Vertical TeleVantage 7.5 Technical Information download pdf (Page 270)

I-2 INSTALLING TELEVANTAGE

About toll fraud __________________________________________

Businesses using any phone system, not just TeleVantage, are vulnerable to loss of money from

unauthorized people “hacking” into their phone system. Hackers make hundreds of outbound

long distance or international calls that cost businesses around the world millions of dollars

every year. TeleVantage contains several features and options that can protect your system

against toll fraud.

Typical toll fraud strategies

While hackers committing toll fraud try a variety of techniques to gain access to a system, it is

important to note that 99% of the time access is gained through insecure (easy-to-guess)

passwords. The Administrator’s System Settings provide several options for enforcing

harder-to-guess passwords. See “Enforcing strong password security” in Chapter 3 in

Administering TeleVantage.

The following are the most common methods of attempted toll fraud:

Q Calling the main auto attendant, pressing #, logging in as the Administrator, pressing #

for dial tone and placing outbound calls.

Q Attempting to log on at every extension (101, 102, etc.) until an extension with an easy

password is found. Once found, the hacker will change call forwarding to the external

number they want to dial (for example, an international number or the number of another

hacked PBX), and then make calls to the external number as needed. By calling through

multiple hacked PBXs, Caller ID and traces will be unable to track down the hacker's

identity.

Q Calling random users and telling them they are a representative from the phone company

and need their voice mailbox password to track down a problem with the phone system.

Users should be told to never give out their passwords, and if they have reason to believe

someone else has it, to change it immediately to something secure.

Identifying toll fraud_______________________________________

The following methods will help you tell whether your system has been targeted by toll fraud

hackers:

Q Check your Administrator's call log daily for multiple logon attempts. A failed logon

attempt will show as "logon - Abandoned". A successful fraudulent logon will typically

show many long distance or international calls placed afterwards from that extension.

Note:

You can have TeleVantage automatically hang up on callers and lock out

accounts after multiple failed logon attempts. See “Enforcing strong password security” in

Chapter 3 in Administering TeleVantage.

Q Check your phone bills carefully for international numbers or long distance numbers you

do not recognize.

Q Watch your Device Monitor for sudden bursts where every line is busy with people

trying to log on.

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Vertical TeleVantage 7.5 Technical Information Page 270