With two more long weekends fast approaching in May and June, ComReg recommends that any business that is concerned about the hacking of its telephone system should take the appropriate steps to protect it including:
• Contact your telecommunications provider immediately and advise them of your concerns. Consider asking for calls to premium rate numbers and possibly international numbers, if not required, to be barred;
• Contact your business phone system supplier (if different from your telecommunications provider) and ensure that your business phone system has the latest software updates to prevent unauthorised access and the latest security settings are enabled;
• Ensure that your business phone system maintenance port has a strong password, not the default password;
• Ensure that your voicemail port has a strong password, not the default password;
• Restrict your voicemail service from making ‘call forward’ calls and from accessing premium rate services if this feature is not used by your company;
• If possible, monitor your traffic and analyse it for any anomalies.
