VoIP Hopper, A VoIP Security Testing Tool

VoIP Hopper http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

VoIP Hopper is intended for network engineers, VoIP administrators, and professional security testers to assess the security of networks they have permission to test / assess. Even though VoIP Hopper is a VoIP infrastructure security testing tool, it could effectively be used to test the security status of VLANs as well.

The tool is GPLv3 licensed  and is written in C. One needs a Linux based system, a C compiler and good old libpcap to make and run. The tool is designed to run a VLAN Hop into the Voice VLAN on targeted Ethernet switches. VoIP Hopper mimics an IP Phone, in Cisco, Avaya, Nortel, and Alcatel-Lucent environments.  IP Phone emulation requires discovery of the correct 12 bit Voice VLAN ID (VVID) used by the IP Phones and is accomplished via multiple protocol discovery methods (CDP, DHCP, LLDP-MED, 802.1q ARP). Once the initial stem is accomplished, VoIP Hopper creates a virtual VoIP Ethernet interface on the OS.  It then inserts a spoofed 4-byte 802.1q vlan header containing the 12 bit VVID into a spoofed DHCP request.  Once it receives an IP address in the VoIP VLAN subnet, all subsequent Ethernet frames are "tagged" with the spoofed 802.1q header.

There are many uses of the tool for a VoIP engineer or professional and needs to invest some time learning the tool. VoIP Hopper site provides a swath of information, including code download, instructions and video tutorials (Of on which is embedded below). Happy ethical hacking.


 

Shoretel Mobility, Work From Wherever With Your Smart Phone.

ShoretelMobility, http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
ShoreTel has been a formidable force in the Phone and UC (Unified Communications) market and now they extent the capabilities to the ever growing mobile market. Shoretel Mobility sets the user free to communicate from any location (office, home, hotspots) with their smartphones by enabling access to any network (cellular or Wi-Fi), simply and cost effectively.

ShoreTel Mobility is offered as a component of the ShoreTel Unified Communications system, with capability to integrate easily with other PBX systems from Cisco, Avaya, Alcatel-Lucent, and UC systems such as Microsoft OCS, to name a few. To find out more fillow the link after the jump.



Shoretel Mobility

Avaya Files For $1 Billion IPO!

Avaya Files For $1 Billion IPO! http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Avaya, the Basking Ridge, N.J.-based provider of VoIP IP Telephony software and equipment on Thursday filed with the SEC for a $1 billion stock
Avaya was spun out of then a market leader Lucent Technologies in 2000. After seven years continuous pressure to stay in the market and challenge other leaders of the trade, got bought out by private equity firm Silver Lake Partners and TPG Capital for more than $8 billion.
In the S-1 filling the company said it will use the proceeds to pay off the long term debt. As of March 31st company owed as much as $6.18 billion.
The monies will also be used to  redeem preferred stock, and pay expenses due the termination of a management agreement with Silver and TPG. Avaya also disclosed a loss of $615 million, or $1.26 a share, for the six months ended March 31 on revenue of $2.76 billion in the filing.

Skype Hiring For The Cloud And The Enterprise.

#Skype Hiring For The Cloud And The Enterprise. http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
In preparing for the IPO push, Skype has been looking for ways to expand the business and offerings. One of the solutions seem to be taking Skype and VoIP to the cloud. Cloud based VoIP offerings  are the target of most companies and Skype Cloud will certainly be dark clouds over efforts like Microsoft's new Lync offering. I have no idea how it will affect Google Voice which is now integrated with GMail, even though it works only in USA and Canada at the moment.
Enterprise IT still go for the likes of Cisco, Avaya and ShoreTel, for their VoIP and communication solutions because they offer security and stability rather than the latest buzz.
But SMBs and small business do go for these services and sometimes fall prey to companies or services like Packet8 by 8X8.Yet Skype have proven to be resilient many factors that others failed. So these new hirings will further enhance the position as it embarks on yet another new frontier. These hiring (and many more at the link given below) looks to “build an infrastructure capable of supporting hundreds of millions of users.” to deliver “voice, video, chat and presence” to the web and “enable radically new Skype applications.”

