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from the how-about-next-generation-punishments dept.
Big Tech Improvements To 911 System Raises The Risk Of More 'Swatting'
Now some big changes for 911 are in the works, new technology that's raised concerns about what it means for swatting. The current system — devised 50 years ago — hasn't seen much change over the years and is limited. People typically verbally describe emergencies on the phone. The new system, called Next Generation or NG 911, is based on the Internet instead of telephone technology. The change will allow people to send information to emergency call centers as if they are posting to social media.
"It gives us the ability to access 911 using the same voice, video, text and data applications that we're all used to using on smartphones today," says Trey Fogerty of NENA. This is a big deal because a picture of an accident scene might definitely help emergency crews responding to that crisis. A text to the new 911 might also be useful during a home invasion or domestic violence situations.
But, the changes could also go awry. "You could conceivably have a video that is fabricated and is sent into a 911 dispatch center that appears to be one thing when in fact it is something quite different," says Chuck Wexler, the head of the Police Executive Research Forum. In Virginia, Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler says they've worked hard to train dispatchers and police to prevent getting duped by swatting calls and he's concerned the new system could bring more problems. "Unfortunately, there's evil people out there that continue to do this and the more we embrace that technology the more risk we have," he says.
So spotting any red flags will be crucial. Police chiefs say dispatchers will have to become adept at quickly analyzing text and video. Designers are devising a way to mark suspicious video and text messages plus working to create a trustworthy alternative to today's caller ID, according to Fogerty.
Related: Gamers Use Police Hoax to Lash Out at Opponents
Swatter Just Prankster?
Swatted: Police Kill Innocent Man in Kansas
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Snotnose on Sunday January 14 2018, @11:38PM (20 children)
Keep It Simple Stupid. Forbid caller ID spoofing in the hardware. Come up with a way around it for those who need it, but be aware that this is a backdoor.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by tftp on Monday January 15 2018, @12:33AM (6 children)
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 15 2018, @12:54AM (1 child)
I see it, I see it! I'm the Assteller. I can see the future of your ass!
You're walking down a sidewalk, and you see a group of people wearing lab coats looking in your direction. They whisper something amongst themselves, and then say to you, "Ah, so you're the one, huh? I can't wait for the event." Before you can reply, they all abruptly turn and walk away. You're left feeling confused, as you've never seen any of those people before. You decide to walk home.
As you're walking home, you see a large warehouse that was never there before, as if it had appeared out of thin air within the last hour. Even though the sun was out, the building was surrounded by darkness and felt ominous. The unsettling atmosphere of the enigmatic building made you want to leave immediately, but something is drawing you closer to the building. You slowly move towards it...
Once you reach a certain distance from the building, your consciousness suddenly exits your body and you have an out-of-body experience. You look at your body for a few seconds, but then it fades out of existence before your very eyes. Where did it go? You decide to investigate the mysterious warehouse using your new spectral body. You see a window, and decide to approach it.
In the window, you see that the warehouse is mostly empty except for the crates piled up near most of the walls. You also see your body in the middle of some kind of spotlight, and your clothes are gone. Furthermore, your face is on the ground and your ass is pointing up in the air. Surrounding your body is a large group of shadowy figures wearing lab coats; they are all staring at your body and standing out of the light as if they are an audience to some kind of event that is going to take place. You notice that the door to the warehouse is open, so you maneuver your way away from the window and go into the building.
Immediately after entering the warehouse, you lose control of your spiritual body and can no longer move a single cheek. Your consciousness floats upwards and you're forced to view your original body from above. All of a sudden, an ET doll appears a few feet behind your original body. You hear the shadowy figures express surprise and excitement. "It's beginning. I can't wait!" one of them says, in a hushed tone. "A grand experiment is about to unfold; an experiment unlike any the world has ever seen before!" another says. Something is about to begin.
The ET doll gets closer to your bootysnap and points its creepy little hand towards your most snappy of holes. A nauseating grin appears on its face, and you begin to understand that what awaits you is nothing but despair. The ET doll then begins uttering the phrase "Ba la la la leh leh leh!" You have no clue what that means, but you know it can't be good. "Ba la la la leh leh leh!" it says again. What happens next beggars belief.
The ET doll slides its body forward and jabs its disgusting hand into your asshole! Does it hurt? No, it tickles! And this is no ordinary tickle! This tickle is such that you'd rather experience an eternity of the worst physical torment imaginable than feel this tickle for any amount of time! The ET doll removes its hand from your snaphole. Then, it says "Ba la la la leh leh leh!" again and jabs its hand into your asshole yet again, tickling it even further! It slides back out, as if it's gliding along the floor. This action was repeated again and again, and it jabbed its hand into your bootyasscheekcrackhole each time it screamed "Ba la la la leh leh leh!" Then, it seemed to stop.
You know that it doesn't truly have any intention of stopping. An even larger grin appears on its face, and what happens next makes the previous ass tickle you were forced to experience look like nothing. The ET doll begins sliding back and forth at speeds far exceeding the speed of light, jabbing its hand into your asshole an innumerable amount of times. Naturally, the ET doll continues screaming "Ba la la la leh leh leh!" as it tickles your ass. This tickle is unfathomable! No! You can do nothing as the ET doll tickles your precious snap. You hear the crowd of unknown people endlessly cheering for this most grand of experiments...
