PGP founder unveils new VoIP security
<<<... "With VoIP, the threat model is vastly more expansive. Imagine you have 1,000 PCs in your company and just one becomes infected with software that sniffs packets, including voice packets and captures them, sorts them in .wav packets and organizes them by who's calling who," proposed Phil Zimmermann. "You could point and click as to which calls you wanted from the CEO or the in-house legal counsel." Zimmerman then illustrated that Zfone and its encryption protocol can both function independently as well as be integrated into both the hardware and software of popular VoIP applications and devices. "We have to encrypt VoIP," said Zimmermann. "We have no choice." "Ultimately, the phone networks will switch over to VoIP because it allows for better functionality and that's where both the cable and telecom networks are going," said Ross Rubin, an analyst for the NPD group, which specializes in consumer and retail trends. "It's not difficult to spy on traditional voice networks or unencrypted Internet data," said Rubin. "The former uses a wiretap; the latter can be done with a packet sniffer." Zfone is currently in a deployment stage wherein the program is freely available for download and will be ready for widespread deployment within a year. Zimmermann's encryption protocol has been sent along for peer review to boards such as the Internet Engineering Task Force for inclusion with current VoIP programs. Zfone's source code, which includes documentation for the new encryption protocol, has also been posted for download by anyone looking to study the code and use it in their own programs.