--- title: "Securing VoIP Carriers: Start with the CPE Management - ECG" description: "It amazes me that VoIP carriers continue to make a very simple mistake: they setup an FTP server (which is good) to provide the configurations for their SI" --- [![ECG](https://www.ecg.co/hubfs/lp/cloud-migration/logo-vector.svg)](https://www.ecg.co) - Who We Are Company [**About ECG** Learn about the team behind the networks and services that solve real problems.](https://www.ecg.co/about) [**Careers** Join a fun, collaborative, engineer-owned company.](https://www.ecg.co/careers) Industries We Serve [**Enterprises** Optimize multi-site voice networks while meeting compliance requirements.](https://www.ecg.co/sectors/enterprise) [**Universities** Professional services designed for the unique needs of campus networks.](https://www.ecg.co/sectors/universities) [**Government** Engineering services built for government agency voice challenges.](https://www.ecg.co/sectors/government) [**Service Providers** Deep voice expertise to maintain compliance and keep customers connected.](https://www.ecg.co/sectors/service-providers) - Technologies **Carrier & Trunking Services** SIP trunking, resilience & carrier interconnect **Compliance & Call Authentication** STIR/SHAKEN, 603+ & secure signaling **Unified Communications & Collaboration** UC capabilities & platform expertise **Platform Reliability & Security** Infrastructure, capture & network fundamentals ### Carrier & Trunking Services Design, harden, and secure the carrier side of your voice network — from SIP trunking to encrypted media and compliant recording. 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(Google reports 411 web pages documenting "PlcmSpIp" on the Internet right now. 47 of them are published by "site:polycom.com".) But worst of all, they allow anyone in the world to FTP in using these well-publicized credentials, and then actually list all of the CPE configuration files in the directory using FTP. An attacker can then download these configuration files and: - Steal phone service by registering using the credentials documented in the configuration file. - Interrupt a legitimate customer's phone service. - In some cases, he may be able to stealthily intercept telephone calls going to and from the user. There are a number of defenses against this type of exploit. First of all, don't allow the PlcmSpIp (or any other user used by your customers) to actually view the contents of the directory via FTP. This makes it more difficult to download files, because attackers cannot directly view the list of SIP phones in your system. Instead, attackers are forced to guess the MAC addresses of the SIP phones in your system. You can then use approximate defenses, such as blocking users who attempt to download too many non-existent config files. Protecting IP Phone configurations is one key element in a quality VoIP System Security Analysis. ![](https://www.ecg.co/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/missing-image-Mar-25-2024-07-07-22-4234-AM.png?width=1&height=1&name=missing-image-Mar-25-2024-07-07-22-4234-AM.png) ## Similar posts [![When will my SBC Be Out of Gas? Predicting Signaling Element Maximum](https://www.ecg.co/hubfs/ecg-site/blog-listing-placeholder.jpg)](https://www.ecg.co/blog/91-when-will-my-sbc-be-out-of-gas-predicting-signaling-element-maximum-capacity) ### [When will my SBC Be Out of Gas? 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