Intelligence agencies planning to ban Internet telephony for security reasons
Have you been saving on ISD bills by switching over to Internet telephony? There is bad news. Unable to keep a tab on the calls made through Internet-based phone services, intelligence agencies in the country are planning to ban them till the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) finds a mechanism to track such calls. "No complete and permanent ban has been proposed but some kind of restriction is needed till the time a mechanism can be found to trace the calls and record their contents. Most of the software used to make the calls are manufactured by foreign companies, so it becomes difficult to tweak them in India," said a senior officer from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), wishing anonymity. Internet telephony or Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) revealed its murky side during the Mumbai terror attacks, when terrorists holed up in hotels freely contacted their handlers in Pakistan using this service. Representative photo Cheap and easy While VOIP offers uninterrupted connection across the globe, India still does not have the facility to trace the caller or the destination called. In India, the most preferred VOIP services are Skype, MSN, Skype Fly, VoIP jet and Icall. "Many Indian organizations use VOIP as the technology is very cheap. But the risk is the identity of the caller remains anonymous and terror organisations or cyber criminals can easily route the calls through proxy servers, making it next to impossible for investigators to reach the caller," said cyber crime expert Sunny Vaghela. Though VOIP service providers operate under the licence of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), for security agencies, they mean trouble. "After satellite phones, VOIP is the cheapest mode of communication. It's a favourite with terrorists. Also, VOIP is cheaper and less cumbersome than satellite phones," said another MHA official. Making a VOIP call is very easy. You need an Internet connection, a modem and an analog telephony adopter (ATA)," said Sahil Khan, a Delhi-based cyber security expert. Security nightmare This is not all that's wrong with the service. It takes a turn for the worse with call spoofing. "Caller ID spoofing is more dangerous as the magnitude of its misuse is more. There are many online companies offering the facility to spoof caller identities if a user buys their credit in wholesale. Unfortunately, there is no restriction on this," Vaghela added. "The biggest security hazard is that VOIP calls go untraced. It protects the caller as the calls can be routed through several phony destinations," said MK Dhar, former joint director, Intelligence Bureau. According to sources, even the Department of Telecommunications doesn't have a mechanism to keep a tab over the VOIP services operating in the country. "Most of the routers are located outside India. The calls are made in the geographical vicinity but there is a complex chain between the caller and the receiver," said a telecom expert, wishing anonymity. Source: http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/sep/170909-Skype-Internet-telephony-Int elligence-Agency-ban-Delhi-news.htm Regards, Vishnu Information transmitted by this e-mail is proprietary to MphasiS, its associated companies and/ or its customers and is intended for use only by the individual or entity to which it is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged, confidential or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient or it appears that this mail has been forwarded to you without proper authority, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this information in any manner is strictly prohibited. In such cases, please notify us immediately at [email protected] and delete this mail from your records. To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
