Definition
Voice over IP Security

Preventative measures implemented by a company that uses Voice over IP (VoIP) communication technology to protect business-sensitive voice and data transmissions from potential network attacks. Without such a defensive strategy, a company's VoIP communications can suffer from voice clarity degradation and service interruption.

VoIP service providers or organizations that use the communications technology as part of their ongoing business practices should understand the potential threats that could render a VoIP system useless. Without proper Voice over IP security, businesses can be vulnerable to the harmful degradation of voice quality, the intrusion of other network services facilitated by IP telephony applications, viruses and other potential threats. Malicious activities such as Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks deliberately deprive a VoIP service of the resources it normally needs to function properly and provide high quality voice transmissions. All these attacks can cost businesses large amounts of time and revenue to remedy. By being able to detect these attacks before they happen and, in the event that one does harm the system, being able to quickly attend to any problems it may cause, an effective VoIP security strategy is vital to improving and maintaining strong business communication performance.