Internet Security: Secure VoIP -- No More Hacking

[Harry Emerson]

Internet Security: Secure VoIP -- No More Hacking --

Recent Patent Series Promises a New, Secure Telecommunications System
by Jacqueline Herships.

Reprinted from

">IntelAnalysis, a Gerard Group International Newsletter.

The entire worldwide Domain Name System (DNS) was brought to its knees by hackers not too long ago. But his new Internet telecommunications system will not depend on DNS.

In theory at least, the Wild West days of the Internet are over. Based upon the inventions articulated in his five-patent suite, inventor Harry Emerson III, has mapped out a union between our secure and venerable telephone system - AKA POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) - and the hyper-evolving, media-rich Internet which is so famously not one bit secure.

As it evolves, he believes this next generation telecommunications system, dubbed IronPipe™, will have huge implications for national security as well as tremendous new revenue opportunities for the carriers and supply chains which serve them.

Conceived in response to what he views as the seriously flawed paradigm which is currently developing as telecommunications migrate to the Internet, Mr. Emerson says he designed IronPipe™ to offer an alternative with a high degree of security.

The Internet has produced something akin to a gold rush experience for those mining its resources and developing its vast potentialities, he said. But, in the midst of this frenzy, he has observed that fundamental requirements of privacy, secrecy, and security are seldom openly discussed when it comes to Internet-based phone services known as 'Voice over Internet Protocol' (VoIP) systems such as SKYPE, which are proliferating in cyberspace.

These are serious issues, he maintains, and they need to be fully considered by users such as corporations, telecommunications carriers, VoIP carriers, law enforcement agencies, and federal and state governments, as well as by the millions of Internet using individuals who are concerned with their own personal privacy.

According to Mr. Emerson our current state of vulnerability came about because we have turned a blind eye to these issues of privacy, secrecy and security, combined with the scramble for profit, and an unregulated environment for VoIP. "The Internet is a lawless frontier where nothing is safe and secure and reliability is always one step away from calamity," he says.

"As things stand today, VoIP does little to protect the interests of the aforementioned entities, not to mention protecting the security of the United States. We are suffering untold numbers of hacker attacks DAILY, with systems broken into and identities stolen. Not too long ago the entire worldwide DNS system (Domain Name System) was brought to its knees by hackers," he said. In his opinion, if the technology continues to develop in its current direction, no one will be able to guarantee that communications cannot be intercepted and monitored.

In addition, if we examine our circumstances, a lot of the excitement generating the rush to VoIP is based upon an illusion, the appearance that we are being offered new and sophisticated technologies. In fact, existing VoIP offerings are simply discounted POTS service, he says, with no value-added features, only lower cost caused by fierce price pressure from cable TV and other low-overhead vendors.

The result is the continued downward spiral on price that has plagued the telecommunications industry for 30 years. IronPipe™ is a re-thinking of 21st century telecommunications architecture, which will return a sense of safety to our society as a whole, reinvigorating our economy from the inside out.

If his vision is implemented, Mr. Emerson says we won't have to put up with either the fear of intrusion or the huge financial burden of protecting ourselves from the ever-increasing army of those with malicious intent. We will now have a choice. The challenge is that VoIP companies such as Skype, Vonage and the various Cable carriers which have migrated to the Internet did so not only to provide cheaper communications, but to avoid regulatory scrutiny.

"If you don't have to deal with the regulations it tends to make it cheaper," he said."But these profits come at a price," he said. "The integrity of the communications system has been compromised because of this short term thinking geared towards reducing costs."

In its simplest terms, IronPipe enables us to make web 2.0 Internet-style media rich calls utilizing the existing private, protected, secure, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and its unseen private data network - known as SS7, which connects all the main switches around the world. While VoIP uses the Internet exclusively and thus can be, and regularly is, compromised by persons of malicious intent, if we establish Internet calls through these telephone company switches there will be no access from the outside.

We can create rich media visual telephone calls on broadband Internet connections, using wireline or wireless touch-screen phones such as the iPhone, simply by dialing a phone number, and still enjoy the privacy, security and reliability of traditional telephone calls. Mr. Emerson says that his technology seamlessly merges the best of the Internet with the best of the telephone network.

Considering the cost to government, industry and society at large to protect against intrusion and to remediate the damage caused by intrusion, IronPipe could be well worth looking into.

Please address your questions and comments to: [e-mail]

Jaqueline Herships is a specialist in business development and bringing new products to market.
[e-mail]


Editor's Note: Because the purpose of this newsletter is to share with our readers analysis of some of today's most critical issues, we do not generally report about new technology or promote particular products in our commentary. However, every once in a while our attention is drawn to an issue that we believe is worth talking about. The issue today is secure communications, and it is one that is currently demanding attention because of the rapidly increasing losses through the insecure transfer of information.

One of the significant trends in communications security is that hacking has passed from the domain of individual teen-age geeks to organized crime and terrorists. With unlimited funds to draw from and the will to overcome steep obstacles in the quest for financial gains, this is fast becoming the number one non-violent crime against business and individuals alike.

We therefore think that it is important to consider solutions that can add a significant level of security to communications. The technology below is one that addresses this problem and is ready for practical development. We hope it will provide food for thought and discussion.

Ilana Freedman, Editor and CEO of Gerard Group International, Inc.

[Danny Wiersma]

Well, by reading this I may hope those VoIP protocol stack are good enough to keep hackers on the other side of the door