Toll Fraud & Hacking 3

[DaveThePhoneDoctorLV]

I just had a customer that had their Nortel hacked and was able to route over 600 calls to an international number via reprogramming the Centrex feature to transfer calls out and then they used a 1010 casual dialing code.

AT&T noticed a large call volume and contacted the customer. However before they called I started to get a lot of calls that VMB's needed their PW reset. I suspected there was something rotten in Denmark.

I always train customers to use a PW that is not easy. Of all the extension users that could have made it easy for the hackers to do this was the CFO.

When that VMB was set up I asked that the PW be a hard one but I noticed that the PW that was entered was 2222 despite my warning. That was the MB that was used for the calls to the international number!

I have now advised my customers to use a 7 digit number like their cell or home number.

What experiences have you been thru and what are you doing to prevent hacking and LD abuse?

 

[Westi]

Internet speed only makes a difference if you actually make calls over it for SIP calls for instance, if you just have VoIP internally then your internal network makes all the difference and I have to say there are lots of IT people out there that don't know the first thing about setting it up right and will need your help.
It is always good to start with the basics so basic networking is a requirement to understand VoIP behaviour.

Joe W.

FHandw., ACSS

insanity is just a state of mind

 

[DaveThePhoneDoctorLV]

so my concerns that the IT geeks will replace telcom pros is an unfounded fear?

 

[SYQUEST]

That is true, and CISCO did NOT invent telephony!

A lot of them (IT geeks) don't even want to go there...

....JIM....

 

[Sympology]

To a lot of IT guys, telephony is a black art. I'm lucky my career path was

Desktops > Networks & Servers > Meridians > Voip.

So I "understand" all aspects of the food chain.

Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

 

[DaveThePhoneDoctorLV]

It seems that a telcom tech has to learn and understand both voice and data these days and be proficient in both. Yet IT guys usually never know proper and professional cable management let alone how to install, program and train telcom systems and their customers.

I think IT should stay out of telco unless they are experts at both. Most of the IT installation are thrown together with cables all over the place and network devices, routers, modems lying here and there.

The IT guys except for a few are real prima donna's and usually hold most of their clients hostage with passwords and giving the customer the impression that you better not piss me off or I will bring your business to it's knees.

I have actually had clients that have been scared of there own and out sourced IT tech.. They are afraid to fire them or get them mad for fear of retaliation.

 

[cwc3]

unfortunately the telecom providers for some reason cater to the I.T mentality thats why phone systems are all modular plugs now and program like a router I don't think 1 out of a 1000 I.T. people can cut down 100 pair cable properly.... if it doesn't have software connected to it they are lost!

 

[SYQUEST]

You got that one right, cwc3!

....JIM....

 

[DaveThePhoneDoctorLV]

I have been shocked to see how the IT guys splice and connect their networks. Most should be ashamed for the way they leave their customers communications closets. Wires hanging all over the place and under the desks were feet and chairs get tangled.

 

[SYQUEST]

Most would not know a Code Violation if it hit them in the head! They have no foundation about organization or planning. IT just throws things together, expecting it to work. You can get a taste of some of these VOIP networks, when you call for customer or tech support @ a company. I have yet to be able to "hear the pin drop" on any VOIP! Remember Sprint's "pin drop"!

....JIM....

 

[PBXTech]

if people in Providence RI only knew which investment house this was in....

 

[cwc3]

I wonder if those are homemade patch cables?

 

[PBXTech]

don't know. i walked in, took a look at that mess, snapped a pic, then found the phone system and did my work.

 

[cwc3]

http://www.mediafire.com/i/?uk5bcjjlhnru7bw

this is my favorite I opened a boiler room and found this
I call it air splice this was done by the guy who calls himself the I.T. Geek!!

 

[Westi]

cwc3
I can't open the last one it says private on it, but I surely enjoyed the one from PBXTech

Our IT guy said that the people that think VoIP is a good thing should learn how a network and IP actually works. He does like it just as much as I do.
We hire new people in the company to program servers that run the software for the PBX's and they can't even do a simple cross connect nor are they able to learn and then old guys (like me) have to come to their rescue.
I was strictly a phone guy when I got thrown into the VoIP world about 7 years back and I have to say it is a learning curve. I have to also say that my IT guy is fabulous because he actually knows also the real telephony with wiring and all and has taken a lot of time out of his day to explain the networking issues and protocols to me. A good teacher for the networking side is what you need as a phone guy, and Tek-Tips of course

Joe W.

FHandw., ACSS

insanity is just a state of mind

 

[cwc3]

sorry about that i fixed it first time with mediafire!!

 

[Westi]

all I have to say is that its a good thing that it is only a netgear
good one cwc3

Joe W.

FHandw., ACSS

insanity is just a state of mind