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Making VoIP Secure

The world of VoIP communication is not as simple as many believe, in fact, if proper provisions are taken there is certain risk involved with this telephony industry. Just as computers need protection from viruses and hackers, so do VoIP systems. Although security is not a current major issue,security breaches may occur in the future. Digium, the original creator of Asterisk and pioneer of open source telephony, and Ranch Networks, the first IP telephony network appliance provider to integrate security and bandwidth control for IP-based applications, today introduced its security code for the Asterisk open source IP telephony platform. When combining Asterisk with Ranch Networks new RN series appliances, the solution provides unprecedented security and scalability to the open source telephony industry.

Ranch Networks solves the problems associated with VoIP implementations through both its MIDCOM integration with the Asterisk platform, and several of its Patent-Pending technologies. The MIDCOM integration provides for dynamic per-call firewall control, bandwidth management, NAT traversal, and RTP traffic bridging ? all supporting encrypted signaling streams, while the Patent-Pending technologies separate voice, video, and data traffic into multiple, secure zones without having to reconfigure IP addresses.

Ranch Networks? technology sends instructions to the firewall to open the ports on an as needed basis. Media streams can flow from one phone to another, then close ports when the call is terminated. Instructions are also sent to the appliance determining the amount of bandwidth needed. As calls come in, data is shrunk to allow necessary bandwidth on a protocol basis. Ranch Networks guarantees that voice is given priority over data. This technology supports multiple phones behind any number of firewalls.