Massachusetts-based startup Covergence Inc. believes it has cooked up a cure for some of the risks associated with implementing new SIP-based applications (see SIP Guide).
With new session initiation protocol (SIP) applications like VOIP, instant messaging, and audio/video conferencing taking root at service providers, the operators need a way to secure and provide quality of service (QOS) for those applications, according to the startup, which was founded in 2003 and has raised $16 million in venture funding.
Covergence is set to introduce a carrier-grade security and management solution (see Tekelec Reports Q2, Buys SIP Vendor). The product will serve as an early response system for SIP threats like hacking, spying, eavesdropping, spamming, hijacking, viruses, and denial-of-service attacks.
While Covergence isnt letting go of many details prior to the launch, Light Reading has learned that the product consists of a series of network appliances that report SIP security and service availability problems to a central monitoring and control point (see Cisco IOS Hole Points to VOIP Threat).
The company and its VC backers believe many service providers and Fortune 2000 companies have bought into the SIP concept, but didnt anticipate the new risk exposure. One investor says that as the SIP boom takes hold, security may have been overlooked.
