While we’re all aware of the need to protect our personal passwords and credit card information, did you know that your phone system at work could also serve as a potential risk for fraud?

A recent article from RCR Wireless News highlights the threat black hat hacker’s pose when it comes to your voicemail and VoIP account service.

Here’s the quick and dirty…most malfeasance in telecom is made to make a profit off international phone calls by targeting small-to-medium sized businesses with plans outside of major carrier networks (think AT&T, etc.). Once they tap in, they can co-currently make hundreds of international calls and take a cut of the charges collected. Yikes!

The good news is, there are ways to protect your business –

1. Enforce minimum 6-digit voicemail passcodes with stringent default requirements
2. Do not allow call forwarding to international numbers
3. Block calling to the countries that are the biggest offenders
4. Lock out voicemail after multiple invalid attempts
5. Disable international calling by default

Another idea is to take a close look at your phone number inventory to identify phone numbers that are rarely in use (as these numbers might pose the greatest threat for undetected fraudulent activity). From there, you can pinpoint numbers to either Park or Forward to another, more active phone line.

Not only will this help, but NumberGarage might be able to reduce your telecom expense, it’ll also give you more control over your phone number inventory and lower the vulnerability for a fraudulent breach as outlined by RCR Wireless News.

As always, happy (and safe) dialing!

– The NumberGarage Team