[Asterisk-Users] Buzzword bingo: TLS and SRTP

[John Todd]

One of my clients today asked me about TLS support for encryption of 
SIP payloads, and I didn't have an adequate answer as to why it 
wasn't supported or even discussed.  Some archive searching finds 
scant mention of this in reference to Asterisk.  Of course, 
encrypting the SIP payload is only 1/2 the problem; the payload 
itself is the next problem.  I understand that IAX solves these 
issues, but it will be some time before IAX is a "standard" on 
equipment.  Does anyone here use hardphones or softphones that 
support TLS?  Is TLS stillborn?

Speaking of payload encryption, has anyone ever peeked at the Vovida 
SRTP libraries?  They're free (as in, BSD-licensed) and even in C 
(not C++) and found on 
http://www.vovida.org/protocols/downloads/srtp/index.html

Asterisk is sometimes the chicken, sometimes the egg - maybe putting 
TLS and SRTP into Asterisk will cause some more vendors to start 
putting that support into their phones (though some already do!)


JT