[VOIPSEC] Telephony Denial of Service (TDoS)

[Mark Collier]

I assume most everyone has seen the FBI press release on Telephony
Denial of Service (TDoS). For those who have not, see:

 

http://newark.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel10/nk051110.htm

 

I am also seeing the term used to describe enterprise-directed DoS,
where an attacker typically floods a contact center with calls. I have
recently worked with both enterprises, service providers, and hosted IVR
companies that have seen these attacks. The current motive seems to be
traffic pumping/revenue generation, not DoS per se, but the side impact
is that operation at the target sites is degraded or seriously
disrupted, depending on call volume and trunk capacity. Interestingly,
the targets I have talked to are primarily using TDM trunks, while the
attackers (according to the service providers I have talked to) are
using VoIP. I have a post on my blog with more information:

 

http://voipsecurityblog.typepad.com/marks_voip_security_blog/2010/06/mor
e-on-telephony-dos-tdos.html

 

Is anyone else seeing these attacks?