Net-SAFE—the security framework for SBCs

Denial-of-service (DoS) and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks will become everyday threats for enterprise networks as they become connected to other IP networks. As usage of real-time IP voice, video and multimedia services grows, they become a more prominent target for attack. In some cases, busy time and abnormal conditions or events cause increases in call signaling rates which go beyond what the enterprise infrastructure can support, resulting in network conditions that are similar to DoS attacks.

The session border controller (SBC) is in a unique position to defend the enterprise infrastructure from attack and overload, since it provides the first point of communication and defense at the edge of the network. Our products have always provided advanced security features in many areas, and our ongoing enhancements continue to raise the bar for SBC security services.

The Net-SAFE (Session Aware Filtering and Enforcement) framework identifies the requirements that a SBC must satisfy to protect:

• The SBC itself
• The service infrastructure (e.g. IP PBXs, unified communication servers, SIP servers, application servers, media servers or media gateways)
• Enterprise security, including confidentiality and privacy