VoIP Services – Boon or Bane

VoIP is short for Voice over Internet Protocol. Voice over Internet Protocol is a category of hardware and software that enables people to use the Internet as the transmission medium for telephone calls by sending voice data in packets using IP rather than by traditional circuit transmissions of the PSTN. Also referred to as Internet phone or IP telephone, VoIP allows users to make calls over the Internet. In order to make a call, a phone is connected to a network cable, instead of a phone line, or a call is made over a computer, allowing you to bypass the use of traditional phone lines.

Most of the business house today use VoIP. While the technology has countless advantages, it also has its share of disadvantages. Advantages include the huge potential savings and greater scalability of systems. One disadvantage is that it requires a reliable internet connection with high bandwidth availability. VoIP is the technology that converts your voice into a digital signal, allowing you to make a call directly from a computer, a VoIP phone, or other data-driven devices.

In the past two decades the cost of communication has dwindled making the most common person make use of the VoIP service with ease and comfort. Digitization has moved to a next level by effective use of technology in all spheres of life. While most of the verticals have been benefited, one of the verticals which has hampered with the ardent use of technology is law enforcement & judiciary. The faster pace of technology makes investigation of the police officer more difficult and complex and to counter it with the fast pace of technology at the blink of the eye makes conviction all the more difficult.

In a chilling incident a budding and young professor of 29 years from a reputed institute in Pune committed suicide by coming beneath of the train. The professor used to get calls and messages from unknown numbers and those were targeted to harass him mentally and physically. He brought to notice the calls and messages to the law enforcement agencies, but no significant headway in the investigation took place to track and trace the caller. Finally, with no option left he took the gruesome step to end his life.

FIR was registered against the unknown caller and the investigation is going on. After few days another colleague of the deceased got similar type of calls and messages from unknown numbers targeting him on his character. Having seen the dreadful result of his deceased friend committing suicide he immediately made a complaint to the police requesting them to track the perpetrator. Initial investigation revealed that these calls were made from VoIP and the traces of the originating call and the originator was difficult.

The perpetrator used international virtual numbers to harass the victim through calls and also used the same virtual number to operate WhatsApp to send messages through VoIP. Virtual WhatsApp numbers are provided for a specific period of time by the service provider, after which they are disposed off. The worst part is that you don’t require a physical SIM card to activate virtual WhatsApp number and hence not to come on the radar of the cops. The Government initiative of strict KYC to get SIM card is of no relevance as today you can have virtual no. to communicate and also send messages without a SIM card and that too at a neglible cost.

Issues pertaining to investigating VoIP calls and messages:

· Most of the VoIP servers are located outside India and hence tracking them becomes a virtual and a cumbersome exercise

· Jurisdiction becomes a key component while the investigation is carried out

· Virtual numbers allocated for calling and sending messages can be allocated to other persons once they are disposed off by the perpetrator

· No history or log sheets are maintained by the service provider, therefore catching the criminal becomes an impossible task

Steps to be taken to curb calls or messages through virtual numbers:

· Make inventory of all VoIP servers and implement stringent policy for its usage

· Ask the service providers to maintain log sheet and provide it to law enforcement and judiciary as and when required

· Train law enforcement agencies and judicial officers so that the perpetrator is not let scott free

· Amendments in IT ACT 2000 shall be required

While digitization and advancement in technology is an excellent initiative but all doesn’t look good when it comes to investigate and detect technology crimes. A young professor lost his life. Who is to be blamed is the most important question to be answered?

Dr.Harold D’Costa

President – Cyber Security Corporation