How Session Border Controllers Protect Networks from Cyberattacks

Technology Serving Security: How Session Border Controllers Protect Networks from Cyberattacks

In the era of digital transformation, where VoIP has become an integral part of business communications, ensuring the security of IP telephony is paramount. IP telephony security is becoming a critical aspect for any organization that uses or plans to use this solution. Session Border Controllers (SBCs) play a key role in this area, acting as the first line of defense against various threats targeting the network. Ribbon Communications provides solutions that ensure reliable protection of VoIP services and network infrastructure from modern cyber threats.

Overview of Security Mechanisms in SBC SWe and Edge 8000 Family

SBC SWe and Edge 8000 Family from Ribbon Communications offer a comprehensive approach to network protection, including multiple layers of security. These mechanisms are designed to protect against the most common and sophisticated attacks, ensuring uninterrupted operation of communication services. Below is a detailed overview of the key security features implemented in these solutions:

Encryption

Encryption is a fundamental aspect of protecting the confidentiality and integrity of data. SBC SWe and Edge 8000 Family support various encryption protocols, ensuring secure transmission of voice and data:

• TLS/SSL: Provides encryption of signaling traffic (SIP), protecting against eavesdropping and interception of key information, such as passwords and credentials.
• SRTP: Encrypts media traffic (RTP), preventing unauthorized access to voice data. Traffic filtering of media streams prevents attempts to spoof and unauthorized listening.
• IPsec: Can be used to create secure VPN tunnels between the SBC and other network elements, providing end-to-end encryption of traffic.

Using reliable encryption ensures that attackers cannot gain access to sensitive information transmitted over the IP network.

Protection Against DoS/DDoS Attacks

DoS (Denial of Service) and DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks aim to overload network resources, making them unavailable to legitimate users. SBC SWe and Edge 8000 Family are equipped with advanced mechanisms to mitigate such attacks:

• Rate Limiting: Allows limiting the number of requests coming from a specific IP address or network, preventing overloading the SBC‘s resources.
• Traffic Filtering: Filters suspicious traffic based on various criteria, such as source IP address, protocol type, and packet size. DoS/DDoS attacks are neutralized thanks to carefully configured filtering.
• SYN Flood Protection: Prevents the depletion of SBC resources due to SYN flood attacks, where an attacker sends a large number of SYN packets without completing the connection establishment.
• Behavioral Analysis: Analyzes traffic in real-time, identifying anomalies and suspicious activity that may indicate a DoS/DDoS attack.

These measures allow the SBC to effectively resist DoS/DDoS attacks, ensuring the continuity of VoIP services.

Call Filtering

Call filtering provides the ability to control which calls are allowed or blocked based on various criteria:

• Blacklists and Whitelists: Allow blocking or allowing calls from specific numbers or number ranges.
• Geographic Filtering: Allows blocking or allowing calls to specific countries or regions.
• Time-of-Day Filtering: Allows blocking or allowing calls at specific times of the day, for example, during non-business hours.
• Call Type Filtering: Allows blocking or allowing calls of a specific type, such as international calls or calls to premium rate numbers.

Call filtering helps prevent unwanted calls, such as spam, fraudulent calls, and unauthorized international calls.

Fraud Prevention

VoIP fraud is a serious problem that can lead to significant financial losses. SBC SWe and Edge 8000 Family provide a number of features to prevent fraudulent activities:

• Anomaly Detection: Analyzes call statistics in real-time, identifying unusual patterns that may indicate fraudulent activities, such as a sudden increase in call volume or calls to expensive international destinations.
• Credit Limiting: Sets limits on the volume of calls that can be made from a specific account or IP address, preventing large losses in the event of account compromise.
• Detection and Blocking of Unauthorized Proxy Servers: Detects and blocks the use of unauthorized proxy servers that may be used to circumvent security measures and make fraudulent calls.
• Integration with Fraud Detection Systems: Integrates with external fraud detection systems to share threat information and jointly prevent fraudulent activities.

