Phil Zimmermann has developed a prototype program for encrypting voice over internet protocol, or VOIP, which he will announce at the BlackHat security conference in Las Vegas this week.
“Like PGP and PGPfone, which he created as human rights tools for people around the world to communicate without fear of government eavesdropping, Zimmermann hopes his new program will restore some of the civil liberties that have been lost in recent years and help businesses shield themselves against corporate espionage.” ‘PGP’ stands for ‘Pretty Good Privacy’.
“The PSTN is like a well-manicured neighborhood, (while) the internet is like a crime-ridden slum,” Zimmermann said. “To move all of our phone calls from the PSTN to the internet seems foolish without protecting it.”
“It’s not as easy to eavesdrop on VOIP as it is to intercept and read e-mail. Phone conversations aren’t stored or backed up where an attacker can access them, so the conversations have to be captured as they occur.
But a program available for free on the internet already allows intruders to do just that. Using the tool, someone with access to a local VOIP network could capture traffic, convert it to an audio file and replay the voice conversation. The program is called Voice Over Misconfigured Internet Telephones, a name clearly chosen for its catchy acronym — VOMIT.”
Read a really good story on [WiredNews] about this.