Communication is a fundamental need of any business. Increasing competition has been demanding to find ways to cut costs and a retail VoIP Softswitch solution has been the best tool that reduces the cost of communication. The threat of getting attacked has always been high for this platform, as it utilizes the internet protocol for communication. Over time, VoIP solution providers have developed impressive security measures that enhance business communication and consolidate security.
In this blog post, we will explore more about a retail Softswitch solution and how it strengthens security to enjoy protected communication.
Class 5 Softswitch can help in retail fraud detection and management.
What is a Retail VoIP Softswitch Solution?
In the VoIP telephony industry, there are two types of VoIP traffic managed by the VoIP Softswitch solutions:
- Wholesale
- Retail
The retail network is the largest and most popular, serving businesses and end users of retail VoIP communication services. Wholesale VoIP manages the outer layer, facilitating call and data transmission to international destinations. However, retail VoIP is responsible for offering actual end to end communication services.
A retail Softswitch system is a software platform that provides a graphical user interface to the service providers to manage retail VoIP traffic. In addition to administration, this platform offers various features that enable end users to access VoIP communication and business phone systems. Furthermore, this Softswitch is responsible for offering calling and other forms of communication services within the local networks.
What is Telecom Fraud?
Telecom fraud is not new in the industry. In fact, as per the industry experts and the top VoIP open source software development companies, it is prevalent in this industry. Telecom fraud is an attack by third party hackers or fraudulent companies to hack the telecom software or network to use it for their own malicious intent. Retail fraud is a type of telecom industry fraud that targets retail VoIP users and mainly the hackers are interested in either damaging the brand of retail VoIP service provider or making money from the end users by tricking them.
These fraud attacks not only damage the reputation of the service provider but also cause major financial losses to the customers of the business phone system user. This can bring in several consequences, from financial loss to the business of a retail service provider to legal punishments, and more. Therefore, it is necessary to know about major threats and ways to prevent VoIP fraud using retail VoIP switches and other infrastructure components and prevention strategies available.
What Are The Major Types of Fraud in the Retail Telecom Industry?
Hackers, in the telecom industry, are as innovative as developers and development companies. Therefore, it is more likely that they come up with new types of fraud attacks to meet their malicious intentions. However, industry-wide, there have been long-standing, well-known fraud attempts that continue to plague retail VoIP providers. We have covered each of these major threats in this section that you must be aware of.
IRSF: International Revenue Share Fraud
It is one of the most notorious types of fraud attacks that have caused the loss of billions of dollars to the telecom industry. In this type of fraud, the hackers capture the premium numbers of a company and make long distance calls. The calls would go on for hours and hours. These calls are generally made during off-working hours, so nobody is monitoring the calls until the actual bill is delivered to the company to pay. The company needs to pay for the premium numbers, plus, long distance calling through premium numbers. More than half of this money is received by the hackers.
Call Spoofing
This is another known form of fraud attack and one of the most notorious ones, which is why it is regulated by the regulations in the USA by the FDA. In this type of attack, the attackers edit the caller ID and call the customer as one of the people either he already knows or someone from the authority. The fraudster tricks the receiver and makes money from them.
Subscription Fraud
As per the statistical result, more than 40% of bad debts in the retail VoIP industry are because of subscription fraud. Hackers get consumer information such as their KYC (Know Your Customer) details by hacking a system. They can also get this information from the dark web. Use this information to sign up and subscribe for premium retail VoIP services. They use services, but they never pay for it.
Call Forwarding
This is another major fraud attempt made by hackers to make money in the telecom industry. They seize control of the retail VoIP Softswitch and then they hack the interactive voice response system of the company or other mechanisms used to route calls. Frauds configure the rule to route calls to predefined international premium calls. They call the business during non-working hours and select the IVR menu that forwards the call to the predefined international numbers. Using the international revenue share fraud model, they make money.
One Ring and Cut Fraud
This fraud is also known as Wangiri fraud, which is a Japanese word, which means one and cut. As part of this fraud, attackers ring a premium number or a business number once and then disconnect the call. This registers a missed call from a specific number. Due to business etiquette and to capture possible sales, business representatives often call back to these numbers, which are premium numbers and charge a hefty amount for each moment spent on the call. This enables fraudsters to make money.
Must Read: Major Security Threats To Safeguard The Class 5 Softswitch
How Does a Retail Switch Secure a Business Communication Ecosystem?
