May 6, 2006
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Collaboration will investigate vulnerabilities of rapidly growing internet phone and multimedia systems
EurekAlert (04/04/06)
The NSF has awarded four grants totaling $600,000 to the University of North Texas to lead a consortium of universities in the development of a secure, geographically diffuse test bed for VoIP over three years. The project will focus on preventing voice spam and DoS attacks, improving the quality of service and 911 reliability, and exploring vulnerabilities that arise when using VoIP with traditional phone networks. "Proactively securing the next-generation infrastructure for voice communications is critical for us all," said Ram Dantu, the project's leader. "Our research will identify vulnerabilities in the technology and establish solutions--before damage is done." With Vonage, AT&T, and other companies aggressively rolling out VoIP services, one study has projected that about 24 million U.S. households will use VoIP by 2008, while government agencies have already begun implementing VoIP strategies. In 1880, four years after inventing the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter patented the photophone, which transmitted sound via a beam of light in a similar fashion as today's optical-signal networks. Today, security is a much greater concern, and NSF program director Rita Virginia Rodriguez hopes that the project will make significant strides toward providing both immediate and long-term solutions for securing VoIP calls.
For the full article see http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-04/nsf-cwi040406.php
Posted by rab5 at 01:27 PM
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