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1. Comment - 'Contractor error' suspected in $12,000 FEMA phone hack

   (Aug 24, 2008 - 9:10 AM)

   FEMA should be greatly relieved that their toll fraud costs were as small as $12,000, since it's common for such incidents to accumulate hundreds of thousands of toll fraud in a few days. Communications fraud is a big issue for enterprises and phone carriers, see the Communications Fraud Control Association data at http://www.cfca.org.
   
   Attacks against phone systems are truly "old school", but still very prevalent and successful. More troubling than toll fraud attacks, are phone system attacks to gain "back door" access to the data network via modems - whether target modems are authorized, but improperly secured, or rogue modems installed to allow employees to have unmonitored dial up Internet access from the office.
   
   Many of leading-edge enterprises and Federal agencies (not yet including FEMA) have realized the need to lock down their voice networks with special purpose voice firewalls to monitor/control phone traffic in real time, in the same manner that they protect all of their internet connections.
   
   One easy-to-launch attack via the unprotected phone network can negate (and circumvent) the substantial investment made in data network security.