But it will be helpful if Skype posted the link to the website properly ;) (http://skypecareers.com/ instead of http://wskypecareers.com/) We have modified the link so go find your Skype Job.
Here are the SIlicon Valley Jobs;

• C++ Developer, Video on Platform
• Software Engineer - Cirrus
• Product Manager - Skype for Web
• Quality Engineer - Platforms

 Techcrunch via VoIP Watch

Avaya Skype Announce "Skype Connect" And A Business Partnership.

#Skype Connect http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Skype and Avaya announced today that they have agreed to jointly present business collaboration and communications solutions.
In October,  Avaya will offer Skype Connect to Avaya's customers. This will enable Avaya customers to call through Skype Connect. The actual connections will be setup based on the least cost routing and all Skype callers will be able to make free inbound calls to enabled Avaya customers within USA.
Avaya Aura and And Avaya Aura SIP enablement server, CS1000, Avaya IP Office and BCM systems will be able to handle the calls. In 2011, the two companies will  launch integrated unified communications and collaboration solutions for businesses within the US, bringing together, presence, IM, voice and video call.
I am sure there are other companies, wondering if they are late, to the Skype Game.



The Press Release;

BASKING RIDGE, NJ and LUXEMBOURG, 29 September 2010 – Avaya, a global leader in enterprise communications systems, software and services, and Skype today announced a strategic agreement to deliver innovative, real-time communications and collaboration solutions to businesses of all sizes. The multi-phase deal includes both go-to-market and an industry-first, joint technology integration that seeks to enable businesses to lower costs and expand how employees, customers, partners and suppliers communicate and collaborate with greater convenience and efficiency.
In the first phase of the agreement, Avaya customers in the U.S. market will have access to Skype Connect™, a product which adds Skype calling to IP-based enterprise communications systems, providing a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) communications channel between Avaya communications systems and Skype. Customers with Avaya Aura™ Session Manager or Avaya Aura SIP Enablement Server, CS1000, Avaya IP Office, or BCM systems can use Skype Connect to place calls globally for increased reach, while aiming to save on international calling. Enterprise-level security and features such as tracking, recording, regulatory compliance, and more are provided by the Avaya system.
Skype reported 124 million average monthly connected users during the second quarter of 2010. Now, Skype users can make inbound calls to Avaya customers in the U.S. market for free or at a low cost. Calls will be treated with Avaya’s routing, conferencing, messaging, mobility and contact center capabilities, as well as other collaboration services. For example, businesses can:

• Establish Skype Click & Call buttons for inbound calling from Web sites
• Establish Skype Online Numbers for inbound calling from landline and mobile phones
• Route inbound calls from a Skype user to an enterprise extension

Avaya customers in the U.S. market who are interested in Skype Connect can speak with their Avaya sales representative or an Avaya Connect channel partner contacts beginning in October.
In the second half of 2011, Avaya and Skype plan to deliver integrated unified communications and collaboration solutions for enterprises within the U.S. The integration is intended to establish federation between Avaya Aura and Skype communications platforms and both user communities, so that an Avaya end-user and Skype user can engage and interact via presence, instant messaging, voice and video. A business, for example, could use Skype to access an Avaya-based contact center in a simple and highly integrated way to quickly and efficiently resolve customer service issues. The integrated solutions will also allow enterprise IT managers to manage and control the inter-connectivity between end users to meet their corporate IT policies.
“Avaya and Skype have been working along parallel paths to offer, innovative, scalable, low cost, SIP-based communications to our respective markets,” said Alan Baratz, senior vice president, Avaya and president, Avaya Global Communications Solutions. “Now, the two companies will work together, striving to improve collaboration and customer service by federating Avaya and Skype solutions for a common user experience that delivers unique benefits for businesses and their customers who are Skype users.”
“Our relationship with Avaya is expected to expand the footprint for Skype Connect into more enterprises in the U.S. market, while allowing us to help Avaya’s customers benefit from Skype’s cost savings and access to Skype’s global user base,” said David Gurlé, vice president and general manager of Skype for Business. “We believe our integrated solution in the second half of 2011 is expected to offer the benefits of Skype to a growing number of businesses and open up new ways for people to communicate and collaborate.”

