Eric Adom ISSC641 W7 Assignment
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American Military University *
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Course
641
Subject
Information Systems
Date
Apr 3, 2024
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docx
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Uploaded by Oscarpinto100
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Student: Eric Adom
Class: ISSC641
Institution: APUS/AMU
Instructor: Dr Andersson
Date: 03/21/2024
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VoIP Security Threats and Vulnerabilities
1.
List at least five security threats specific to VoIP. Give a brief description and possible scenario.
a)
Denial of Service (DoS)
– This security threat refers to a cyber-attack when the hackers submerge a network or website with many requests, disrupting its normal functioning
(Zayne10, 2023). The DoS attacks overwhelm a system with too many VoIP businesses, slowing it or making it totally unresponsive. For example, cybercriminals may flood the VoIP system with large traffic, congesting or slowing it. Also, this excessive traffic might cause the system to be unavailable to legitimate users, disrupting communication. b)
Eavesdropping – This security threat refers to a case where attackers intercept the VoIP calls and listen to the communication without the actors` knowledge. These attackers might employ packet sniffers or software tools that intercept and crack the data packets transmitted over a network
(Zayne10, 2023). They can then listen to the VoIP business. A possible scenario of eavesdropping is when a competitor intercepts and listens to the business calls of their competitors to learn their business secrets. c)
Caller ID Spoofing – Caller ID Spoofing refers to the technique attackers employ to manipulate the caller ID information shown on a recipient's device to cheat the VoIP users
(Zayne10, 2023). It entails fabricating the caller's identity to show a different name or number than the actual one. A probable case of Caller ID Spoofing is a situation where an attacker tricks users by changing the caller identity information to impersonate a financial institution so that they can reveal confidential information or make a fraudulent payment. d)
Phishing – Phishing refers to a security threat where the attackers pose or pretend to the target's website to obtain their vital data
(Zayne10, 2023). The attacker may then use the data
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to access protected systems. For example, an attacker may pretend as a genuine website to get a user's confidential information. The attacker may use the information to access a VoIP system upon obtaining the details. e)
Malware attacks – Malware attacks involve injecting malware into the VoIP systems that compromise the devices and networks to gain unauthorized access, disrupt services, or steal data
(Zayne10, 2023). For example, an attacker might inject malware into the VoIP network, consuming the network bandwidth. This may negatively affect the signal quality and even the
quality of calls. 2.
List at least 10 Vulnerabilities in VoIP. Briefly describe each of the listed vulnerability, along with a possible recommendation for a countermeasure.
a)
Weak authentication
– The weak authentication in VoIP implementations may lead to man-
in-the-middle attacks
(Messmer, 2007). This vulnerability can be addressed using robust authentication methods like multi-factor authentication to prevent unauthorized access. b)
Execution mistakes
– If the VoIP registrations and services have insufficient input filtering or insecure programming practices, they may experience problems filtering the content, including the SQL queries from the user-provided data like passwords and user names
(Messmer, 2007). This vulnerability can be addressed by ensuring the input filtering and programming follows the set standards. c)
Low bandwidth –The low bandwidth may not be a challenge if the subscribers load is low. It becomes a challenge when it is flooded by many valid subscribers or bot clients, making it shut down
(Messmer, 2007). The low bandwidth can be addressed by enhancing the system to support huge loads from subscribers even when they make calls simultaneously.