Prevention is considered better than cure. It is always good to be prepared and safeguard your retail Softswitch system and customers or users from these fraud attacks to save money, reputation, and other forms of losses caused by the fraud attacks. You can use your Softswitch solution to protect your business in multiple ways from fraudsters. Here are the top tips to follow to consolidate security using your retail VoIP Softswitch software.
Keep Credentials Strong and Protected
By keeping a simple to hack password, you or your clients are giving control on a platter to hackers and fraudsters. To protect your business and bank account, the first thing to keep in mind is to use a strong password and follow the best practices to avoid VoIP fraud. Some of the preventive steps to take here are listed hereunder:
- Never save passwords in public wallets or your browsers. The password is likely to get compromised by hacking your system.
- Never use personal details in the credentials.
- Avoid using common passwords such as home123, 1234456, etc.
- Always use a strong password consisting of upper letters, lower case, numbers, and special characters.
- Regularly change password at intervals of 3 to 6 months.
- Do not use the same credentials everywhere
If you are a retail VoIP service provider, then you can enforce these password rules on your customers to keep them and your business protected from common VoIP fraud attacks.
Use Two-Way Authentication
By implementing this approach, the system and customers receive stronger protection as it prevents unauthorized access. By restricting access, the system is less susceptible to misuse by hackers and fraudsters for malicious purposes. Implementation of two factor authentication can help avoid fraud attempts because hackers cannot log in to the system without accessing the OTP authentication. This mechanism can be implemented into the VoIP Softswitch.
Implement STIR/SHAKEN
The USA government mandates this mechanism for telephony businesses operating in the US. Implementing STIR/SHAKEN in your VoIP network is a recommended practice for protecting your business from fraudsters. It is one of the most effective ways to prevent call spoofing and similar hack attempts. It utilizes digital signatures and handshaking to authenticate the caller ID and display it to the call recipient. Retail service providers have the ability to block calls from unauthenticated caller IDs or display a warning. VoIP service providers can implement public or private STIR/SHAKEN certificates into their networks. Paid private certificates provide enhanced security compared to public ones as they verify entries from a large database of contacts.
Use Fraud detection and management system
This is one of the best security solutions available for retail VoIP Softswitch software. It adds an added layer of security and ensures a high level of protection from major frauds. Telephony service providers can create their own rules through a GUI panel to prevent fraud, particularly for calls to premium numbers or during off-working hours. Using the configured rules, the fraud detection and management system will identify malicious activities and can take multiple necessary actions such as:
- Deactivating the user that is making fraud calls
- Blocking the calls from a specific number or prefix
- Terminating the feature of making a long distance call
- Sending alerts to the concerned person via SMS, phone call, email, etc.
This software automates monitoring calls and activities on a VoIP Softswitch and takes the necessary steps to prevent fraudsters from causing any loss to the users of the Softswitch. It is best in preventing fraud attacks like call forwarding, international revenue sharing fraud, etc.
Use Common Best Practices
This is the most vital step to practice by everyone that uses internet telephony or any sort of telecommunication solution. Follow the best practices to ensure you are safe from any sort of financial loss. Some of the popular best practices are listed hereunder:
- Follow password protection rules to stay safe.
- Do not give access to desktop sharing software to anyone you don’t know.
- Double-check the authenticity of the source before engaging in any financial interactions.
- Implement added security measures such as session border controller (SBC) solution, fraud detection and management solution, two-way authentication, firewall, etc.
- Use real time billing and get notified of billing.
- Keep a cap on financial expenses over telecommunication and opt for an upgrade option to use higher services.
Concluding Notes
Fully evading fraudsters and hackers is challenging as they persistently seek loopholes to infiltrate systems and deceive both users and organizations. However, you can always act smart and protect yourself from the known threats. In the VoIP-based telecommunication industry, hack attempts are common due to the involvement of substantial sums of money. As the users of a retail Softswitch solution are likely to get tricked easily, VoIP fraudsters often target them to make easy money. Service providers and users of telephony services should proactively block VoIP fraud attempts. If defrauded, they must take action to prevent irreversible financial losses or brand damage.
We provide diverse solutions to the retail VoIP industry, enabling businesses to launch and safeguard against significant VoIP frauds. Our class 5 Softswitch is popular for its outstanding features. We also support major best practices to keep the system access and use safeguarded from attackers. Moreover, we also implement added security measures like real time billing, STIR/SHAKEN, fraud detection and management solution, etc.
To learn more about our retail VoIP Softswitch, contact us immediately.
