Not all pirates sail the seas. In fact, most surf the web, looking for network vulnerabilities that grant them access to information or VoIP credentials they can use or sell at your expense.
Even with a strong password policy in place, your account needs to be secured. The good news is, you can protect your SIP account with these important features (as long as your provider makes them available):
1. Maximum Outbound Rate: Set a predetermined allowable outbound rate to protect your account from scam artists who break in and dial pricey foreign numbers that pay the receiving party an exorbitant amount (and make you pay for it).
2. Flexible Destination Whitelist: It should be easy and instant for you to add and remove allowable destinations right on your account dashboard. Of course, you can implement a whitelist in reverse. That’s called a blacklist and designates destinations to which calling is not allowed. Blacklists give you more initial freedom but whitelists provide greater security off the bat.
3. IP Authentication: Static IP addresses are secure and difficult to fake. Assign IP addresses to users and verify identity that way by creating a list of IP addresses your account will accept out going calls from.
4. Automatic Destination Restriction: In the event someone does seize control of your account, your provider should recognize the uncharacteristic behavior and shut it down.
5. Pre-paid Balance: A pre-paid account limits your exposure to existing credit levels. And if accounting demands post-paid vendors, ask them who pays the bill when web pirates sail away with your credentials.
