Digital Common Sense

January 25, CNET News — Skype could provide botnet controls. Internet phone services such as Skype and Vonage could provide a means for cybercriminals to send spam and launch attacks that cripple Websites, experts have warned. Moreover, because many voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) applications use proprietary technology and encrypted data traffic that can’t easily be monitored, the attackers will be able to go undetected. “VoIP applications could provide excellent cover for launching denial of service (DoS) attacks,” the Communications Research Network said Wednesday, January 25. The Communications Research Network is a joint venture between Cambridge University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The group urges VoIP providers to publish their routing specifications or switch to open standards. “These measures would…allow legitimate agencies to track criminal misuse of VoIP,” Jon Crowcroft, a professor at Cambridge University in the UK, said in a statement. VoIP applications such as eBay’s Skype and Vonage could give cybercriminals a better way of controlling their zombies and covering their tracks, the Communications Research Network said. “If the control traffic were to be obfuscated, then catching those responsible for DoS
attacks would become much more difficult, perhaps even impossible,” the group said in a statement.
Source: http://news.com.com/Skype

Skype, botnets, Infosec

Filed by Ken at 6:53 pm under InfoSec, Unified Communications