this week.
The first proposition he tackled was that "IP telephony was unsafe".
The threats are similar to those facing a data network, the main difference being the criticality of voice communications and the expectation of reliability.
So, Williams said, the answers are the same: guard the IP PBX with a firewall, an Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) and other products just as how a server is protected.
Safeguard your network by implementing quality of service features to guarantee throughput for voice traffic and guard the endpoints by using IP handsets, he added.
If mobile workers need "softphones" -- software that simulates a real phone -- ensure their notebooks are protected by personal firewalls and other mechanisms. "Encryption is probably overkill" for most organisations, said Williams. If you don't encrypt your data, why would you need to encrypt voice traffic?
