What are the best VOIP security practices for remote work environments?

1 Use strong encryption

Encryption is the process of transforming data into a format that only authorized parties can read, using a secret key or password. Encryption can protect your VOIP calls from being intercepted and listened to by hackers or other malicious actors. There are different types of encryption, such as symmetric, asymmetric, and hybrid, that use different algorithms and keys to secure your data. You should use the strongest encryption available for your VOIP service, such as Transport Layer Security (TLS) or Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP). These protocols can encrypt both the signaling and the media streams of your VOIP calls, ensuring confidentiality, integrity, and authentication.

2 Choose a reliable VOIP provider

Your VOIP provider is the company that provides you with the software, hardware, and network infrastructure to make and receive VOIP calls. Your VOIP provider should have a good reputation, a high level of service quality, and a robust security policy. You should check the provider's terms of service, privacy policy, and security features, such as encryption, firewall, antivirus, and backup. You should also verify the provider's compliance with relevant standards and regulations, such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, or GDPR. Additionally, you should review the provider's customer support, feedback, and reviews, to ensure that they can respond to your needs and issues promptly and effectively.

3 Configure your devices and network properly

To protect your VOIP service from unauthorized access, tampering, or hijacking, it’s important to configure your devices and network properly. This includes updating your devices and network firmware and software regularly, using strong passwords that are changed frequently, enabling firewall and antivirus software, disabling any unnecessary features or services, and utilizing a virtual private network (VPN) for a secure and encrypted connection. Taking these steps will help keep your VOIP calls safe.

4 Educate your users and staff

Your users and staff should be aware of the advantages and potential risks of VOIP, as well as the best practices to protect their calls and data. To ensure they are properly informed, you should educate them on how to recognize and avoid phishing, vishing, or spoofing attempts that could lead to the disclosure of personal or financial information, or downloading malicious software. Additionally, you should encourage them to report any suspicious or unusual activity that could indicate a breach or compromise of your VOIP service. Furthermore, users and staff should use secure and reliable devices and networks when accessing your VOIP service, avoiding public or unsecured Wi-Fi or devices. Finally, they should follow your organization's policies and procedures regarding VOIP usage such as data retention, encryption, authentication, and backup.

5 Monitor and audit your VOIP activity and performance

Monitoring and auditing your VOIP activity and performance are the processes of collecting, analyzing, and reporting data and metrics related to your VOIP service. These processes can help you identify and resolve any issues or problems with your VOIP service, such as poor quality or latency, as well as detect and prevent any security threats or incidents. To ensure effective monitoring and auditing, you should use tools such as call detail records (CDRs), quality of service (QoS), network performance management (NPM), and security information and event management (SIEM). CDRs provide logs of information about each VOIP call, such as date, time, duration, source, destination, and cost. QoS measures how well your VOIP service meets your expectations and requirements. NPM assesses and optimizes the performance of your network infrastructure. SIEM collects, correlates, and analyzes data from various sources to detect security events.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?