Back to December 2005 Issue

December 2005 Issue As we were pulling together the three security-related articles for this month’s issue, a press release from a sister publication, Broadband Business Forecast, caught our attention. In an investigative story released in early November, BBF Editor Stuart Zipper uncovered a major security attack on a VoIP enterprise telephony system. Hackers had evidently figured out a way to “zero out” cost codes and thus steal long-distance service. The declining cost structures of telephone service may well have diminished the motivation for such theft and thereby reduced security threats. At least that’s something that Jim Barthold heard during the course of researching his story for this issue. But Zipper’s investigation proves that threats exist and suggest that Barthold is correct in arguing why they will persist. “It’s not to save money,” he wrote in an e-mail. “It’s just for the hell of stealing service and proving that you can do it!” For more technical discussions of how to lock down cable’s voice and data networks, see the articles from Cisco Systems’ Mark Millet and tComLabs’ Wim De Ketelaere and Luc Martens. Bottom line: Threat reduction begins by using existing techniques, such as disabling dynamic service flows; but it doesn’t end there. On another note, for answers to all the questions on policy-based networking you didn’t realize you needed to ask, read Jason Schnitzer’s primer on the topic. Let us or him know if you have more. Jonathan Tombes
Editor
[email protected]

The Daily

Subscribe

VP Harris Introduces Federal Policy Around AI Tools

In a continuation of what is a major week of conversation on Capitol Hill around artificial intelligence, VP Kamala Harris unveiled the first government-wide policy regarding the use of AI tools by federal

Read the Full Issue
The Skinny is delivered on Tuesday and focuses on the cable profession. You'll stay in the know on the headlines, topics and special issues you value most. Sign Up

Calendar

Apr 25
2024 Cablefax 100 Awards Magazine Release: April 25, 2024
Jun 13
2024 American Broadband Congress Conference Registration is Open!
Jun 26
2024 FAXIES Awards Nominations Are Open!
Full Calendar

Jobs

Seeking an INDUSTRY JOB?
VIEW JOBS

Hiring? In conjunction with our sister brand, Cynopsis, we are offering hiring managers a deep pool of media-savvy, skilled candidates at a range of experience levels and sectors, The result will be an even more robust industry job board, to help both employers and job seekers.

Contact Rob Hudgins, [email protected], for more information.