Customers must upgrade firewalls, expert advises

Customers must ensure that their firewalls are properly updated in order to prevent security threats that could damage their computers, making their VoIP services unavailable.

Having an old firewall leaves people prone to increasingly sophisticated attacks, with infrastructure specialist Teneo discovering that 43 per cent of companies are keeping their firewalls for as long as four to six years.

As well as this, 20 per cent of businesses use the same firewall for an even longer period of time.

Lauren Fortune, head of marketing, Teneo, said: "The survey makes it clear that the majority of organisations are struggling on with older first generation firewalls that do not provide any visibility or control in terms of employee desktop usage or specific applications."

It comes after TV presenter and tech journalist Lucy Hedges warned that internet safety is still a major concern for internet users, with many being discouraged by stories of viruses that have totally crashed computers.