Asterisk VoIP News

Fugitive VoIP hacker admits 10 million minute deal for $1 million

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:28:41 -0800

A Miami hacker has admitted he pocketed more than $1m by selling millions of minutes of voice over IP calls and surreptitiously routing them through the networks of telecommunications companies. Edwin Andrew Pena pleaded guilty to two felonies in connection with the hacking spree, which spanned the years 2004 through 2006, according to court documents. He was apprehended last year in Mexico after skipping out on a $100,000 bond secured by the mother of his then girlfriend.

Apple iPad:The Missing Features

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:44:14 -0800

There’s no doubt that the upcoming Apple iPad will kick the asses of all netbooks, tablet PCs, and e-readers, but it’s by far the perfect unit that we had hoped for from Apple. But then again, neither was the original iPhone.

How could it have been better?

Here’s a list of things we felt strongly about. Post yours in the comments section below. Please keep the tampon jokes to a minimum.

Digium launches 'app store' for the Asterisk PBX

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:40:30 -0800

Ever since Apple adapted their wildly successfull iTunes music store to sell apps for the iPhone, technology vendors everywhere have been trying to find opportunities to replicate the innovation. Now Digium is launching AsteriskExchange--while not quite a true app store--it's a marketplace and reviews site for Asterisk's open source community.

CounterPath Introduces Bria for Asterisk (SIP / VoIP Softphone Client)

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:57:43 -0800

CounterPath and Digium recently launched Bria for Asterisk, a co-branded VoIP softphone solution that’s pre-integrated with the open source Asterisk platform. Todd Carothers, vice president of product management at CounterPath, says the idea was to start by simply bringing the Bria Professional enterprise-grade softphone to Asterisk in as straightforward a manner as possible. "We’ve done interoperability testing against the Asterisk platform, particularly from a Digium perspective—and we have IM, video and presence available for the solution," he says.

Apple Tablet "iSlate" Broadband Carrier Comparison

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:46:22 -0800

With news that Apple's new tablet computer could be available on both Verizon and AT&T's networks, the question becomes which carrier will offer users more bang for their bucks. Let's start with overall 3G coverage, where Verizon uses a CDMA-based EV-DO Rev. A network and AT&T uses a GSM-based HSPA network. As you probably know through Verizon's gleeful pummeling of AT&T with its "There's a Map for That" ads, AT&T's 3G network covers far less area than Verizon's.

General Dynamics Receives NSA Certification for Sectera vIPer Phone with PSTN Support

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:40:47 -0800

The National Security Agency (NSA) has certified the Sectera vIPer Universal Secure Phone enabled with Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) connectivity for voice communications classified at the Top Secret level and below.

The Sectera vIPer Phone with PSTN Connect allows U.S. military and government personnel to make both classified and unclassified calls using traditional telephone networks via one high-end office desktop phone. The Sectera vIPer Phone is a secure communication product manufactured by General Dynamics C4 Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics.

DataJack launches USB modem with $40/month unlimited 3G data plans

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:35:49 -0800

If you want a USB modem that will provide mobile broadband access in the US, you’ll usually have to sign up for a 2 year contract and commit to paying $60 per month for up to 5GB of data transfers. Or, you can sign up for a new DataJack modem which costs about $100 up front and $40 per month thereafter for unlimited data. Oh yeah, and there’s no contract, so you could use the service for a month or two, cancel it, and then sign up again half a year later.

Cisco Files to Patent to Enter the Search Engine Business

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:06:26 -0800

Editor's Note: Here's a novel idea, maybe there are websites that people want to be private and if they wanted the search engines to know about them then they would let them know. I think Cisco is making a pretty big assumption here. I would rather see the search engines themselves deploy this gear in their datacenters and use it for people doing searches on their indexes and use that data to do inclusions if at all. But I would not like to see this as a new standard deployed everywhere.

One of the limitations of search engines such as Google (GOOG) or Microsoft’s (MSFT) Bing that crawl the web looking for links is that they can only tell you about what they’ve finally come upon. That still leaves vast amounts of material as yet to be “discovered.” A patent application from Cisco (CSCO) suggests a clever way to help update the engines — and to make a manufacturer of network equipment an important part of yet another industry.

VoIP racket busted and equipment seized

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 12:08:43 -0800

KATHMANDU: An investigation team dispatched from Metropolitan Police Crime Division raided a well-equipped underground call centre in Ravibhawan and arrested a racketeer for his involvement in flouting telecommunication laws recently.

The accused Anwar Hussein (24), who hails from Kolkata-24 Porguna, India, and his two accomplices were found to be operating VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) from a rented three-storey building, illegally blocking Nepal Telecom’s gateway, thus inflicting a loss of millions. While, the other accused, Bharat Lal Shrestha (27), hailing from Chaugada-3, Nuwakot, and another named Raju are at large. Raju’s details were still sketchy.

Asterisk PBX 1.6.1.12 Now Available

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:08:23 -0800

The Asterisk Development Team has announced the release of Asterisk PBX 1.6.1.12.

This release is available for immediate download at
http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/asterisk/

The release of Asterisk 1.6.1.12 resolved several issues reported by the community, and would have not been possible without your participation. Thank you!

