VoIP Exploited To Rake In Millions

The recent arrest of two Miami crooks in the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) scam has put net providers on high alert. The hackers had managed to make more than USD $1 million by breaking into third party VoIP services and routing calls through their own lines. Internet phone companies use prefixes to identify calls that are allowed to be routed over their networks. The accused slammed internet phone networks with thousands of test calls using different prefixes to jam the network, found vulnerable ports and routers in companies and hacked into them for administrator names and passwords. They then sold phone call minutes at discounted rates and routed their customer calls to networks that were hacked into. Experts say that the technical part of such an operation can be performed even by a 14 year old. The scam has exposed the vulnerability of VoIP services showing how vast majority of voice packages are still unencrypted, making them easy to re route.