@hdmoore recently published Video Conferencing weaknesses in a 1hr webcast. Its is kinda interesting but not so much because even though its a real threat, its not a new one, here is why: (this is just summary, for full issue refer Source).
What is affected? How to test?
1. Auto-answer systems (comes default with Polycom). Can be tested using metasploit module. [1]
2. Vulnerable VC systems (Only LifeSize systems has an exploit). Also, can be tested using [2].
3. Default or no passwords. Some vendors like Tandberg have no passwords vulnerability. Patches are already released. [3]
As you can see, the only thing unique above is "auto-answer", which is what the NYT primarily talks about in the article.
Whats the Impact?
1. Access the VC systems, use camera to pan-zoom etc.
2. Access the admin interface (webbased ui) to basically control the whole system.
3. Read passwords, listen to conversation, record from a distance.
What was found in the survey done by hdmoore?
1. Out of 3% random IPs on internet, 250,000 had 1720 port open (h323 port), out of these 5,000 systems had auto-answer.
2. Major vendors: Polycom, LifeSize, Tandberg, Codian, Sorenson.
How to protect?
1. Disable auto-answer
2. Firewall the system
3. Change default passwords
4. Apply patches
5. Enable logging.
These excerpts were taken from the webcast presented by Rapid7, you can access it here (1hr long): http://www.rapid7.com/resources/webcast-boardroom.jsp.
Ref:
[1]: http://metasploit.com/modules/auxiliary/scanner/h323/h323_version
[2] : http://www.metasploit.com/modules/exploit/unix/http/lifesize_room
[3]: http://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20111109-telepresence-c-ex-series