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 15 2018, @01:01AM
You are a little grandiose with your title. Assbabbler maybe.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday January 15 2018, @01:24AM (3 children)
Doesn't have to be consistent, if it's merely expensive, like lawsuits.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by tftp on Monday January 15 2018, @01:37AM (2 children)
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday January 15 2018, @02:27AM
Because the other people whose money it is are the same ones who elect the people making the policy decisions. And the ones who pay big bucks in particular, who just happen to be the biggest source of campaign funds for the folks in city governments, are not going to be happy about seeing their money going to pay off legitimate lawsuits for stupid police behavior.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday January 15 2018, @02:40AM
(Score: 4, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Monday January 15 2018, @12:41AM (2 children)
Keeping it simple is why making a call to an easy to remember number has been the emergency system almost everywhere since Adam played fullback for the disciples.
When my wife broke her ankle, I phoned 111 (which is our emergency number) and said to the nice lady "I think my wife has broken her ankle".
The nice lady sent an ambulance full of blokes trained in what to do if someone has a broken ankle.
Sending pictures would not have helped.
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Monday January 15 2018, @01:42AM (1 child)
Not in the USA. In the USA, having a nationwide number for emergency services is a relatively recent (1968) development.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 15 2018, @03:10AM
Not in the north. 911 is a fictional Hollywood number, like 555 telephone prefixes.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by frojack on Monday January 15 2018, @01:01AM (1 child)
Forbid rolling swat without GPS coordinates of a phone device on the scene. Swat can not approach within half a mile until called by an patrol officer on the scene.
Forbid taking a 911 call from other than an actual phone, geolocated to the address of the request.
This quote from the story:
Is totally wrong. Journalism major at their highest level of performance.
The 911 system we have today is light years ahead of old tech.
We went to all this trouble to force cell phones to have E-911 capability. Its now available everywhere. There's no point in creating an internet of things version of 911 so your light bulbs can be hacked into calling 911. There is really no use case for taking a 911 call over the internet. You don't even need a sim card or a contract of any kind to call 911 on a cell phone.
Current 911 technology does it "not rely" on voice. Every cell phone turns on its GPS and transmits Phase Two location [wikipedia.org] You could be passing out, but if you manage to get 911 dialed you don't have to say a word.
You are better off calling 911 from a cell phone these days than you are from a wire line phone - especially on a corporate campus where the phone company and 911 operators have no real clue where any given number terminates this week.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Informative) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday January 15 2018, @04:58AM
I called 9-1-1 because I was experiencing aphasia. That led to my concern that I'd had a stroke
"I'm at the blanchet house of Polly wigs"
"I need a street address"
"Cant you just geolocate my marimba?"
"No. Can you give me a cross street?"
"It's dark. I can't see the street signs"
Finally I wandered around outside looking for a street sign. Had it really been a stroke I would have died
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by frojack on Monday January 15 2018, @01:05AM (1 child)
You do know that caller-id spoofing has nothing to do with 911 modern calls right?
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by ilsa on Monday January 15 2018, @09:37PM
I can't speak for the parent, but I certainly don't. Is it tied to IMEIs or some other kind of internal identifier that the average joe can't change without the phone company getting involved?
(Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 15 2018, @02:35AM
Sounds good to me.
So we need new hardware. That will take a while to get rolled out, but it's doable. Didn't you just say KISS though? It'll be a mess until everyone is upgraded.
So not KISS then. MAKE UP YOUR DAMN MIND.
If it's KISS either everybody can spoof or nobody can spoof. No spoofing only for "those who need it." Also, who decides who "needs" it?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Monday January 15 2018, @02:42AM (2 children)
Ironic subject choice. I used to live not far from Yngwie Malmsteen's Miami home, and next door to a SWAT cop. Seems that one night Yngwie's girlfriend's mother went off on a rant and called the police swearing that Yngwie was threatening her daughter's life, then somehow she managed to stir up the house such that when SWAT arrived it ended up in a standoff. So, my neighbor had his scope sighted on Yngwie's forehead for a while, finger on the trigger, until the situation resolved. Basic outcome: the Mom is mentally unbalanced, there wasn't anything remotely like what she was describing going on.
Mom didn't use caller ID spoofing, she just ranted hysterically at the phone and ran about the house like the crazy woman she is yelling at everyone in sight so that the cops arrived to a chaotic, confusing scene. She could have gotten Yngwie killed... Luckily she didn't and they lived happily ever after, though I don't think mom got as locked up as she deserved for that one.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mhajicek on Monday January 15 2018, @04:01AM (1 child)
Luckily for Yngwie your SWAT neighbor had the restraint to not pull that trigger. It could have just as easily gone the other way.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 3, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Monday January 15 2018, @04:17AM
SWAT neighbor used to wear "Kill 'em all, let God sort 'em out" T-shirts, but he was actually a really level headed and cool dude, even if he did clean his guns on the kitchen table. He and his wife would volunteer across the Boulevard in Little Haiti to help the kids get better education, etc. A big part of being cool and in control like that is to not be afraid, and a big part of not being afraid is getting to know people in non-threatening situations. Or, being hidden in the bushes across the street with a scope, that helps the confidence factor quite a bit, too.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Wootery on Monday January 15 2018, @12:39PM
Surprised to see this upvoted on SN. We generally don't approve of the government trying to ensure your hardware only does what they want it to, rather than working for its owner.
Practically, the idea fails because there are already millions, if not billions, of devices capable of doing the job, no?
Sounds about as worthwhile as trying to ban MAC spoofing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 15 2018, @01:19PM
I don't think you know how this thing works. Might as say "forbid porn in hardware" and you would be just as correct.