FIRST there was spam. Now there is spit. Plans by BT to help companies to cut the cost of calls by using the internet have been hit by fears that its service is susceptible to a new type of junk mail.
The telecoms group has spent millions of pounds promoting its internet telephone service, under which voice messages are turned into data and sent over the internet. The service, which charges international calls at local rates, has already been sold to organisations such as Abbey National.
However, technology groups have given warning that the technology, known as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), is susceptible to unsolicited voicemails or “spit” — spam over internet technology.
It is also easier to hack internet telephone conversations than regular phone calls, these groups say. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, a US government body, has urged organisations thinking of using VoIP to “proceed with caution”.
A new industry body, the VoIP Security Alliance, has been launched to find ways to make the VoIP network more secure.
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BT has offered several “new wave” internet services. A spokesman for BT said that its VoIP product was secure. “We would only offer a service if we knew it was a really safe service,” he said.