eZuce Presents An Open Source Enterprise Level Unified Communications Solution

Open Source Enterprise UC Solution, OpenUC, From eZuce http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
eZuce, a company formed by the creators of SIPFoundry, Dr. Martin Steinmann and Jerry Stabile, announced a enterprise grade UC solution, last month. Since I was away from blogging for almost a month, I missed the opportunity to present them to my readers.
SIPFoundry was one of my favorite projects and in fact my first self developed SIP Client to use with such services like free SIP Accounts, came from the sipXphone, a part of the project, even before the SIPFoundry / Pingtel days.
The project changed hands a few times but lived on, the community continued to develop the sipX project and I am glad now it is becoming a mainstream product due to eZuce.
Just like the track record of SIPFoundry, the software that eZuce promotes and supports, also have a seven years of development track record.
The solution itself provides opportunity for for companies to replace legacy PBX's and eZuce is placing itself as an alternative or replacement for Microsoft UC. But eZuce supports all the Microsoft's communications products like Outlook and Microsoft Exchange server. They also have a unique position in the role as well. EZuce sales model is completely indirect. They will support for single tier resellers, OEMs, and  Managed Service Providers (MSPs). Partners and end customers working with eZuce benefit from a fully supported product. In current incarnation, eZuce allows partners to offer a fully supported solution with standard SLA to end users, including level 3 support escalations.
The channel partners will also be at ease because, the SIPFoundry products were used by the like of NORTEL and Avaya. SIPFoundry PBX Solution powers the Avaya Software Communication System (SCS). So this startup is well grounded from the start and I am sure will have a greater role in the Unified Communications arena.
eZuce via SIPFoundry

VoIP Security, Asterisk, SIP, Brute Force Attacks, Explained By John Todd Of Digium.

VoIP Security snapvoip.blogspot.com
My thoughts when I read the article saying  “Asterisk attacks are endemic” were ????*&^ and I also knew that John Todd knew what he is doing. So I let the article pass as I was certain it was not the case.
Today Todd has posted an article explaining the misinterpretation of his thoughts and the verbalization of the same.

My comment in the article was not that “Asterisk attacks are endemic”, but that SIP-based brute force attacks are endemic.  Every SIP system that is open to the “public” Internet is seeing large numbers of brute-force attacks.  Sites that have weak username and weak password control will be compromised – this is little different than email accounts being taken over by password-guessing systems and used for sending floods of email.  The significant difference is that when someone takes over a SIP platform to make outbound calls, there is usually a direct monetary cost, which gets people’s attention very quickly.

We all know that Asterisk is used world over and is the favorite SIP based telephony platform is likely to attract people who are interested in hacking or attacking the system. But we also have seen security measures taken by Asterisk as well. Just like the one released day before yesterday, AST-2009-07, where the advisory and the fix was released simultaneously.
But what Todd wrote makes sense and as Asterisk, Broadsoft, Cisco, Kamailio, OpenSER, FreeSwitch, Avaya are all vulnerable to brute force attacks and every bit of  information will help. Whether it is news worthy or not.
Asterisk and SIP Security Redux

SIP Print Joins Avaya DevConnect.

SIP Call Recording
LOS ANGELES - SIP Print™,  SIP-based VoIP call recording platforms provider, has been selected by Avaya Inc. for membership in the Avaya DevConnect program.
SIP Print is the developer of  an appliance-resident application family that brings advanced call recording capabilities within reach of small and medium-sized business with a need to record calls. The recording is supported for up to 200 seats per location. The recorded phone conversations will be able to provide assistance in training, Q/A, compliance, and regulatory needs, similar to those of large enterprise systems but without the enterprise level of cost.
The Avaya DevConnect program promotes the development, compliance-testing and co-marketing of innovative third-party products that are compatible with standards-based Avaya solutions.
In June 2009 SIP Print introduced the SIP Print Labs certification program, a multi-faceted effort by the company to collaborate with IP-PBX vendors, customers, and channel partners to define standards of interoperability and performance for call recording applications on SIP-based phone systems. Since its introduction, SIP Print Labs has certified a number of leading IP PBX systems. Several Avaya IP communication systems are currently undergoing certification testing.
"Membership in Avaya's developer community will help us build our business by serving our customers and channel partners more efficiently and effectively," said Donald C. Palmer, CEO of SIP Print. "By leveraging Avaya resources and working more closely with the company to deliver compliance-tested solutions to the market, we are able to reduce network complexity, improve security and reliability, and speed time to deployment so businesses can quickly realize a benefit to their bottom line."

