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VoIP Users Must Focus on Security

"Move away from traditional, point solutions, and evolve towards security platforms"

With businesses poised to rapidly adopt IP PBXs and IP phones, companies need to revamp their security strategies to accommodate VoIP, reports In-Stat. The number of business IP phones sold will grow from 9.9 million in 2006 to 45.8 million in 2010, the high-tech market research firm says. Many companies are not yet prepared, however, for the new security challenges inherent in the technology.

"To secure VoIP, businesses need to move away from traditional, point solutions, and evolve towards security platforms to realize the efficiencies of converged networks," says Victoria Fodale, In-Stat analyst. "Business decision-makers will need to evolve towards a unified security approach that works for converged networks and devices."

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:
  • Although over 40% of the respondents to an In-Stat survey did not have specific plans for securing VoIP deployments, the majority did have budgets in place to do so.
  • When asked to rate their knowledge of VoIP security, most of the respondents characterized themselves as "somewhat knowledgeable," the lowest rating provided on the survey.
  • In larger businesses, voice and data have traditionally been managed in separate organizations, with their own devices and network infrastructures. As VoIP enters the network, these historical silos are disintegrating.