BETTER BUSINESSEFFICIENCY

STOP THE VILLAINS:5 VITAL TIPS TO HELP

PREVENT PHONESYSTEM HACKING

A 5G Communications Power Guide to Better BusinessCopyright © 2014 5G Communications Ltd

2 5G Communications - Leaders in communications technology

“The global cost of this fraud is estimated to be a staggering £25 billion

every single year.”

Read on to find out more...

This ebook, its images and its contents are copyright © 2014 of 5G Communications Ltd.No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means,

including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the priorwritten permission of the publisher, except in certain noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

3 5 VITAL TIPS TO PREVENT PHONE SYSTEM HACKING

WHAT IS PHONE SYSTEM HACKING?

Phone system hacking, also know as PBX hacking and dial-through fraud, is a method of fraud used by criminals who intelligently hack a business’s phone system to illegally reroute calls to premium-rate phone numbers.

Hackers are more likely to strike at the weekend when many businesses are closed. This offers them more time to commit the fraud successfully, and with devastating results for the victim.

Fraud occurs remotely when fraudsters dial into your phone and crack the system’s password. Once inside your system, fraudsters route phone calls through your system and out to a series of premium-rate phone numbers.

It only takes a minute of ‘Googling’ to find at least a dozen examples of phone hacking. The most prevalent case in recent years involved Scotland Yard and an unnamed London company who were subject to a £17,000 bill for illegal calls on their phone system. Go to http://goo.gl/1ABpwU for more info.

BUT WHY? HOW DOES IT WORK?

PHONE HACKING IN THE PRESS

It might sound like a bad episode of

CSI Boston but phone system hacking

is real, and it’s costing the UK business

economy up to £1.2 billion each year.

Criminal gangs are using business

phone systems because they can be

easy to access, and the end result

is often very lucrative for them. The

global cost of this fraud is estimated

to be a staggering £25 billion every

single year.

“ Phone hacking

costs UK businesses

up to £1.2 billion

every year. “

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#1: ’FORT KNOX’ YOUR VOICEMAIL

By default your phone system will have passwords for each extension’s voicemail. Typically the default setting for the voicemail passwords is ‘1234’. Changing this is the first vital step to better security.

Our most popular phone system, the LG-Erisccon IPECS, allows you to

change the voicemail password simply by dialing a default voicemail

number from your handset. From here all you need to do is access

the admin section of the audio menu and choose the option ‘change

password’.

Call our technical team on 020 8090 5555. Our experienced engineers have worked with almost every major make of phone system; we’ll have you secured and ready to go in no time.

WHY DO THIS? HOW-TO GUIDE

UNSURE HOW TO CHANGE PASSWORDS?

Voicemail is often the first route to

hacking your phone system, and

it doesn’t take a genius to crack

the password ‘1234’. We’d suggest

changing every extension’s voicemail

password to something unique and

personal - and never tell anyone else

what it is!

“ Voicemail is

often the first route

to hacking your

phone system. “

5 5 VITAL TIPS TO PREVENT PHONE SYSTEM HACKING

#2: RESTRICT OR DISABLE D.I.S.A

D.I.S.A (direct inward system access) provides password-protected access to your system for anyone outside your organisation. With D.I.S.A switched off you will unfortunately forego a certain number of features but this is a small price to pay for better security.

Depending on your make and model of system, you can control D.I.S.A from the admin panel of your phone system management software.

You may want to disable D.I.S.A completely, or you could simply change the access code and ensure that basic security features are switched on; certain systems include a D.I.S.A alarm that prevents system access after several unsuccessful password attempts.

Speak to our technical team today on 020 8090 5555. Our experienced engineers will be able to guide you through the process of changing your D.I.S.A settings in no time!

WHY DO THIS? HOW-TO GUIDE

NEED HELP WITH D.I.S.A SETTINGS?

With D.I.S.A turned off you will almost

completely deny any outside access

to your system, thus reducing hacking

attempts. If D.I.S.A is needed by your

business - because users need to dial

in and access voicemail, for example -

then it should be restricted to reduce

the chances of a hacking attempt.

“ D.I.S.A allows

people outside your

organisation to access

the phone system by

dialling in. “

6 5G Communications - Leaders in communications technology

#3: USE A CALL LOGGING PACKAGE

We have a range of Call Logging solutions that can cater for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Speak to our telecoms specialists today on 020 8090 5555.

HOW CAN I GET CALL LOGGING?

“ Call Logging could

provide you with

essential critical alerts. “

Call Logging gives you full visibility of your calling activity and can even alert you of suspicious activity and out-of-the-ordinary calling habits. Call logging lets you monitor call spend by extension, by destination or by time of day.

