Is your firm's phone line secure? If not, a hack attack can cost you big bucks
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Many small businesses don’t realize it, but their phone system may be a potential gateway for hackers.
Large companies that contract for service with major carriers have little to worry about, because sophisticated security systems are in place and customers likely will be indemnified if they fail. But small businesses that use local carriers can be hit with—and expected to pay—tens of thousands of dollars in unexpected charges if a hacker breaks through and rapidly rings up huge bills for high-priced calls, reports the New York Times (reg. req.).
That’s what happened to the architecture firm operated by Bob Foreman in Norcross, Georgia. Over one weekend in March, a hacker ran up $166,000 in phone charges to three foreign countries, which he and his firm, Foreman Seeley Fountain Architecture, are now disputing. Another $17,000 in penalties for late payment and termination are also now at issue.
Such schemes typically involve a hacker who has leased a premium-rate 900-number phone line, like the ones that are often used by psychic and sex-chat services, the newspaper explains. A caller to one of these lines pays more than $1 a minute, and the lessee gets a percentage of the payments for calls made to the number. If a hacker then breaks into a business’ phone network, they can use a high-speed computer to make as many as 220 calls per minute from the business to that 900 number. The hacker’s percentage from charges which are then billed to the business can be substantial, according to the Times.
Credit card companies are required by law to reimburse their customers for fraudulent charges, but phone carriers have no such obligation under current federal regulations. Thus, their customers are left unprotected. Last year alone, reports the Times, the global cost to victims of these swindles was $4.73 billion.
Turning off call-forwarding and setting strong passwords for voicemail can help prevent other businesses from being victimized, recommends Jim Dalton of TransNexus. His company sells Internet calling-management software.
“People don’t realize their phone is a six-figure liability waiting to happen,” he told the Times.
