Phone fraud up 400%

The first quarter of this year has seen a 400% increase in phone fraud, according to the Telecommunications Industry Group, reports The National Business Review.

Ten companies a week are having their PABX systems attacked by international hackers, who then make out-bound calls to premium pay numbers they've set up in North Africa or Europe.

Voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) engineer Steve Biddle says many people set up their VOIP systems in an insecure way without password protection. “There is a growing number of VOIP experts selling and installing VOIP solutions without understanding the implications.”

Apple has filed a technology patent that is able to record the details of iPhone thieves and unauthorised users, states PC World.

Apple proposes a mechanism that would record the voice of the current user of the phone, take photographs of the user, geotag the photograph and activate the accelerometer to "determine a current mode of transportation of the electronic device".

The technology then alerts the authorised iPhone owner - via text message, instant message and VOIP - that someone else is using the phone.

VOIP solutions in Northern Ireland could be set to profit from the growth of broadband in the country, says Telappliant

Telecoms regulator Ofcom has revealed that 70% of households in Northern Ireland now have access to broadband, an increase of 6% compared to last year.

The expansion of broadband could improve the standard of IP telephony solutions as faster download speeds can handle more voice data and boost audio quality. Surprisingly, 72% of rural households have access to the technology while only 69% of urban homes have a broadband line.