Our previous blog looked at the two issues people are referring to when they talk about phone hacking; voicemail hacking and dial through fraud.
The blog identified that whilst both predominantly occur by accessing an individual’s voicemail using a PIN, voicemail hacking tends to be to gain information whereas dial through fraud is usually conducted to make the hacker money.
So, what can be done to guard against these two forms of hacking?
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Change your PIN
Depending on which type of desk or mobile phone you use you may be using a default PIN. These default entries are widely known so you should change the number to something unique. While we’re on the subject of changing your PIN…
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Don’t use obvious entries
Your birthday and year aren’t exactly secretive numbers so if possible use a number that means something to you, but isn’t widely known.
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Block outside entry to voicemail on office phones
Remote working is one of the most rapidly rising features of working life, but it does potentially pose a security risk. When setting up your remote working procedures, ask yourself if staff really need access to their work voicemail from home. An alternative is to remove voicemail for remote workers and instead use call forwarding to transfer the call to their mobile, having them leave a voicemail there instead.
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Use Call Reporting
One of the biggest issues with dial through fraud is that you don’t know it’s happened until you are presented with a huge bill at the end of the month. If you use Call Reporting however, you can spot any unusual destinations being called, any unusually high call durations and any calls being made outside of office hours; these are all good indications that you are being targeted for dial through fraud.
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Invest in anti-hack insurance
The surest way to protect your company from losing vast sums of money on dial through fraud is to invest in anti-hack insurance, which can either be purchased from your telecoms provider or your insurance company. This insurance will then cover you in the event a hacker manages to run up a large bill on your behalf.
Summary
The common element that links all of these things is vigilance- being aware that hacking can happen to anyone at any time is the first and best step to ensuring it doesn’t happen to you or your company. Implementing the above will help ensure your security is improved without resorting to potentially costly firewalls and software.
For more information on our business phone systems and how you can use them to protect your business from hacking, please contact us.