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d)
File manipulation flaws
– File manipulation flaws refer to typical implementation mistakes and programming errors resulting from utilizing insecure programming concepts, leading to security hitches
(Messmer, 2007). This vulnerability can be addressed by enhancing the security of accessing the files by implementing secure programming constructs. e)
Password management – The VoIP services use passwords stored in the server and client to
identify a VoIP subscriber. If these passwords are kept in the server in a format that may be reversed, attackers can access the server and steal the username and passwords
(Messmer, 2007). This vulnerability can be addressed by ensuring the passwords stored in a server are properly managed by following the correct format. f)
Permissions and privileges –
If the resources are not safeguarded from multiple perspectives – network, platform, and operating system – they can be vulnerable
(Messmer, 2007). This vulnerability can be addressed by considering the privileges the VoIP services are running with. g)
Low resources –
The VoIP implementations' resources may be scarce, particularly if embedded devices exist. If the processing capability and memory of the system decrease, the attacker can easily shut down the VoIP services
(Messmer, 2007). This vulnerability may be addressed by ensuring the VoIP services have higher memory and processing capability to prevent them from being vulnerable to attacks. h)
Crypto – Failing to encrypt the VoIP services may expose confidential data to eavesdropping attacks
(Messmer, 2007). This vulnerability can be addressed by encrypting all confidential data to prevent it from being eavesdropped. i)
Error handling –
The error handling procedures can allow an attacker to attempt brute-force
attacks on valid accounts or obtain them from Spam over Internet Telephony
(Messmer,
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2007). A countermeasure to this vulnerability is configuring the VoIP systems securely to prevent attackers from using brute-force attacks to access the system. j)
Homogenous network –
This vulnerability happens when there is overdependence on a few device variants and vendor brands
(Messmer, 2007). An attack on a particular device may shut down the whole network. A homogenous network can be prevented by ensuring the network uses many brands of proxies, firewalls, and phones.
3.
Explain the end-to-end process of how VoIP works.
The end-to-end process of VoIP entails voice encoding, packetization, signaling, transmission, routing, and decoding. Voice encoding is the first step of VoIP, and it involves changing analog signals into digital data using analog-to-digital conversion (ADC). The second step of VoIP involves segmenting the voice data into small packets for transmission over the IP networks. Signaling is the third step in the VoIP process, and it entails handling the call setup, signaling, and controlling it. The data packets are then transmitted to the servers owned by the VoIP provider. The fourth step is routing. It involves determining the destination of the data packets based on a recipient's IP address or number. So, the VoIP provider serves as the switchboard. The codecs, special software, may compress the packets to enhance the quality of the call and save bandwidth. Lastly, the data packets are decoded into analog at the receiving end using the digital-to-analog converter
(Doan, 2024). 4.
Go back to problem 3 and list possible vulnerabilities in each step of the process.
a)
Voice encoding – The possible vulnerability in this step is eavesdropping. b)
Packetization – The possible vulnerabilities in this step are packet sniffing and data manipulation if the data packets are not encrypted. c)
Signaling – The possible vulnerabilities in this phase are spoofing and DoS attacks.
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d)
Transmission – The possible vulnerabilities in the transmission phase are DoS attacks and
interception. An attacker may intercept and reconstruct the communication
(DeSantis, 2008). e)
Routing – The probable vulnerabilities are routing manipulation and unauthorized access.
f)
Decoding – The probable vulnerability in this phase is tampering with the data 5.
In problem 4 list what would be most risky vulnerability, with the most possible damage.
The most risky vulnerability in the VoIP process would be unauthorized access due to weak authentication since it can result in unauthorized access and other types of attacks. The weak authentication may make it easy for attackers to crack VoIP systems (Messmer, 2007). If the attacker gains access to the VoIP system, they can conduct other attacks, resulting in the most possible damage. For instance, the attacker can eavesdrop after accessing VoIP services. 6.
In problem 5 - list how you would create a plan to mitigate possible damages and have services running smoothly and securely.
To mitigate the weak authentication risk, the VoIP services should be secured using the following strategies:
i.
Using strong authentication mechanisms like multi-factor authentication. ii.
Updating and patching VoIP software regularly to address the vulnerabilities. iii.
Encrypting the data packets to secure them during transmission of the VoIP traffic. Installing VoIP encryption software alongside the VoIP application and ensuring they
are appropriately configured can help mitigate the vulnerabilities and security threats to VoIP (DeSantis, 2008).
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References
DeSantis, M. (2008).
Understanding Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
. CISA. https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/understanding_voip.pdf
Doan, A. (2024).
How does VoIP work? Introduction to VoIP phone systems
. Nextiva. https://www.nextiva.com/blog/how-does-voip-work.html
Messmer, E. (2007, October 1).
Top 14 VoIP vulnerabilities
. Network World. https://www.networkworld.com/article/814986/lan-wan-top-14-voip-
vulnerabilities.html
Zayne10. (2023, March 2).
Common VoIP security threats and how to protect against them
. VoIP-Info. https://www.voip-info.org/common-voip-security-threats/