Already have a Call Logging package? Speak to your current provider to

learn how to create alerts and rules. Otherwise, contact us and we can

provide a free no-obligation demo of our Call Logging software (which

costs from around £9.99 per month per extension).

WHY DO THIS? HOW-TO GUIDECall Logging could provide you with

essential critical alerts in the event

of a hacking attempt. With our call

logging package you can create rules

that, when triggered, will send you an

email alert instantly.

7 5 VITAL TIPS TO PREVENT PHONE SYSTEM HACKING

#4: RESTRICT PREMIUM CALLS

Speak to our technical team today on 020 8090 5555. Depending on which system you have, our experienced engineers may be able to add calling restrictions on your behalf. If we can’t then we’ll certainly be able to point you in the right direction.

HOW CAN GET HELP WITH THIS?

“ Another added level of

protection against pesky

phone hackers. “

Almost every phone hacking story ends with the victim being subject to thousands of pounds worth of calls to premium-rate phone numbers, usually found outside the UK. By adding a restriction on the type of numbers that can be called, you’ll benefit from added protection against hackers.

Inside the admin panel of your phone system you will find something called a Toll Exception/Toll Barring Table. It’s here that you should specify which phone numbers cannot be dialled. We would suggest adding ‘090’ and ‘070’ (premium rate), ‘00’ (international) and ‘141’ (sometimes used at the start of an international dialling attempt).

WHY DO THIS? HOW-TO GUIDEWithout access to international

and premium-rate phone numbers,

fraudsters will have an exceptionally

tough time trying to scam you.

And even if they do get inside your

phone system they’ll need to work

that little bit harder to reroute calls

internationally.

8 5G Communications - Leaders in communications technology

#5: EDUCATION & KNOWLEDGE

Stay vigilant and you’ll be much less likely to become a victim of phone hacking. Keep your staff informed, and educate them into the techniques that help to prevent phone system hacking.

1. Ask you staff to change their voicemail passwords regularly, and to never share their passwords with anyone else, ever.

2. Assign a ‘security champion’ in your business. Ask them to review call activity on a weekly or daily basis. It should only take two minutes, but it could save you thousands of pounds in the event that you do get hacked.

3. Educate your staff on the regularity of phone hacking. Industry magazine Comms Dealer estimates that 62% of dealers have one or more customers who have become a victim of phone hacking.

4. Make staff aware of bogus callers claiming to be from your telephone supplier. If anyone asks for access to your phone system, verify who they are first.

5. Use complex passwords wherever possible. Include symbols, capitalisation and numbers.6. Stay vigilant and follow the steps in this guide!

5G Communications Ltd accepts no liability in the event of any loss your business may suffer as a result of phone hacking/PBX hacking/dial-through fraud. The steps in this guide are provided to you as guidance on preventative measures against hacking, and are not an acceptance of liability. Remember, in the event of a phone hacking attempt you would be responsible for all call costs incurred as a result.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

“ Stay vigilant. Keep your

staff informed. Follow

the steps in this guide! “

9 5 VITAL TIPS TO PREVENT PHONE SYSTEM HACKING

SECURITY CHECKLISTWhy not speak to one of our telecoms engineers to book a support call. We’ll guide you through the process of securing your system to help prevent phone hacking. Call us today on 020 8090 5555.

CHECKLIST - SECURING YOUR PHONE SYSTEM

Changing Voicemail Passwords - notes:

D.I.S.A Security Updates - notes:

Call Logging Implementation - notes:

Restricting Premium Calls - notes:

Educating Staff/Appointing ‘Security Champion’ - notes:

10 5G Communications - Leaders in communications technology

ABOUT US

Trading since 1998, we are one of the leading independent business telecoms providers in the UK. Every year we help thousands of business people to communicate more efficiently.

“ ...exemplary, professional, courteous.

Extremely happy with the install, the

equipment & the training provided. “ALASDAIR CORBETT, DIRECTOR, SPECSAVERS

“ 5G is a fantastic system for anyone who’s

serious about growing their business. Very

pleased. “DANNY PALMER, DIRECTOR, PALMER’S MOTOR COMPANY

OUR OFFICESSituated on the outskirts of High

Wycombe, our UK-based office

houses over 100 of the finest

telecommunications experts in the

industry. We also have a team of field-

based engineers and satellite offices

in France and South Africa.

WHAT WE DO• Phone systems for business

• Business broadband

• Calls & lines

• VoIP solutions

• Call monitoring software

• Business call recording

• Business mobile packages

• Non-geographic numbers

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