Pat, the Editor

27 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981

Previous Issue (Only one)
Classified Ads
TD Extra News

Add this Digest to your personal   or  

 
 
Message Digest 
Volume 28 : Issue 36 : "text" Format

Messages in this Issue:
  911 service not prepared for new generation of pranksters
  Re: 911 service not prepared for new generation of pranksters    


====== 27 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
Internet.  All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and
the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other
journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are
included in the fair use quote.  By using -any name or email address-
included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article
herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the
email.

               ===========================

Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be
sold or given away without explicit written consent.  Chain letters,
viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome.

We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we
are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because
we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands
against crime.   Geoffrey Welsh

               ===========================

See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details
and the name of our lawyer, and other stuff of interest.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2009 00:36:38 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: 911 service not prepared for new generation of pranksters
Message-ID: <p06240812c5aed82f8042@[10.0.1.6]>


911 service not prepared for new generation of pranksters

Prank callers are using VoIP and caller ID spoofing services to pull 
expensive wool over the eyes of 911 call centers. Solutions are 
available to bring these centers into the 21st century, but even the 
cheapest ones are priced outside the realm of the aging service.

By David Chartier | Last updated February 2, 2009 7:30

The Internet and the hooligans who exploit it have evolved over the 
past few years, but sadly, America's 911 service hasn't kept up. 
Pranksters are wreaking havoc on the service and on call center 
budgets by placing fake calls through a flaw in the way the aging 
emergency phone system handles VoIP networks.

After paying a small fee to one of the readily available caller ID 
spoofing services available on the Web, a prank caller with a grudge 
or a serious psychological problem can call 911 and tell the operator 
just about any story he or she wants. Since the 911 system wasn't 
built with VoIP in mind, these calls appear to originate from 
anywhere, and said hooligans take full advantage of the opportunity. 
The practice has been dubbed "swatting," typically because the 
spoofed emergency stories that these troubled individuals make up are 
horrible enough to send police and even SWAT teams to unsuspecting 
victims on the other side of town or the continent.

The AP reports one recent incident that occurred in 2007, when 
18-year-old Randal Ellis in Mukilteo, WA falsified his location and 
called a 911 support center in Orange County, CA. For 27 minutes, 
Ellis spun a story about drugs and murder that sent the Orange County 
Sherriff's department SWAT team to the house of Doug and Stacey 
Bates. Ellis told the operator that he was high and had just shot his 
sister, and after police stormed the house, Doug and Stacey were 
handcuffed.

This was just one of the 185 calls Ellis made to 911 call centers 
around the US, according to Yahoo Tech, and the Bates family was 
picked at random. After being caught, the teen pleaded to five felony 
felony counts that include computer access and fraud, as well as 
false imprisonment by violence, and was sentenced to serve three 
years in prison. Another major case involved eight people who 
arranged over 300 swatting calls, while another in 2006 involved a 
teen in Dallas, TX who made up a story about killing family members 
and threatening hostages with an AK-47.

...

http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2009/02/911-service-not-prepared-for-new-generation-of-pranksters.ars


------------------------------

Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2009 10:44:36 -0800 (PST)
From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: 911 service not prepared for new generation of pranksters    
Message-ID: <c10ba2c5-d4db-4339-88c0-18be3b53d006@r27g2000vbp.googlegroups.com>

On Feb 4, 11:39 am, Monty Solomon <mo...@roscom.com> wrote:
> 911 service not prepared for new generation of pranksters
>
> Prank callers are using VoIP and caller ID spoofing services to pull
> expensive wool over the eyes of 911 call centers. Solutions are
> available to bring these centers into the 21st century, but even the
> cheapest ones are priced outside the realm of the aging service.

First, I don't believe 911 (or inward 800) use 'caller id', but rather
a more secure ANI to get the calling number.

Second, if any VOIP system is unable to provide a proper ANI and meet
all other existing standards, it should be forbidden to connect to the
POTS network.  It's up to VOIP to modify itself to be compatible with
the existing network.  It's utterly not fair to expect users of the
existing network to pay extra to modify it to accomodate newcomer
VOIP.

Third, I believe almost all 911 centers record all calls and have done
so for years.  Thus, pranksters leave some identification behind.


------------------------------



TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecom-
munications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in
addition to Usenet, where it appears as the moderated newsgroup
'comp.dcom.telecom'.

TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational
service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents
of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in
some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work
and that of the original author.

The Telecom Digest is currently being moderated by Bill Horne while
Pat Townson recovers from a stroke. 

Contact information:    Bill Horne
                        Telecom Digest
                        43 Deerfield Road
                        Sharon MA 02067-2301
                        781-784-7287
                        bill at horne dot net

Subscribe:  telecom-request@telecom-digest.org?body=subscribe telecom
Unsubscribe: mailto:telecom-request@telecom-digest.org?body=unsubscribe telecom

This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm-
unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and
published continuously since then.  Our archives are available for
your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list
on the internet in any category!

URL information: http://telecom-digest.org

Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/
  (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives)

RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html
For syndication examples see http://feeds.feedburner.com/telecomDigest

Copyright (C) 2008 TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved.
Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA.

              ************************

   ---------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.
Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing
your name to the mailing list. 

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the
author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only
and messages should not be considered any official expression by the
organization.

End of The Telecom digest (2 messages)
******************************

Return to Archives**Older Issues