“Criminals are listening in on critical business information and stealing details and data which could do serious damage to companies. Many organisations have invested heavily in encrypting physical data sources such as laptops and discs, but they are leaving their phone correspondence completely unprotected and open to attack from professional fraudsters,” warned Dr. Bjoern Rupp, CEO, GSMK CryptoPhone.
“Staff continue to exchange confidential company information such passwords and PIN codes over the phone, assuming calls to be the safest way to correspond. With many physical data sources now heavily protected, fraudsters see unencrypted calls as the easy way to gain access to sensitive information from corporate, military and national security organisations. Businesses need to initiate a radical re-think on voice security protection, which can easily be integrated as part of the organisations’s wider security strategy.”
GSMK CryptoPhone also called on Network Security Providers to do more in the fight against malicious phone fraudsters by ensuring end-to-end security measures for clients. Currently criminals can easily listen in on most traditional mobile and conference phones and are able to steal confidential information. International organisations are also at risk with different networks across many countries, with differing levels of security leaving them vulnerable to attack. “Standard security measures cannot give customers the 360 degree protection they need, especially when travelling abroad. Providers need to raise standards with unbreakable encryption measures.”
National authorities such as National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Federal German IT security office have recently raised their security warnings regarding of mobile and voice over IP.
“If governments are not confident in the security of their national networks, how can business customers be confident considering they have patents, technology and other business interests to protect?” said Dr Rupp.