VoIPshield Systems launches VoIPguard, the industry's first enterprise VoIP Intrusion Prevention System to provide effective protection against known and new security threats for VoIP systems from Avaya, Cisco and Nortel. Microsoft support will be added in Q3.

Attacks on communication networks can be stopped most effectively if their signatures are known. Years of research by VoIPshield Laboratories, the research division of VoIPshield Systems, has yielded the industry's most comprehensive database of known VoIP attack signatures. These attacks are specific to VoIP, and therefore cannot be detected and stopped by traditional data security products.

The new category is VIPS, or VoIP Intrusion Prevention Systems. There are two key technical requirements: a VIPS must protect against voice-specific attacks, and it must do so without causing increased latency, jitter or packet loss.

VoIPshield Laboratories has discovered over 100 security vulnerabilities in Voice over IP systems marketed by Avaya, Cisco and Nortel. A vulnerability is a design or implementation flaw in a VoIP system that can be exploited by a hacker with malicious intentions, including extortion through service outage threats, industrial espionage through call recording, or identity theft through the stealing of sensitive customer information.

VoIPshield notified the vendors of its findings earlier this year. Under the terms of its Responsible Disclosure Policy, VoIPshield works with the vendors to help them recreate the vulnerabilities in their own test labs, and offers its services to assist the vendors in determining the best remediation approach.

The vulnerabilities are cataloged and presented on the company's website at http://www.voipshield.com/research. Each vulnerability is categorized based on an exploit's most likely malicious intent: unauthorized access, code execution, denial of service or information harvesting. Each is also given a severity rating based on a modified industry standard index. Vendor responses are also included, indicating what action if any the vendor has indicated they will take to remediate the vulnerability, and when.

Extreme Networks made enhancements to its network solutions that provide behavior-based rules to protect IP Telephony and VoIP traffic. These security rules help mitigate the threat of malicious users and hackers who are actively trying to exploit vulnerabilities and breach the IP communications network. Based on these rules, users or devices that demonstrate destructive behavior when entering the network can rapidly be addressed to preserve the quality of voice communications.

Extreme Networks is adding IP Telephony security rules that focus protection around voice traffic traversing a unified communications network. A packaged set of rules is available now for Extreme Networks Sentriant security appliance. These rules help to simplify management tasks and better protect VoIP gateways, SIP servers and VoIP phones.

Traditional medical alert units, often worn by seniors around their neck or wrist to call for help in case of a fall or other adverse event, were designed to communicate by way of POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). After placing a telephone call, the emergency unit sends information from the home to the monitoring center to determine which emergency unit is calling and what type of help is needed. When consumers switch to digital phone service, the data can be distorted or omitted as the bandwidth of the internet service provider fluctuates, resulting in missed or inaccurate emergency reporting at the monitoring center.

Sipera VIPER Lab's reveals its Top 5 VoIP Threat Predictions for 2008. As with its "Top 5 VoIP Vulnerabilities in 2007" list, the Sipera VIPER team leveraged its own extensive research and examined reports to determine the VoIP/UC threats with the greatest potential impact in 2008.

Based on industry trends that include major IP telephony vendors offering SIP solutions, enterprises deploying VoIP and unified communications beyond the traditionally secure perimeter, and service providers aggressively embracing fixed mobile convergence, Sipera VIPER Lab's Top 5 VoIP Threat Predictions for 2008 are:

NextAlarm announces two major new security features for its VoIPAlarm 2 IP alarm signal transmission platform. VoIPAlarm 2 is centered around the VoIPAlarm ABN adapter, an IP communicator which connects to any Contact ID compatible alarm system. Signals from the alarm system are received by VoIPAlarm over broadband Internet, and retransmitted over PSTN phone lines or IP to the central station of the alarm installer's choice. VoIPAlarm 2 is intended as a low-cost, high-reliability alternative to cellular dialers, proprietary IP communicators, and other solutions to the growing number of end users who do not have the traditional phone service required by most alarm systems.

NextAlarm.com announces that support for ten-digit Contact ID reporting has been added to its VoIPAlarm 2 IP alarm signal transmission platform. The addition greatly increases the viability of VoIPAlarm 2 as an alternative to existing IP-compatible alarm dialers, especially for alarm installers whose central stations require ten-digit account numbers.

VoIPAlarm requires the addition of a competitively priced VoIPAlarm adapter, which is connected to the alarm main control panel using its existing phone wiring. VoIPAlarm charges a flat monthly fee for unlimited retransmission of alarm signals to the central station of the alarm installer's choice.

TeleCents Communications has deployed Secure Computing Sidewinder to provide security for their traditional telecom as well as VoIP services. TeleCents required one device to protect their entire enterprise gateway, and Sidewinder's powerful, scaleable solution included all the components necessary for the secure exchange of both traditional data and VoIP calls across open networks.

TeleCents Communications recently chose to implement the SIP application to strengthen their VoIP offering. But with that implementation, potential security vulnerabilities increased dramatically, making an increased level of gateway security essential. VoIP risks are perhaps the best-kept secret on the Internet. Blinded by the promise of reduced costs and flashy features, VoIP deployments forge ahead despite millions in losses due to VoIP fraud and the growing trend of hackers using VoIP as a back door into enterprise networks. It is for these reasons that VoIP security is essential.

NextAlarm.com announces VoIPAlarm 2 the latest revision of its Internet-based alarm signal transmission service. Using patented Alarm Broadband Network technology and sold through NextAlarm's VoIPAlarm.com brand, VoIPAlarm 2 allows standard telephone-based Contact ID alarm systems to send signals via broadband Internet, even if no telephone line is present. The alarm signals are received at the VoIPAlarm central servers, then retransmitted to the central station of the dealer's choice.

The flexibility and openness of SIP have made it a key building block for VOIP services, but SIP also makes carrier and enterprise VOIP networks vulnerable to crippling attacks that could bring services down for days, according to the latest report published by Light Reading's VOIP Services Insider, a subscription research service from CMP's Light Reading.

SIP & VOIP: The Coming Security Crisis explores the vulnerabilities of VOIP networks to outside attacks and surveys available SIP security solutions, examining likely geographic expansion and providing an in-depth evaluation of the technology relative to its competition. It examines factors that vendors should address to promote growth, including technological and marketing issues. Additionally, it offers a detailed case study and provides a comparative analysis of some of the top companies in the SIP security arena