Businesses warned on phone hacking

There has been a marked increase in the illicit hacking of telephone exchanges in the first six months of this year, according to figures released by the communications regulator.

Comreg investigated 22 complaints from businesses and organisations that believed their phone systems have been used to make illegal phone calls. Of these, 21 complaints were deemed valid.

This compares with a total of 25 complaints made in 2010.

The practice, which Comreg was quick to stress is not comparable to the recent hacking scandal in the United Kingdom, involves the hacking of private telephone exchanges to enable calls to be made remotely by the hacker.

Attacks usually occur when the premises is empty or when telephone use is not monitored.

The practice can end up costing thousands of euro, and business owners are being advised to ensure their security software is up to date.

Comreg has called on businesses to take preventative measures and to contact their service provider to ensure their system has the latest security software installed.

Hacking attacks on telephone exchanges have cost victims €93,945 in the first six months of 2011.