Practical Cisco Unified Communications Security

Master the foundations of modern Cisco Unified Communications (UC) system security
This guide helps you build foundational knowledge for securing modern Cisco Unified Communications environments that support voice, video, messaging, and meetings, and support different types of real-time collaboration capabilities based on mobile/remote access and mobile devices based on bring-your-own-device (BYOD) initiatives.

Writing for administrators and managers, two Cisco collaboration experts bring together methods and insights to illuminate both the why and the how of effective collaboration security. Using the proven Explain, Demonstrate, and Verify methodology, they explain each threat, demonstrate remediation, and show how to confirm correct implementation. You'll walk through securing each attack surface in a logical progression, across each Cisco UC application domain.

The authors address key updates to Cisco collaboration architecture, including Expressway, Cisco Meeting Server, encryption enhancements, and advanced business-to-business collaboration. You'll find quick-reference checklists in each chapter, and links to more detail wherever needed.

• Begin by protecting your workforce through basic physical security and life/safety techniques
• Understand how attackers seek to compromise your UC system's network environmentand your best countermeasures
• Maintain security across all UC deployment types n Protect core UC applications by locking down and hardening the core operating system
• Use encryption to protect media and signaling, and enforce secure authentication
• Secure Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Cisco Unity Connection, and Cisco Meeting Server
• Deploy Session Border Controllers to provide security controls for VoIP and video traffic
• Provide additional protection at the edge of the network
• Safeguard cloud-based and hybrid-cloud services
• Enable organizations to seamlessly and securely connect to cloud UC services
• Allow remote teleworker users to connect safely to local UC resources

Sample Pages

Download the sample pages (includes Chapter 3)

Table of Contents

    Introduction xix
Chapter 1 The Importance of Practical UC Security 1
    Identifying the Threat Landscape 2
    The Danger of Shadow IT 4
    Balancing Operations and Security 5
    Minimizing Complexity 7
    Visibility and Management 10
    Introduction to ACME: Case Study 11
    Summary 13
    Additional Resources 14
Chapter 2 Physical Security and Life Safety 15
    Introduction to Physical Security and Life Safety 15
    Life and Safety Considerations 28
    Summary 53
    Additional Resources 54
Chapter 3 Security Through Network Fundamentals 55
    Introduction to Network Security 57
    Segmentation 58
    Micro Segmentation 59
    Secure Network Access 64
    Security Features 75
    Firewalls and Access Controls 84
    Continuous Monitoring 86
    Summary 86
    Additional Resources 87
Chapter 4 Maintaining Security Across UC Deployment Types 89
    Common Enterprise Collaboration Deployment Models and Security Considerations 90
    An Overview of How to Secure Cluster Communications 96
    NTP Authentication Enablement and Verification 100
    Securing Intra-Cluster Signaling and Traffic 103
    Securing the Signaling Traffic to IOS Voice and Analog Gateways 110
    Securing the Integration with Cisco Emergency Responder 118
    Summary 123
    Additional Resources 124
Chapter 5 Hardening the Core Cisco UC Appliance Operating Systems 125
    Defining the Core UC Applications 126
    Hardening the Voice Operating System 138
    Performing OS Lockdown via CLI 147
    Summary 159
    Additional Resources 159
Chapter 6 Core Cisco UC Application Lockdown 161
    Types of Users in Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Cisco Unity Connection 162
    Strengthening Local User Account Controls 163
    Importing End Users from a LDAP Directory 175
    Using Single Sign-On to Simplify the Login Experience 186
    Synching End Users Between Unity Connection and Unified CM Using
    Locking Down the GUI 201
    Enabling System Monitoring Using SNMP and Syslog 204
    Disaster Recovery Planning and Best Practices 213
    Summary 214
    Additional Resources 214
Chapter 7 Encrypting Media and Signaling 217
    Licensing (Encryption License) and Allowing Export Restrictions Requirements 218
    FIPS Considerations When Enabling Secure Signaling and Media Encryption 222
    Public Key Infrastructure Overview 222
    TFTP File Encryption 237
    Overview of the Endpoint Registration Process 239
    Applying the Secure Phone Profiles and LSC to the Phones 264
    Summary 271
    Additional Resources 271
Chapter 8 Securing Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco) 273
    Endpoint Hardening 274
    Secure Conferencing 276
    Conference Now 298
    Smart Licensing 298
    Summary 302
    Additional Resources 303
Chapter 9 Securing Cisco Unity Connection 305
    Baseline Security Considerations Overview 306
    Securing User Access to the Unity Connection 311
    Securely Integrating Unity Connection with Unified CM 316
    Preventing Toll Fraud in Unity Connection 325
    Summary 336
    Additional Resources 337
Chapter 10 Securing Cisco Meeting Server 339
    CMS Overview and Deployment Modes 340
    Operating System Hardening 342
    Infrastructure Considerations 347
    Securing CMS Connections 351
    Certificate Verification 356
    Certificate Assignment 360
    Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) 367
    Inbound and Outbound Calling 370
    Summary 381
    Additional Resources 382
Chapter 11 Securing the Edge 383
    Business Requirements for the Collaboration Edge 383
    Cisco's Collaboration Edge Architecture 384
    Deploying CUBE 388
    Security Features Within Expressway 403
    Deploying Mobile and Remote Access 406
    Defending Against Attacks at the Edge 420
    B2B Connectivity 422
    Summary 424
    Additional Resources 425
Chapter 12 Securing Cloud and Hybrid Cloud Services 427
    Business Drivers for Cloud and Hybrid UC Services 428
    Coordinating for Governance and Compliance 430
    Considerations for Secure Calling 433
    Securing Messaging Services 446
    Meeting Management and Security Controls 456
    Security Across Emerging Features 463
    IoT Security 467
    Summary 470
    Additional Resources 470
Afterword 471


TOC, 9780136654452, 11/5/2020

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