Is enterprise VoIP (voice over IP) due for a security wakeup call or are the threats mostly exaggerated? It depends on who's talking. "The security aspects of enterprise VoIP have been overblown," says Irwin Lazar, senior analyst at the Burton Group. "There's a lot more attention being paid to the fear of attack than what is actually possible."

Roger Farnsworth, manager of marketing for Secure IP Communications at Cisco, concurs: "VoIP systems can be at least as secure as traditional voice systems, and future IP technologies and voice applications will make them even more secure."