This provides a more flexible alternative to calling from a single phone number. The modem is self contained and does not require any special software. It is unlikely that a random hacker using a standard modem will be able to breach this initial barrier.

Hardware Acting As An Intermediary
If you use a hardware appliance, it can act as a gateway between the PBX and the user. It could log all login attempts. It could be configured to send out an alert (as an email for example) when it detects multiple login failures. This type of behaviour would occur if a hacker was using a brute force attack to try and discover the password.

Different combinations of usernames and passwords could be given different levels of access to the PBX. Users can therefore be restricted to performing only certain actions from a limited menu choice. This prevents the hacker from gaining full unr

How Does It Work?
Dial through fraud is not a new problem, it just has limited publicity. It exploits a PBX feature that allows employees to ring in to the switchboard and by keying certain dialling codes, make national and international calls for which the company will pay the bill.

Many businesses will take an "It will never happen to me" approach to dial through fraud, even though most business PBXs are setup to be maintained remotely. This is to allow engineers from a maintenance company to make changes to the configuration without needing to make a site visit but it exposes the PBX. The administration port on the PBX will be connected to a modem that in turn is connected to an extension on the PBX.

Using trial and error, hackers will identify the number that this modem is on. The default passwords like "admin", "0000" or "1234" will be tried first. Even if the password has been changed, there are plenty of free utilities on the Internet that will use brute force to try every number and letter combination until the right password is found. It has been known for 16 character passcodes to be cracked in this way.

Once the hacker has gained administrative access to your PBX, they will identify unused extension numbers and set them up to allow dial through using the company PSTN lines. For the cost of a local phone call, the hacker can be making calls to the Middle East, Far East, Africa, Australasia, etc. Some of these calls could be costing the business up to ?3 a minute.

To compound the problem, the hacker will usually set up a disguised PBX that routes its calls through the company PBX. The hacker will then operate a "Call Sell"; selling international calls to customers at cheap rates. Alternatively they could make calls to their own premium rate revenue share services. It is possible that during the 15 hours when your office is closed, up to 10 simultaneous calls could be occurring. And that is just for one day! The problem is likely to go unnoticed and unresolved until the phone bill arrives at the end of the month.

It Will Never Happen To Me
A recent report in the Guardian highlighted the plight of one UK Company that suffered from a fraud attack. The company had secured its PBX with a 16 character password but it was still compromised. The discovery of the fraud was by pure chance when the MD of the company came into the office early one day to find the lights on the telephone switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree, even though he was the only one in the office.

The report showed that recovering the losses was not easy. Although the company's Telco admitted that the calls were fraudulent, it was not their responsibility to secure the customer's equipment from attack. Therefore the customer was liable for any calls made through the PBX. It was also discovered that the company's insurance policy had a standard clause exempting it from any "electronic losses".

A Matter For The Police
Surely if a fraud has been perpetrated, then the police should investigate the matter? This is true. The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (Ripa) gives police the power to request "intercept data" from the Telco that would identify the origin of the inbound calls into the PBX. Under the act, a Telco is allowed to charge up to ?1,500 to cover their costs of retrieving the data asked for by the police. This means that in every case, the police must decide whether the financial losses involved in the fraud justifies the cost of the "intercept data". For big losses, the answer is likely to be yes every time. However, in small cases involving just a few hundred or few thousand pounds, the answer may not be so clear cut.

How Can It Be Prevented
The most obvious way is not to allow remote access to the administration facilities of the PBX. However this may not be practical and could lead to increased charges from the maintenance company. The second method is to use a very random password on the PBX, up to the maximum number of characters and to lock the modem so that it will only answer calls from a single phone number. This solution is very inflexible and after a while could be turned off if it becomes impractical.

Ideally, you would want a solution that could offer the following benefits:

1. Use a modem that employs authenticated encryption to prevent hackers with standard modems from being able to connect.
2. Some hardware to act as an intermediary between the connection and the PBX. The hardware could then determine through a username/password what level of access to give to the PBX.
3. The hardware should proactively monitor the PBX looking for the first signs of fraudulent activity.

Secure Access Modems
Secure access modems tend to be hardware based. One modem is connected to the PBX, while one or more modems are deployed in the field. The modems use an encrypted secret key and a unique ID to provide a challenge/response to incoming calls. Consequently only a modem with a matching encrypted secret key, using an ID that is allowed by the PBX modem will be able to connect.

This provides a more flexible alternative to calling from a single phone number. The modem is self contained and does not require any special software. It is unlikely that a random hacker using a standard modem will be able to breach this initial barrier.