These measures help protect against various types of VoIP fraud, including traffic theft, account hacking, and unauthorized use of network resources.

Detailed Overview of Additional Security Features

In addition to the basic mechanisms, SBC SWe and Edge 8000 Family offer a number of additional features that enhance the overall security of the VoIP infrastructure:

SIP Protocol Protection

SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) is the primary protocol used to establish and manage VoIP calls. The SBC provides protection of the SIP protocol from various attacks:

• SIP Message Syntax Validation: Validates the syntax of all incoming and outgoing SIP messages, discarding messages with incorrect syntax that could be used to exploit vulnerabilities.
• SIP Message Normalization: Normalizes SIP messages, removing unnecessary or potentially dangerous headers and parameters.
• SIP Flood Protection: Prevents the overloading of SBC resources due to SIP flood attacks, where an attacker sends a large number of SIP messages.

These measures help protect against attacks aimed at exploiting vulnerabilities in the SIP protocol.

Access Control

SBC SWe and Edge 8000 Family provide flexible access control mechanisms, allowing you to restrict access to various resources and functions of the SBC:

• Authentication and Authorization: Requires authentication and user authorization to access the SBC and perform certain operations.
• Access Rights Differentiation: Allows assigning different levels of access to different users, limiting their capabilities according to their roles and responsibilities.
• Protection Against Unauthorized Access: Prevents unauthorized access to the SBC using various methods, such as password protection, limiting the number of failed login attempts, and monitoring user activity.

Access control ensures that only authorized users have access to the SBC and can perform certain operations.

Logging and Monitoring

SBC SWe and Edge 8000 Family maintain detailed event logs that can be used for security analysis, troubleshooting, and incident investigation:

• Logging of All Significant Events: Logs all significant events, such as login attempts, configuration changes, call establishment and termination, and detection of suspicious activity.
• Performance and Security Monitoring: Monitors the performance and security of the SBC in real-time, providing information about resource utilization, traffic, and detected threats.
• Integration with Security Management Systems: Integrates with external security management systems (SIEM) for centralized collection and analysis of event logs, as well as for automatic threat response.

Logging and monitoring provide valuable information for ensuring the security of the VoIP infrastructure.

Dynamic Threat Protection

Modern threats are constantly evolving, so it is important that security systems are able to dynamically adapt to new challenges. SBC SWe and Edge 8000 Family offer a number of dynamic threat protection features:

• Automatic Signature Updates: Automatically update attack signatures and filtering rules, providing protection against the latest threats.
• Adaptive Behavioral Analysis: Adapt their behavioral analysis algorithms to changing network conditions and new types of attacks.
• Real-Time Incident Response: Automatically respond to detected security incidents, for example, block suspicious traffic or disable compromised accounts.

Dynamic threat protection ensures that the VoIP infrastructure remains protected from the most modern attacks.

Benefits of Using SBC SWe and Edge 8000 Family in the Context of Security

The implementation of SBC SWe and Edge 8000 Family offers a number of significant benefits in the field of IP telephony security:

• Comprehensive Protection: Provide comprehensive protection against a wide range of threats, including DoS/DDoS attacks, fraud, account hacking, and SIP protocol vulnerabilities.
• Reduced Security Risks: Significantly reduce the security risks associated with the use of VoIP services.
• Investment Protection: Protect investments in VoIP infrastructure, ensuring its uninterrupted operation and protection against financial losses associated with security incidents.
• Compliance: Help organizations comply with regulatory requirements in the area of security and data privacy.

In conclusion, Session Border Controllers SWe and Edge 8000 Family from Ribbon Communications are a powerful and effective solution for ensuring IP telephony security. Thanks to a comprehensive set of security features, these solutions allow organizations to protect their VoIP infrastructure from modern threats and ensure uninterrupted operation of communication services. Network protection using SBC is a necessary step for any organization using or planning to use VoIP technologies.