IP Library Granted Patent US 9,736,176
Granted Patent B2
US 9,736,176 · App. 14/789,844 · Granted Aug 15, 2017

System and method for detecting security exposures of VOIP devices

Inventors: Michael Machado (Santa Clara, CA); James Savory (Fremont, CA); Andrey Bogdanov (Arkhangelsk, RU)
Assignee: RingCentral, Inc.
H04L63/1433G06F21/577H04L12/66H04L63/1408H04L65/1059H04L65/1069H04L12/56H04M3/42H04Q7/20
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,736,176
App. No.
14/789,844
Granted
Aug 15, 2017
Kind
B2
Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for detecting security exposures of Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) devices. One of the methods includes obtaining data identifying a source Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with a communication device that has been provisioned with configuration files for VOIP services; determining that a VOIP phone configuration interface is exposed over an untrusted network at the source IP address; and determining that the communication device associated with the source IP address has a security exposure based at least in part on determining that the VOIP phone configuration interface is exposed over the untrusted network at the source IP address.

Claims (50)

1. A method for determining if a communication device that has been provisioned with configuration files for Voice Over IP (VOIP) services has a security exposure, the method comprising:

obtaining data identifying a source Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with the communication device;

submitting a request to the source IP address over an untrusted network;

determining that a user interface is provided in response to the request submitted to the source IP address over the untrusted network;

determining that a VOIP phone configuration interface is exposed over the untrusted network at the source IP address based at least in part on determining that the user interface is provided in response to the request submitted to the source IP address over the untrusted network; and

determining that the communication device associated with the source IP address has a security exposure based at least in part on determining that the VOIP phone configuration interface is exposed over the untrusted network at the source IP address.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the untrusted network is the Internet.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to determining that the communication device associated with the source IP address has a security exposure, triggering an update to configuration data for the communication device.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

determining that the user interface provided in response to the request is not password protected, wherein the update to the configuration data for the communication device adds password protection for the interface.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

determining that the user interface provided in response to the request is password protected with a default password, wherein the update to the configuration data for the communication device changes the default password to a temporary password that is stronger than the default password.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that a VOIP phone configuration interface is exposed over an untrusted network at the source IP address further comprises:

determining that the user interface is a VOIP phone configuration interface used to configure operation of the communication device associated with the source IP address.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining that the user interface is a VOIP phone configuration interface comprises:

identifying one or more heuristics associated with VOIP phone configuration interfaces;

comparing the user interface to the one or more heuristics; and

determining that the user interface satisfies the one or more heuristics.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the one or more heuristics include a presence of more than a threshold number of keywords indicative of a VOIP phone configuration interface.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the keywords are specific to a type of the communication device.

10. A system comprising one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that when executed by the one or more computers cause the one or more computers to perform operations for determining if a communication device that has been provisioned with configuration files for Voice Over IP (VOIP) services has a security exposure, the operations comprising:

obtaining data identifying a source Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with the communication device;

submitting a request to the source IP address over an untrusted network;

determining that a user interface is provided in response to the request submitted to the source IP address over the untrusted network;

determining that a VOIP phone configuration interface is exposed over the untrusted network at the source IP address based at least in part on determining that the user interface is provided in response to the request submitted to the source IP address over the untrusted network; and

determining that the communication device associated with the source IP address has a security exposure based at least in part on determining that the VOIP phone configuration interface is exposed over the untrusted network at the source IP address.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the untrusted network is the Internet.

12. The system of claim 10 , the operations further comprising:

in response to determining that the communication device associated with the source IP address has a security exposure, triggering an update to configuration data for the communication device.

13. The system of claim 12 , the operations further comprising:

determining that the user interface provided in response to the request is not password protected, wherein the update to the configuration data for the communication device adds password protection for the interface.

14. The system of claim 12 , the operations further comprising:

determining that the user interface provided in response to the request is password protected with a default password, wherein the update to the configuration data for the communication device changes the default password to a temporary password that is stronger than the default password.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein determining that a VOIP phone configuration interface is exposed over an untrusted network at the source IP address further comprises:

determining that the user interface is a VOIP phone configuration interface used to configure operation of the communication device associated with the source IP address.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein determining that the user interface is a VOIP phone configuration interface comprises:

identifying one or more heuristics associated with VOIP phone configuration interfaces;

comparing the user interface to the one or more heuristics; and

determining that the user interface satisfies the one or more heuristics.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the one or more heuristics include a presence of more than a threshold number of keywords indicative of a VOIP phone configuration interface.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the keywords are specific to a type of the communication device.

19. A computer program product encoded on one or more non-transitory computer storage media, the computer program comprising instructions that when executed by one or more computers cause the one or more computers to perform operations for determining if a communication device that has been provisioned with configuration files for Voice Over IP (VOIP) services has a security exposure, the operations comprising:

obtaining data identifying a source Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with the communication device;

submitting a request to the source IP address over an untrusted network;

determining that a user interface is provided in response to the request submitted to the source IP address over the untrusted network;

determining that a VOIP phone configuration interface is exposed over the untrusted network at the source IP address based at least in part on determining that the user interface is provided in response to the request submitted to the source IP address over the untrusted network; and

determining that the communication device associated with the source IP address has a security exposure based at least in part on determining that the VOIP phone configuration interface is exposed over the untrusted network at the source IP address.

20. The computer program product of claim 19 , wherein determining that a VOIP phone configuration interface is exposed over an untrusted network at the source IP address comprises:

determining that the user interface is a VOIP phone configuration interface used to configure operation of the communication device associated with the source IP address.

Assignments (2)
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Feb 14, 2023
From: RINGCENTRAL, INC.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 062973/0194 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 28, 2016
From: MACHADO, MICHAEL; SAVORY, JAMES; BOGDANOV, ANDREY
To: RINGCENTRAL, INC.
Reel/Frame 039033/0649 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation 14231667 · Mar 31, 2014
Related Publication 20150304352A1 · Oct 22, 2015