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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday January 14 2018, @11:35PM   Printer-friendly
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
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Swatted: Police Kill Innocent Man in Kansas


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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by frojack on Monday January 15 2018, @01:01AM (1 child)

    by frojack (1554) on Monday January 15 2018, @01:01AM (#622347) Journal

    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:

    The current system — devised 50 years ago hasn't seen much change over the years and is limited.

    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.

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday January 15 2018, @04:58AM

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Monday January 15 2018, @04:58AM (#622430) Homepage Journal

    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

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