Patrick is joined by expert guest Peter Cox, who is the CEO and Founder of communication security specialists UM Labs.
Firstly Patrick asks Peter about his background and why he founded a business specifically focusing on SIP security. Peter explains that in his past roles he realised that SIP was one of the most vulnerable areas of a network and was often overlooked in terms of security provision. Much of SIPs functionality means that it falls outside the protection of typical network security devices like firewalls and for this reason special attention is required. General network security can be compromised by just one weakness and SIP systems - if not managed and monitored correctly - can often be that weakness.
Peter tells Patrick why SIP has various security vulnerabilities. SIP is a more complex protocol than either web or email equivalents and therefore there are potentially more areas to be exploited. Often the security of SIP systems is overlooked during installations and SIP endpoints can provide potentially malicious attackers with a route into secure networks.
Some of the most common attacks targeting SIP based systems are DDOS, malware intrusion and inception on unencrypted lines. Peter gives Patrick some real world examples where organisations and system integrators have fallen fowl of attackers when they have neglected SIP security.
