Category: TollFraud
There a number of security challenges that businesses face in our modern world. Better technology has certainly made communication and online engagement much easier and more profitable. All these brilliant services that we access almost at will today, however, do come with certain risks.
One of these is toll fraud. While you may be more concerned about protecting your office computers and website, ensuring you have the right cybersecurity systems in place, your telephone system may also be at risk.
What is Toll Fraud?
Toll fraud is essentially when a malicious entity hijacks your telephone system and makes expensive calls, either long-distance or to premium-rate numbers, without you knowing.
A hacker will generally look for a phone system they can break into using specialist software. They are searching for vulnerabilities such as compromised PBX systems or routers. If you have a weakness in your business firewall they will be able to leverage this to make calls remotely.
Typically, hackers can sell on the information for the compromised lines they create or set up premium rate services which the calls are then routed to.
According to research, the UK is third in the list of most targeted countries and some 84% of businesses are not properly equipped to cope with this kind of hacking attack. Toll fraud is also on the increase with incidents rising by 15% each year.
This is the sort of cybercrime that often goes unnoticed until the phone bill is received. On average, it costs a business in the UK £10,000.
How to Prevent Toll Fraud
The first thing you need to do is work closely with your telecommunications provider. They should have processes in place for mitigating the risk of toll fraud. Part of this should be through the monitoring of calls, highlighting instances where unusual or suspicious activity is occurring.
The importance of a properly configured firewall cannot be underestimated. Many businesses leave this up to their IT support or supplier and are not completely sure what is being done to reduce the risk of attack.
As with any online security, there are simple things that can be done to significantly reduce the risk. These include:
- Minimising the number of people who have access.
- Having a comprehensive and effective password policy for employees.
- Blocking any international prefixes that may be suspect.
What is Futuretel Fraud Monitor
We provide a facility to help monitor your phone system and quickly spot any suspicious calls and activity that may signify you have been the victim of toll fraud. This service operates 24/7 and 365 days of the year. If we do spot irregular activity, the lines that have been potentially compromised can be frozen while an investigation is carried out.
We work closely with businesses to ensure they have all the safety nets and a telecoms firewall in place to protect their system. If the telephones are compromised while your business has our monitor service in place, they are not liable for any call charges that are deemed fraudulent.
If you would like to find out more about the Futuretel Fraud Monitor, contact our support team today.