Hardware Acting As An Intermediary
If you use a hardware appliance, it can act as a gateway between the PBX and the user. It could log all login attempts. It could be configured to send out an alert (as an email for example) when it detects multiple login failures. This type of behaviour would occur if a hacker was using a brute force attack to try and discover the password.

Different combinations of usernames and passwords could be given different levels of access to the PBX. Users can therefore be restricted to performing only certain actions from a limited menu choice. This prevents the hacker from gaining full unr

Making The Business Case For Corporate Performance Management
Anyone involved in high value capital sales, such as enterprise software, will know life can be a roller coaster. One day everyone is on a high as a major deal is secured. Another day everyone is distraught when after many months of work, it comes to nothing. Losing out to another vendor is an accepted part of the game. More annoying is the situation where you have been told you are the preferred supplier - and after all the euphoria, nothing happens. Typically any enquiry reveals that the proposal is "still with the board", or "has been put back until next quarter". The reality is that it’s a dodo; kicked out because the project team failed to build a compelling business case for the investment and the resources have been allocated elsewhere. The vendor team only have themselves to blame. They should have identified that funding for the project had not been authorized and helped the project team develop the business case. In the 90’s organizations invested heavily in e

. The default passwords like "admin", "0000" or "1234" will be tried first. Even if the password has been changed, there are plenty of free utilities on the Internet that will use brute force to try every number and letter combination until the right password is found. It has been known for 16 character passcodes to be cracked in this way.

Once the hacker has gained administrative access to your PBX, they will identify unused extension numbers and set them up to allow dial through using the company PSTN lines. For the cost of a local phone call, the hacker can be making calls to the Middle East, Far East, Africa, Australasia, etc. Some of these calls could be costing the business up to ?3 a minute.

To compound the problem, the hacker will usually set up a disguised PBX that routes its calls through the company PBX. The hacker will then operate a "Call Sell"; selling international calls to customers at cheap rates. Alternatively they could make calls to their own premium rate revenue share services. It is possible that during the 15 hours when your office is closed, up to 10 simultaneous calls could be occurring. And that is just for one day! The problem is likely to go unnoticed and unresolved until the phone bill arrives at the end of the month.

It Will Never Happen To Me
A recent report in the Guardian highlighted the plight of one UK Company that suffered from a fraud attack. The company had secured its PBX with a 16 character password but it was still compromised. The discovery of the fraud was by pure chance when the MD of the company came into the office early one day to find the lights on the telephone switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree, even though he was the only one in the office.

The report showed that recovering the losses was not easy. Although the company's Telco admitted that the calls were fraudulent, it was not their responsibility to secure the customer's equipment from attack. Therefore the customer was liable for any calls made through the PBX. It was also discovered that the company's insurance policy had a standard clause exempting it from any "electronic losses".

A Matter For The Police
Surely if a fraud has been perpetrated, then the police should investigate the matter? This is true. The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (Ripa) gives police the power to request "intercept data" from the Telco that would identify the origin of the inbound calls into the PBX. Under the act, a Telco is allowed to charge up to ?1,500 to cover their costs of retrieving the data asked for by the police. This means that in every case, the police must decide whether the financial losses involved in the fraud justifies the cost of the "intercept data". For big losses, the answer is likely to be yes every time. However, in small cases involving just a few hundred or few thousand pounds, the answer may not be so clear cut.

How Can It Be Prevented
The most obvious way is not to allow remote access to the administration facilities of the PBX. However this may not be practical and could lead to increased charges from the maintenance company. The second method is to use a very random password on the PBX, up to the maximum number of characters and to lock the modem so that it will only answer calls from a single phone number. This solution is very inflexible and after a while could be turned off if it becomes impractical.

Ideally, you would want a solution that could offer the following benefits:

1. Use a modem that employs authenticated encryption to prevent hackers with standard modems from being able to connect.
2. Some hardware to act as an intermediary between the connection and the PBX. The hardware could then determine through a username/password what level of access to give to the PBX.
3. The hardware should proactively monitor the PBX looking for the first signs of fraudulent activity.

Secure Access Modems
Secure access modems tend to be hardware based. One modem is connected to the PBX, while one or more modems are deployed in the field. The modems use an encrypted secret key and a unique ID to provide a challenge/response to incoming calls. Consequently only a modem with a matching encrypted secret key, using an ID that is allowed by the PBX modem will be able to connect.

This provides a more flexible alternative to calling from a single phone number. The modem is self contained and does not require any special software. It is unlikely that a random hacker using a standard modem will be able to breach this initial barrier.

