How private are your VoIP calls

VoIP voice traffic is essentially data that is transmitted over networks, which means, like any type of computer data, VoIP can be protected by encryption, and this can make it virtually impossible for someone to snoop in on your private IP telephony calls.

Here are a few tools we think are useful to ensuring the privacy of your VoIP calls:

Zfone:

Zfone is possibly the easiest way to encrypt VoIP calls and the software is free! However, it requires both callers to install the application, which means calls to people you already know (at least those who have installed Zfone) will be secure, but calls to others (i.e. business calls, brokers, etc) won’t necessarily be protected.

Internal Encryption:

Many VoIP clients have incorporated encryption into their software. For example, Skype installed encryption support into its proprietary software.

Transport Layer Security (TLS) and IP Security (IPsec):

TLS and IPsec are ways to encrypt VoIP calls – TLS encrypts VoIP data travelling between two applications, while IPsec encrypts information for two devices and all the applications running on them. Both protocols aim to keep unauthorized parties from interfering with or listening to calls and cannot be manipulated externally.

Secure Real-Time Transfer Protocol (SRTP):

An ideal tool for protecting VoIP traffic, SRTP has a minimal effect on call quality. For each call made, a unique encryption key is created, which makes eavesdropping almost impossible. SRTP a good choice for day-to-day calls and highly confidential conversations.

Virtual Private Network (VPN):

If your company has a VPN, you can leverage its built-in encryption feature to protect your IP telephony calls. It is also extended to all users, so even when travelling, users can login to the VPN from their laptop. However, a VPN can only secure data from gateway to gateway, and if calls are on your LAN, you’ll require more protection.

VoIP technology cannot guarantee a substantial level of protection, therefore the onus lies with the user to safeguard him/herself to ensure your private conversations are exactly that, private.