SPIT

SPIT to make up 70% of calls?

by alec on January 30, 2007

BusinessWeek reports that NEC has been raising the alarm on spam over VoIP, otherwise known as SPIT (spam on Internet Telephony).Â Some estimates place the potential volume of SPIT as high as 40% to 70% of all calls.Â

iotum, of course, was engineered with this in mind.Â A trivial use case for the iotumÂ Relevance EngineÂ is to compare theÂ incoming callers identity to aÂ list of known callers, and simply block callers which are unknown.Â We have experienced a new kind of SPIT attack recently, however, which spoofs the caller ID with the users own extension number.Â Someone has been leaving two and four minute long jokes in our voicemail boxes… Â Â

SPIT levels may not reach the 70% levels that NEC is predicting, but those who claim that it isn’t an issue are deluding themselves.Â It’s out there.Â

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SPIT: Is It Just Telemarketing?

by alec on March 19, 2006

Dan York asks whether SPIT is any different from telemarketing, because if it isn’t, then why differentiate? My take is that IP telephony can lower the costs of telemarketing, which potentially makes it a more attractive medium for advertisers. More importantly, though, the potential exists for rampant abuse with IP based "auto-dialers" and recorded messages. Imagine a world where thousands of recorded messages are delivered near instantaneously to IP accessible voice mail boxes. That’s the threat behind SPIT. It’s years away, though. The majority of the population would have to be on VoIP already for it to be truly cost effective.

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Spoofing Caller ID

November 15, 2005

Don’t try this at home: Spoofing Caller ID with Asterisk. SPIT. It’s coming. ‘Nuff said.

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Oh SPIT!

September 26, 2005

It’s really remarkable the complete and utter tripe that some "news" organizations will publish. The object of my disdain today is the Vancouver Sun. Writer Gillian Shaw has published one of the silliest, and most hysterical pieces on phone spam that one could imagine. Titled "Phone spam a security risk", it purports to be about [...]