Through the DevConnect program, Avaya provides a number of tools and capabilities to member companies. One example is Avaya Aura™ Application Enablement Services (AES) -- a set of application programming interfaces, protocols and Web services that makes it easier for developers to create Avaya-compatible networks, devices and applications.
"Development partners like SIP Print are helping Avaya dramatically expand the options available to its customers," said Eric Rossman, vice president, developer relations and technical alliances, Avaya. "We're able to provide the tools businesses need to change the way they work and to establish a true competitive advantage in the marketplace. They are able to use unified communications applications to make critical information readily available to both employees and customers, regardless of where they are or how they choose to communicate."

Membership information and a listing of solutions developed and tested under the DevConnect program are available at www.avaya.com/devconnect.
SIP Print

Avaya Presents Social Enterprise At ITEXPO

ITEXPO West 2009

If you will be at ITEXPO West 2009 Sep 1-3, 2009, (I really hope you are!), here is a chance to meet some people and get a look at Social Enterprise.
Avaya is hosting a social media workshop and Paul Dunay, author of Facebook Marketing for Dummies, on how the adoption of social tools will help to take your enterprise forward.

Free Workshop and Reception
for all ITEXPO Attendees

Monday, August 31, 2009, 7:00pm - 9:30pm

Are you ready for the opportunities social technologies
such as Facebook and Twitter bring to your Enterprise and Contact Centers?

FREE for all ITEXPO Attendees

Get a glimpse into the Social future from Paul Dunay (blogger, speaker, and author of Facebook Marketing for Dummies) on how the adoption of social tools will change your enterprise and customer interactions.

See demonstrations of the latest Avaya Labs innovations, merging social networks, contact centers, and interactive video and voice response services to differentiate and enhance your customer service experiences.

Hear about the latest developer tools and offers from Avaya to help you turn communications into a strategic tool for driving growth.

So come join Avaya and other ITExpo attendees with a little food for your brain, and stay to "socialize" with a selection of handcrafted ales on the rooftop patio at the Bonaventure Brewing Company.

Bonus! Pre-register and attend, and you'll receive a free signed copy of Paul's book, Facebook Marketing for Dummies (publish date Fall 2009).

Location
Westin Bonaventure
Bonaventure Brewing Company (map)
404 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, California 90071
Phone: (213) 624-1000

Register Now

Tags: ITEXPO, Avaya, facebook, Social media workshop, Facebook Marketing for Dummies, social networks, Bonaventure Brewing

Avaya Gets Nortel Enterprise Solutions Business Assets

Nortel Bankruptcy
Nortel will sell its enterprise solutions business in Europe, Middle East and Africa to Avaya Inc. for $475 million. Nortel Filed for bankruptcy seeking protection from creditors and investors in January this year. As for international / multinational company Nortel, it still has assets all over the world, like Americas and Asia.
So Avaya has also set sights on those by reaching a "stalking horse" asset and share sale agreement with Avaya for its enterprise solutions business in North America, Latin America and Asia. The "stalking horse" will allow Avaya to make a bid for these assets before other interested parties. "These agreements include the planned sale of substantially all of the assets of the enterprise solutions business globally as well as the shares of Nortel Government Solutions Inc. and DiamondWare Ltd.," said Nortel in a statement. Nortel had filed for bankruptcy protection in January.
Marketwatch

Tags: Nortel, Avaya, stalking horse, enterprise solutions