Analyzing Polycom(R) Video Conference Traffic

Using H.323 with videoconferencing (VC) has been the method of choice for conducting remote meetings and presentations for many private and public sector organizations. Polycom, a popular vendor for videoconference products, provides hardware and software solutions for these purposes. Securing these products can be an afterthought because of the complex technologies involved as well as physical requirements for setup. There are many protocols that can be used in videoconferencing using Polycom equipment and many of these have been covered extensively. With the use of H.323 in most Polycom VC calls, it seems this protocol should be covered in more detail and the security considerations when implementing it within a network. Included with this review will be some IDS signatures that can be used to secure a Polycom videoconferencing system. Descriptions of some open source telephony tools will also be tested against these systems.