My family has been the target of a harassments campaign by a group of young teenage boys because my sibling has a small following on YouTube and for some reason these dweebs have decided to make it their life’s mission to bully my sib off the internet. Because Sib has fortified all means of communication online and is no longer reachable, the harassers have been contacting me and anyone associated with Sib by sending threatening texts and voice mails through spoofed numbers. The police are involved on Sib’s side of things, but I’m just curious how these idiots are managing to spoof their numbers to attack us daily. What’s the mechanism for this? How does it work?
In: Technology
The way the telephone operating software (called SS7) works, the phone system making the call sends the call router the number and text to be displayed in calling number ID. This is a “feature” in that calls from a big company can say “Company Name” in the caller ID and give the company’s switchboard number rather than the line being used; which was a big deal for companies with more phones than numbers. Many companies now use direct inward dialing, where each phone has a phone number, but that’s more expensive.
Since the feature is there, VOIP systems must emulate it. That means the VOIP software must get it from the user, and users can type any old thing. As a result, calling number ID isn’t very effective.
A new, more secure, option has been developed, called STIR/SHAKEN, but most phone companies haven’t implemented it. They don’t want calls from some company to stop working because the company hasn’t upgraded its phone system with STIR/SHAKEN.
For a cell phone, you might be able to get your phone company to turn it on for your line, I think the AT&T Security app for your phone can enable it, but you will lose some calls and texts from real people.
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