* Fix multiple issues with musiconhold, which led to classes not getting
   destroyed properly.
   (closes issues #16279, #16207), reported by: parisioa, dcabot, patched by:
   tilghman, tested by: parisioa, tilghman

* Fix compatibility with valgrind 3.3 and older.
   (noticed in issue #16388), reported by: parisioa, patched by: atis, tested
   by: atis, parisioa

* Prevent double closing of FDs by EIVR
   (closes issue #16305), reported by: diLLec, patched, tested by: thedavidfactor

* Send ack (response/message) after receiving manager action userevent
   (closes issue #16264), reported, patched by: dimas

* Make manager response to "Action: events" finish with empty line
   (closes issue #16275), reported, patched by: vnovy

This release also contains significant improvements to T.38 support. Anyone who has tried T.38 faxing in the past should try again as most problems should now be resolved.

A summary of changes in this release can be found in the release summary:
http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/asterisk/asterisk-1.6.1.12-summary.txt

For a full list of changes in this releases, please see the ChangeLog:
http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/asterisk/ChangeLog-1.6.1.12

Thank you for your continued support of Asterisk!

Asterisk PBX 1.4.28 Now Available

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:04:43 -0800

The Asterisk Development Team has announced the release of Asterisk PBX 1.4.28. This release is available for immediate download at
http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/asterisk/

The release of Asterisk 1.4.28 resolved several issues reported by the community, and would have not been possible without your participation. Thank you!

* Send ack (response/message) after receiving manager action userevent
   (closes issue #16264), reported, patched by: dimas

* Do not modify the gain settings on data calls in chan_dahdi.
   (closes issue #15972), reported by: udosw, patched, tested by: alecdavis

* fixes solaris segfault on dial with verbosity >= 3
   (closes issue #16193), reported by: asgaroth, patched by: snuffy, tested by:
   snuffy, asgaroth

* fixes conditional jump or move depending on uninitialised STACK value
   (closes issue #16261), reported, patched by: edguy3

* Copy the peer CDR's userfield to the bridge CDR if it exists.
   (closes issue #14590), reported by: msetim, patched by Laureano, tested by:
   Laureano, mnicholson

A summary of changes in this release can be found in the release summary:
http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/asterisk/asterisk-1.4.28-summary.txt

For a full list of changes in this releases, please see the ChangeLog:
http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/asterisk/ChangeLog-1.4.28

Thank you for your continued support of Asterisk!

Intel has no plans to bid for Wimax spectrum

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:45:55 -0800

Chip maker Intel, a key player in the wireless broadband technology (Wimax), today said it has no plans to bid for Wimax spectrum auction, which is due to happen later next month.

"We have no such plans (to bid for Wimax spectrum auction) it is for the operator to go for this. We will do what we are best at... to make platform and get the devices up there," Intel South Asia Managing Director (Sales and Marketing) R Sivakumar said here.

Sivakumar was replying to a query if Intel being a pioneer in deploying wireless technology in the world would be interested to bid for Wimax spectrum auction scheduled to happen in January.

Yesterday, Intel and BSNL launched wireless broadband services in Jaipur.

Source: PTI

FCC plans to formalize Internet rules on net neutrality draw fire

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:47:52 -0800

The Internet has long adhered to one basic principle: Nobody's in charge. That hallmark owes to the Internet's grand design. It's basically a global confederation of unrelated computers, making it impervious to hurricanes, earthquakes and other disasters. Hackers regularly attack, but can't shut it down. Governments, try as they might, also can't control it. That doesn't mean the Internet is meddle-proof.

Asterisk PBX 1.2.37, 1.4.27.1, 1.6.0.19, and 1.6.1.11 Available

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:06:28 -0800

The Asterisk Development Team has announced the release of Asterisk 1.2.37, 1.4.27.1, 1.6.0.19, and 1.6.1.11. These releases are available for immediate download at http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/asterisk/

These releases have been created in response to a SIP remote crash vulnerability.

Additionally, Asterisk versions 1.4.27.1, 1.6.0.19, and 1.6.1.11 also contain an SDP regression fix as described in issue #16268.

Asterisk 1.6.0.19, and 1.6.1.11 contain an additional SDP regression fix as described by issue #16238.

Information about the SDP issues can be found at:
https://issues.asterisk.org/view.php?id=16268
https://issues.asterisk.org/view.php?id=16238

For more information about the details of this vulnerability, please read the security advisory AST-2009-010, which was released at the same time as this announcement.

The security advisory is available at
http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/security/AST-2009-010.pdf

For a full list of changes in the current releases, please see the ChangeLogs:
http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/asterisk/ChangeLog-1.2.37
http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/asterisk/ChangeLog-1.4.27.1
http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/asterisk/ChangeLog-1.6.0.19
http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/asterisk/ChangeLog-1.6.1.11

Thank you for your continued support of Asterisk!

Skype courting traditional wireless carriers

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:50:23 -0800

After years of stealing telecom service share from traditional providers, Skype is looking to cozy up with carriers. The company recently broke free of legal entanglements between its former parent, eBay, and its founders. Its chief operating officer resigned, heading to the U.S. to "pursue career interests within the global Fortune 500 technology, telecommunications and media industry."