As modern telephone systems improve their security protection against PABX hacking, the risk to businesses using older phone systems is increasing.
PABX hackers aim to penetrate older business telephone systems that have not been upgraded by taking advantage of weaker passwords and other tactics.
These PABX Hacking incidents can be an enormous cost – over $100,000 in some cases. They typically involve a large number of fraudulent calls to International numbers and Premium Rate Services. These include services such as mobile ringtones, screensavers, horoscope readings etc -usually 190X numbers in Australia.
PABX hackers illegally gain access to your PABX and use it to make unauthorised calls, or to charge phone cards.
Once they penetrate the voicemail they can re-program the PABX system to make their International telephone calls.
There is also the risk of stolen customer and employee data, trade secrets, competitive information, financial data, or customer billing or credit information.
There are a number of preventative actions you can make to improve your security:
- Improve your password’s quality and change them regularly
- Remove default passwords from your PABX and handsets. Default passwords and obvious passwords such as “password” or “administrator” make it easy for hackers to attack your phone system.
- Change Voicemail PINs regularly and ban the use of obvious PINS
- Block access rights to international calls and block calls to countries you don’t do business with
- Cancel unused voicemail boxes
- Limit call types to extensions – most employees do not need access to Premium Rate or international calls
- Be on the lookout for signs of unusual activity – for example out-of-hours calls etc.
However, professional maintenance and upgrading your PABX is one of the best ways to ensure you don’t fall victim to PABX Hacking.
Evotec can advise on the ideal PABX upgrade for your business. We also offer PriorITel maintenance support to reduce your risk. For help, call your Evotec consultant on 1300 996 133.