Mobile phones openning up to spammers

NO SOONER have vendors turned their attention to providing mobile phone users with access to low cost VoIP networks, than analyst firm, Ferris Research, is warning that it will open up handsets to all the dangers of the Internet.

As VoIP means that an Internet MAC address effectively becomes a telephone number, it will be possible to make thousands of simultaneous Internet 'calls', according to Ferris. Those calls could end up as 'spam' voice messages which clog up your phone's voice mailbox.

Then there will be loads of 'phishing' attacks where hackers use virtually untraceable VoIP numbers to call vulnerable people and trick them into giving out personal information.

The most outrageous Ferris claim, reported by The Business is that hackers will be able to break into VoIP calls and overhear consumers giving out their credit cards details to theatres and cinemas.

The INQ isn't sure such a 'hack' is actually possible.

Anyway, the mobile VoIP arena sure is hotting up. No sooner has Rok been rumoured to be offering a free VoIP service to users of Symbian phones, than Voxlib has announced it will be launching VOX for Skype on September 11th 2006.

This will be a highly interesting service because the claim is that it will work on any mobile phone and link not just to regular VoIP/SIP users but to Skype too.

VoIP is, of course, big business. According to Ferris, Vonage has around two million regular users; Skype claims it has over 110 million 'customers' but it probably has about 30 million regular users, of which about seven million are online at any time.

Then Ferris estimates that there are perhaps another 50 million regular VoIP users on AOL, MSN, and Yahoo.

Sounds like an area well worth the attention of the Net's criminals. µ

L'INQ
Ferris
Voxlib