Can my Phone System be hacked?

Yes, any phone system can be hacked. It’s the same principle as a computer, hackers will try to access the phone system.

 What can they do with my phone system? Phone System hacking (Toll Fraud) is huge and the financial impact can cripple a business. Hackers would gain control of your phone system and dial destinations with high call tariffs such as Cuba or Somalia. 

The hack is usually over a weekend so you would not know there is any issue until the Monday morning. Toll fraud can run in to the thousands of pounds and it is the customer that pays the phone bill without any ‘get out’ clause.

What can I do to protect my phone system from being hacked? There are products out there to better protect you against Toll fraud. On ISDN (Digital) lines and standard analogue lines we can add Exceptional call reporting, which monitors irregular calls and would block the call if deemed fraudulent. This is a basic system, and there still would be associated costs as the call is only blocked after the event, but it reduces the exposure. The Exceptional call reporting also covers the customer up to ￡5k per fraudulent call with a small ￡250 excess. On newer Cloud based systems you can add a limit to bar calls if you hit a certain call spend. Lastly on new fixed on premise phone systems we can add parameters which only allow certain calls. So, for example, any call over 1 hour would be blocked, or we could block premium calls or international calls. 

 You wouldn’t leave your PC without an antivirus so your phone system should get the same concern ! Speak to MFTS for advice about protecting your phone system from fraud.