Chapter 13
Communication and Messaging Systems
In This Chapter
Attacking e-mail systems
Assailing instant messaging
Assaulting Voice over IP applications
Communication systems such as e-mail and Voice over IP (VoIP) often create vulnerabilities that people overlook. Why? Well, from my experience, messaging software — both at the server and client level — is vulnerable because network administrators often believe that firewalls and antivirus software are all that’s needed to keep trouble away, or they simply forget about securing these systems altogether.
In this chapter, I show you how to test for common e-mail and VoIP issues. I also outline key countermeasures to help prevent these hacks against your systems.
Introducing Messaging System Vulnerabilities
Practically all messaging applications are hacking targets on your network. Given the proliferation and business dependence on e-mail, just about anything is fair game. Ditto with VoIP. It’s downright scary what people with ill intent can do with it.
With messaging systems, one underlying weaknesses is that many of the supporting protocols weren’t designed with security in mind — especially those developed several decades ago ...
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