[VOIPSEC] VoIP Managed Security Services

[dan_york at Mitel.com]

Mark

> After doing some prelim research on the topic, it appears that many 
> of the known managed security service players do not offer VoIP managed 
> security services.  Is there a difference between VoIP managed security 
> services and IDS/IPS, Firewall, VPN managed security services ? Who are 
> the market leaders in this space ?? Is it really a space ?? Or is it 
> just another word, for managed device support or remote access support 
> via IP versus modem based support ??

I guess my question back to you would be - what are you looking for in a
"VoIP managed security service" that is different from what a regular
"Managed Security Service Provider" (MSSP) would provide?

Or I guess another question is - was your question prompted by seeing
this term being used somewhere?

Typically, most MSSPs seem to offer most or all of:

  - managed firewall configuration, policies, etc.
  - managed IDS/IPS monitoring, reporting, etc.
  - managed VPN services
  - security incident response and management
  - vulnerability protection/monitoring/etc.
  - compliance auditing (SOX, GLB, HIPAA, etc.)
  - management of network devices

All of that done 24x7 by the MSSP staff from their Security Operations
Center (SOC).  Some MSSPs also seem to provide e-mail antivirus, security 
patch management, website protection, etc...  all really varying around 
how much you are willing to pay to have an MSSP handle the issues instead
of your own IT staff.

In that mixture of things, it seems to me that voice is just another 
source of data packets to be monitored/managed/reported/etc. with
different firewall rules to be put in place, etc.  It would seem logical
for MSSPs to just be able to handle voice as part of their other services.

So no, I don't personally see a *fundamental* difference between something 

called "VoIP managed security services" and a regular existing MSSP.
Ultimately it's just more bits running on different ports and with 
different protocols.

Having said that, I could imagine that an MSSP looking to differentiate 
themselves might market their ability to monitor QoS, ensure voice 
priority, or deal with firewall traversal issues and management of ALGs, 
SBCs, etc.  Or perhaps as we gradually move to a world of enterprises 
connected via SIP trunks over the Internet, those MSSPs could offer 
identity assurance/SPIT prevention services... 

... but I personally haven't (yet) seen any MSSPs proclaiming that type
of differentiation. If they are out there, I've missed their ads.

I would be curious, though, to hear the opinions of some of the folks
actually associated with MSSPs (I am not) who are out there on this list.

My 2 cents,
Dan
-- 
Dan York, CISSP
Dir of IP Technology, Office of the CTO
Mitel Corp.     http://www.mitel.com
dan_york at mitel.com +1-613-592-2122
PGP key (F7E3C3B4) available for 
secure communication