Verizon Global Wholesale (NYSE: VZ) wants to give its carrier customers peace of mind that the services they buy to transmit information over the Internet and other networks are secure.
Available on three of its IP voice platforms--SIP Gateway Service, Advanced Toll Free IP Termination and Carrier IP Termination Transport--customers will be able to share a single IPSec tunnel. Verizon says that incorporating IPsec into these products provides two benefits: additional security during call setup and because IPSec is already supported by major IP vendors there`s no need to create vendor-specific security protocols.
"We bypass other security protocols in favor of IPSec tunnel because it offers the greatest level of flexibility to meet our customers` security needs for VoIP traffic," said Mike Yancey, director of wholesale voice services for Verizon Business in a release. "Verizon wholesale customers can rest assured we go the extra mile to protect their business traffic on our world-class global network."
Migration to IP-based voice, while having obvious benefits of lower costs and new converged wireless/wireline applications, is more vulnerable to hackers. Along with being an accepted industry standard, IPSec will help Verizon Global Wholesale`s customers avoid security breaches such as IP address "spoofing" where a person or program pretends to be another.