Hardware Acting As An Intermediary
If you use a hardware appliance, it can act as a gateway between the PBX and the user. It could log all login attempts. It could be configured to send out an alert (as an email for example) when it detects multiple login failures. This type of behaviour would occur if a hacker was using a brute force attack to try and discover the password.

Different combinations of usernames and passwords could be given different levels of access to the PBX. Users can therefore be restricted to performing only certain actions from a limited menu choice. This prevents the hacker from gaining full unr

About Ashton Sanders
Who is Ashton Sanders? I realize that many of you have no idea who Ashton Sanders is, so I thought I would do a quick post about his past.Ashton Sanders was born in Los Angeles, and joined the cub scouts when his younger brother got into tiger cubs. They were both the goody-two-shoes of their public school in Los Angeles. When he finished 6th Grade, he transfered to Delphi Academy of Los Angeles.Ashton Sanders always loved sports. He was on the soccer team my four high school years, the volleyball team, and the football team. He was also the captain of the Soccer Team the year they became undefeated League Champions; a school record to say the least. Ashton was awarded the League's Most Valuable Player Award and the Team Spirit Award. If there was anyone on the field keeping the team motivated and feeling good about what they've accomplished so far it was Ashton Sanders.Ashton also became very interested in computers (a computer nerd). Him and his friends had a LAN Party ev

hnology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1776705,00.html">report in the Guardian highlighted the plight of one UK Company that suffered from a fraud attack. The company had secured its PBX with a 16 character password but it was still compromised. The discovery of the fraud was by pure chance when the MD of the company came into the office early one day to find the lights on the telephone switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree, even though he was the only one in the office.

The report showed that recovering the losses was not easy. Although the company's Telco admitted that the calls were fraudulent, it was not their responsibility to secure the customer's equipment from attack. Therefore the customer was liable for any calls made through the PBX. It was also discovered that the company's insurance policy had a standard clause exempting it from any "electronic losses".

A Matter For The Police
Surely if a fraud has been perpetrated, then the police should investigate the matter? This is true. The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (Ripa) gives police the power to request "intercept data" from the Telco that would identify the origin of the inbound calls into the PBX. Under the act, a Telco is allowed to charge up to ?1,500 to cover their costs of retrieving the data asked for by the police. This means that in every case, the police must decide whether the financial losses involved in the fraud justifies the cost of the "intercept data". For big losses, the answer is likely to be yes every time. However, in small cases involving just a few hundred or few thousand pounds, the answer may not be so clear cut.

How Can It Be Prevented
The most obvious way is not to allow remote access to the administration facilities of the PBX. However this may not be practical and could lead to increased charges from the maintenance company. The second method is to use a very random password on the PBX, up to the maximum number of characters and to lock the modem so that it will only answer calls from a single phone number. This solution is very inflexible and after a while could be turned off if it becomes impractical.

Ideally, you would want a solution that could offer the following benefits:

1. Use a modem that employs authenticated encryption to prevent hackers with standard modems from being able to connect.
2. Some hardware to act as an intermediary between the connection and the PBX. The hardware could then determine through a username/password what level of access to give to the PBX.
3. The hardware should proactively monitor the PBX looking for the first signs of fraudulent activity.

Secure Access Modems
Secure access modems tend to be hardware based. One modem is connected to the PBX, while one or more modems are deployed in the field. The modems use an encrypted secret key and a unique ID to provide a challenge/response to incoming calls. Consequently only a modem with a matching encrypted secret key, using an ID that is allowed by the PBX modem will be able to connect.

This provides a more flexible alternative to calling from a single phone number. The modem is self contained and does not require any special software. It is unlikely that a random hacker using a standard modem will be able to breach this initial barrier.

Hardware Acting As An Intermediary
If you use a hardware appliance, it can act as a gateway between the PBX and the user. It could log all login attempts. It could be configured to send out an alert (as an email for example) when it detects multiple login failures. This type of behaviour would occur if a hacker was using a brute force attack to try and discover the password.

Different combinations of usernames and passwords could be given different levels of access to the PBX. Users can therefore be restricted to performing only certain actions from a limited menu choice. This prevents the hacker from gaining full unr

Top 10 CV Tips in the Construction Job Search
SimplicityDo not over complicate the CV. It is your one and only chance to impress the reader, so keep it simple and pull out your strongest points to sell yourself. Keep it short, to the point and punchy.AchievementsAchievements are important to highlight and shows the reader the level of your ability. Use active verbs, such as, managed, led, responsible for, achieved as this just highlights all of your skills in an effective way.Work chronologicallyThe CV should start with your current or last employment and work backwards. If this is your first job, then list any work experience you have got in the construction industry. If you have many years experience, include about 5 previous employers. Include the employer’s name, job title, start and end dates and include a short description of your job along with your major achievements.HonestyAvoid lies and exaggerating. If you are lucky enough to be invited to an interview, you will be asked to elabor

every case, the police must decide whether the financial losses involved in the fraud justifies the cost of the "intercept data". For big losses, the answer is likely to be yes every time. However, in small cases involving just a few hundred or few thousand pounds, the answer may not be so clear cut.

