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> I suppose you could fix this by making the phone system fully authenticated. DNS predates SS7 and somehow DNSSEC works just fine. So, probably, there is a tec
by lstamour 3y ago
> I suppose you could fix this by making the phone system fully authenticated. DNS predates SS7 and somehow DNSSEC works just fine. So, probably, there is a technical answer that solves both swatting and spam calls and industry will eventually do it. Is anyone working on anything like that now?
Yes. Slowly, though, like everything telecommunications. You're starting to see the introduction of Stir/Shaken everywhere. For the last six months, various VoIP providers have announced support because calls will get blocked/cut off without it. The deadline was yesterday, actually. https://www.fcc.gov/call-authentication https://www.fcc.gov/call-authentication
Now, this doesn't exactly prevent spoofing from carriers not local to the US or from a number mistakenly added to more than one account, or a hacked voip account (surprisingly common), but it does provide an indicator of what might be valid vs invalid for caller ID phone numbers for destinations within the USA.
Now, whether this actually applies to 911 routing is still maybe a bit up in the air given that E911 was already supposed to exist and provide a location. And technically spoofing a SWAT call would only require a prepaid "burner" phone, and often you get caught anyway. The point maybe is to cause mayhem regardless of whether you get caught or not, so it's not clear if spoofing is required to "swat" in every circumstance. But sure, this makes it harder.