Case Study:

VitalPBX Meets Enterprise IP-PBX Needs with FreeSBC

Background

VitalPBX, a LLC Company based in Delaware, USA with offices in Miami, USA and Panama, is a software development firm that offers a free telephone and communications software package designed for businesses and enterprises. A complete communications package, VitalPBX acts as business-friendly interface for Linux-based Asterisk (one of the most popular communication toolkits in the world). With flexible deployment options, VitalPBX can be installed on COTS server hardware on site or as a hosted application in the cloud. Offered as a “freemium” software product, VitalPBX is available as a free download with community support, or as paid version with additional features and professional support.

Sold via an on-line store, VitalPBX has been deployed in over 100 countries and is available directly on the web at www.vitalpbx.org

“As our VitalPBX project grew, it was clear that we needed to address the network security requirements to satisfy the growing number of mid-market and enterprise buyers”

—Rodrigo Cuadra, co-founder and CEO of VitalPBX

Challenges

Deployments of VitalPBX often need to support remote offices or work-from-home users, requiring access via the Internet.  However, with Internet connectivity comes several security issues – primary being defending again SIP scanners that try to penetrate end-customer networks.

“As our VitalPBX project grew, it was clear that we needed to address the network security requirements to satisfy the growing number of mid-market and enterprise buyers”, said Rodrigo Cuadra, co-founder and CEO of VitalPBX.

As the technicians at VitalPBX discovered, SIP scanners can find and begin attacking internet-connected IP-PBXs within an hour of their activation.  Launched by international fraudsters, SIP scanners are constantly looking for poorly protected IP-PBX servers that they can hack and use to initiate fraudulent telephone calls.   Their goal is to use the victim’s IP-PBX to initiate calls to Premium-rate Telephone numbers in poorly regulated nations.  These fraudulent calls can quickly ring up $100,000 in toll charges a few days’ time.

It was clear that VitalPBX needed to find a true SBC that:

  1. Could protect against the SIP scanners and other threats
  2. That supported Registration and Subscription forwarding
  3. Included a Back-to-Back User Agent (B2BUA) to protect both signaling and media
  4. Was affordable and matched their business model

“Starting with our own in-house system, we feel it is important for our customers to protect their VitalPBX systems from potential attack.  FreeSBC is an excellent fit for VitalPBX users”

—Rodrigo Cuadra

Solution

To meet the needs of their growing customer base, Rodrigo and his technical team at VitalPBX selected TelcoBridges’ FreeSBC session border controller software.

“Starting with our own in-house system, we feel it is important for our customers to protect their VitalPBX systems from potential attack”, noted Rodrigo.  “FreeSBC is an excellent fit for VitalPBX users”

Installed on either a stand-alone COTS server, or a virtualized server, FreeSBC is placed on the network between the Internet and the VitalPBX server(s).  In this configuration, FreeSBC provides protection again SIP scanners, DOS/DDOS and other attacks.

Beyond SIP security, FreeSBC also offers other protections against un-authorized calling through black-lists and toll-fraud detection.  Other useful features include load balancing (for scaling) and SIP header manipulation, helping resolve compatibility issues with IP Phones or VoIP client software.

“With FreeSBC, we now have a comprehensive IP-PBX solution for the mid-market and enterprise markets. We also gain flexibility to implement fraud detection, scaling and other enhancements”

—Rodrigo Cuadra

Results

With the selection of FreeSBC, VitalPBX now has a solution that meets the security and scaling requirements for large business and enterprise customers, expanding their addressable market.

“With FreeSBC, we now have a comprehensive IP-PBX solution for the mid-market and enterprise markets”, notes Rodrigo. “We also gain flexibility to implement fraud detection, scaling and other enhancements”.

As their recommended session border controller solution, VitalPBX has published installation and integration instructions for FreeSBC at: https://vitalpbx.org/en/freesbc-integration-with-vitalpbx/