How to make your VoIP calls private and confidential

There is no doubt a chance exists that your IP phone calls can be tapped and listened to. We will discuss here how to make sure your calls stay private and secure.

The possibility your VoIP calls being monitored is much higher then of conventional phone calls. The reason for this is that IP telephony is not a part of the public phone network, where tapping into the communication line involves a specific, forcible wired link. Calls carried via the Internet, LAN, or a WAN transport can be intercepted merely by obtaining and examining the data packets by anybody with a communications protocol analyzer. Subsequently, virtually anyone can spy on your private as well as business VoIP activities – your rivals, business partners, employers and employees, state officials and law-enforcement agencies.

The best way to achieve reasonable security of your VoIP communications is to employ data encryption.

VoIP voice traffic consists of digital data that is carried over networks and just like any type of digital data, VoIP data can be encrypted. It must be said, that while VoIP encryption does not require much time and effort to be successfully implemented, and there’s a number of data encryption solutions available to us, very few have actually are making use of this technology. Data encryption can make virtually impossible for anyone to listen to your VoIP calls. Let’s have a look at five different VoIP encryption options available to you.

Integrated Encryption: Many VoIP providers have responded to customer security fears and integrated encryption algorithms into their software. Ne of such providers, for example, is Skype Ltd., a company which has incorporated encryption support into its VoIP client software. Ask your VoIP provider if any encryption options are there at your service.

Zfone: One of the easiest ways to make sure you VoIP calls stay well protected is by making use of Zfone encryption software. The software is simple and user-friendly and can be installed and used by anyone. The latest beta built of Zfone is downloadable for free. In order for Zfone to function properly it must be installed by both callers – the fact that can be seen as a con by many. The calls you send and receive will only be well protected if people you connect with are willing to install Zfone on their machines. Yet, your calls to any strangers, banks or official government organizations which do not make use of this software will still be susceptible to exploiting.

SRTP: SRTP offers you protection with almost no effect on call quality therefore making it an ideal solution for those most of all concerned about quality. A unique encryption key is generated for each and every call you make and that makes your calls practically impossible to intercept. This fact alone makes SRTP a great security alternative for both everyday calls, as well as highly secret communications.

VPN: You can leverage your built-in VPN encryption feature, provided your business has VPN and therefore make your IP telephony calls secure and well protected. More importantly, this way of protecting your calls is reaching all users — so much so that even when travelling one will be able to log-in to the VPN from a laptop. Note, though, that a VPN can only assure your data protection from gateway to gateway. You are going to require additional protection, once calls are on your LAN network. Some tests shows that voice quality of the VoIP services is better if you run it via VPN tunnel.

IPsec and TLS: IPsec and TLS are useful and convenient ways of encrypting your IP communication. IPsec is designed to encrypt data for two devices and all the software which is running on those devices while TLS encrypts VoIP data transmitted between two applications. Both of these solutions are made to keep unauthorized people from meddling with or listening to calls, and they are nearly impossible to manipulate from outside. Both of these options are popular and well worth to be considered.

People want their VoIP phone calls to be as private and confidential as when they’re talking to somebody in their own home. In VoIP technology this level of protection and privacy cannot be guaranteed, therefore it is up to you to ensure that all steps needed to be have been taken and appropriate measures implemented — only that will guarantee your calls stay confidential and well protected.