How Can It Be Prevented
The most obvious way is not to allow remote access to the administration facilities of the PBX. However this may not be practical and could lead to increased charges from the maintenance company. The second method is to use a very random password on the PBX, up to the maximum number of characters and to lock the modem so that it will only answer calls from a single phone number. This solution is very inflexible and after a while could be turned off if it becomes impractical.

Ideally, you would want a solution that could offer the following benefits:

1. Use a modem that employs authenticated encryption to prevent hackers with standard modems from being able to connect.
2. Some hardware to act as an intermediary between the connection and the PBX. The hardware could then determine through a username/password what level of access to give to the PBX.
3. The hardware should proactively monitor the PBX looking for the first signs of fraudulent activity.

Secure Access Modems
Secure access modems tend to be hardware based. One modem is connected to the PBX, while one or more modems are deployed in the field. The modems use an encrypted secret key and a unique ID to provide a challenge/response to incoming calls. Consequently only a modem with a matching encrypted secret key, using an ID that is allowed by the PBX modem will be able to connect.

This provides a more flexible alternative to calling from a single phone number. The modem is self contained and does not require any special software. It is unlikely that a random hacker using a standard modem will be able to breach this initial barrier.

Hardware Acting As An Intermediary
If you use a hardware appliance, it can act as a gateway between the PBX and the user. It could log all login attempts. It could be configured to send out an alert (as an email for example) when it detects multiple login failures. This type of behaviour would occur if a hacker was using a brute force attack to try and discover the password.

Different combinations of usernames and passwords could be given different levels of access to the PBX. Users can therefore be restricted to performing only certain actions from a limited menu choice. This prevents the hacker from gaining full unr

Boat Manufacturers
If you are one of those people, who cannot imagine life without adventure and adventure without the water then possessing a boat becomes almost imperative for you. Going for long boat rides alone or with your loved ones into unknown territories can only get your adrenaline racing.To make the entire tryst a memorable experience, you must have a boat that is not only extremely sturdy but one, which looks into all your needs. If it is speed you are looking for then you might not mind compromising on the comfort factor; if it is comfort that is primary on your list of priorities then you might not give a hoot to speed. You might be one of those who believe in only those experiences, which are wholesome and satisfying; in that case, you might not want to sacrifice on either of the two, speed or comfort.When it comes to choosing the right kind of boat, you might find the entire a wee bit confusing, that is, if you are not already a connoisseur of boats. There is a huge variety of boats

ote style="margin-right: 0px;" dir="ltr"> Secure Access Modems
Secure access modems tend to be hardware based. One modem is connected to the PBX, while one or more modems are deployed in the field. The modems use an encrypted secret key and a unique ID to provide a challenge/response to incoming calls. Consequently only a modem with a matching encrypted secret key, using an ID that is allowed by the PBX modem will be able to connect.

This provides a more flexible alternative to calling from a single phone number. The modem is self contained and does not require any special software. It is unlikely that a random hacker using a standard modem will be able to breach this initial barrier.

Hardware Acting As An Intermediary
If you use a hardware appliance, it can act as a gateway between the PBX and the user. It could log all login attempts. It could be configured to send out an alert (as an email for example) when it detects multiple login failures. This type of behaviour would occur if a hacker was using a brute force attack to try and discover the password.

Different combinations of usernames and passwords could be given different levels of access to the PBX. Users can therefore be restricted to performing only certain actions from a limited menu choice. This prevents the hacker from gaining full unrestricted access to all of the administration functionality.

Proactively Monitoring For Dial Through Fraud
A dial through fraud solution can proactively monitor the call output from the PBX. It can be set to look for suspicious call activity. In the case of the company featured in the Guardian article, this would use a "ruleset" to look for any call that occurred outside of office hours. When suspicious activity is detected, an alert would be sent out containing the details. This allows an appropriate response to be taken, reducing the potential losses caused by the fraud.

Dial through fraud can very quickly and silently cause thousands of pounds worth of losses to a business. The standard security precautions in place to prevent it are weak, especially compared to those used on IT networks. Trying to recover any loss is as difficult as detecting the fraud in the first instance. Data Track can offer a range of Tracker Solutions that will not only add extra security to your PBX but also provide a means of detecting losses before they progress too far.