FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf] • Hacker News Board

Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#131

Post by amiga_500 » Tue, Mar 31, 2020, 10:51 PM UTC

Negitivefrags wrote: post #31

Why is this problem unique to the USA? I'm not saying I never get spam calls, but I certainly have to scroll back quite a bit in my phone call history to see the last one. Also, on the rare occasion I do get a spam call it's always from some random international country like South Sudan or Oman that I would never expect a phone call from. What makes this problem uniquely hard to solve for the USA as opposed to anywhe…

Because they are unable to organize themselves. See healthcare and schools for other examples.

Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#132

Post by p2t2p » Tue, Mar 31, 2020, 10:51 PM UTC

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #15

0xff00ffee wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After 15 years of cell phone spam, anything that shows up as a number on my personal phone, and not a contact, is reflexively ignored. I don't think I'll ever shake this habit: if it is important, they will leave a message.

I'm struggling with the decision of whether to automatically block anyone not in my contact list and leave a message in my voicemail explaining why. Don't want to be unfriendly, but it's only getting more ridiculous.

> Don't want to be unfriendly

Given my experience with robocall and stuff, I _do_ want to be unfriendly. I hate to guts that a lot of people assume that they can interrupt you at any given moment. One guy called me when I was driving and wasn't having any of that, kept on complaining that I didn't pick up.

My current plan right now is to have a landline number from my internet provider (that's SIP essentially). Whenever anybody requires a phone number give that.

Now, there will be an voice mail device on my side with message: "Hello, you've reached p2t2p and his wife. We _DO_ _NOT_ appreciate your call. If you think your message is important, leave a message and we maybe, just maybe call you back. Otherwise, use email please".

And that is not even for bloody robocalls. Every single bloody prick think they are important enough to steal my time. Hey, I wrote you an email so respond to email, dumbass, don't call me. There were one windows installation company that stopped interacting with as soon as I told them that I won't pick up the phone and asked them to use email.

I guess the ultimate solution is to have my iPhone in permanent "contacts only" mode.

Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#133

Post by skrtskrt » Tue, Mar 31, 2020, 10:53 PM UTC

rob-olmos wrote: post #118

skrtskrt wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This should still be available, though it will likely take some work from the underlying software provider to be compliant. The goal of the regulation is to cut down spam/scam calling, not legitimate uses, and the telecom providers know these uses and lobby heavily to make sure they'll still be allowed to work. The telecom providers don't like scam calls either, or more specifically they don't like short calls. All t…

How will it still be available and what underlying software work in Asterisk is being referred to? Based on the given situation, the museum won't own the caller's cell phone number that they're trying to legitimately spoof for their staff's cell phone.

You've reached the limit of my knowledge here regarding implementation details :)

Asterisk is an open-source PBX system.

I think the original call will come in with the correct STIR/SHAKEN-validated SIP headers and the PBX can forward them as is, see some discussion here: https://community.freepbx.org/t/stop-robocalls-act/60921/5

I previously worked at a telecom software company, and I know everyone with their shit together has been preparing for this for a long time, which is why I'm not concerned that these common cases should continue working. These softwares are often built on top of or on a branch of Freeswitch/Asterisk.

Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#134

Post by davidajackson » Tue, Mar 31, 2020, 10:54 PM UTC

fortran77 wrote: post #122

davidajackson wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SHAKEN/STIR + Whitelisting is the best solution. SHAKEN/STIR by itself isn't going to change things too much I think. But it is a step in the right direction. Whitelisting without SHAKEN/STIR is still extremely functional. There are billions of unique American numbers possible, and with 250-500 average contacts per random dial, contact spoofing is not statistically significant.

Not when you can contact spoof banks, major drug store chains, AppleCare, etc.

Good point, if they're calling from a specific number. I see of lot of complaints about companies like FedEx though, where the calls come from random numbers.

Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#135

Post by laurencerowe » Tue, Mar 31, 2020, 10:57 PM UTC

mmhsieh wrote: post #114

entropicdrifter wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's generally a bad idea to carry your passport around just because it has your SSN printed on it

this is not true. but if you need to carry around proof of passport there is a passport card you can get for North American travel only.

The passport card is no longer valid for international flights, only entry by land or sea.

Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#136

Post by yellowapple » Tue, Mar 31, 2020, 11:00 PM UTC

jon_richards wrote: post #124

gruez wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>While this is a possible scenario- in my experience most people know to call multiple times - especially if they know that the recipient won’t recognize the number. I'm surprised robocallers don't do this too

Calling once selects for people more likely to fall for the actual scam.

Also, spamming/scamming in general is a numbers game. It's generally more profitable to move onto the next number on the list than to keep retrying.

Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#137

Post by codegeek » Tue, Mar 31, 2020, 11:03 PM UTC

0xff00ffee wrote: post #10

mulmen wrote: post #3

Does this mean I can start answering my phone again? Are there other vectors for spam calling which are not addressed by this solution?

After 15 years of cell phone spam, anything that shows up as a number on my personal phone, and not a contact, is reflexively ignored. I don't think I'll ever shake this habit: if it is important, they will leave a message.

Yep me too. I just don't pick ANY unknown number, period. If it is important, they will leave a voicemail.

Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#138

Post by divbzero » Tue, Mar 31, 2020, 11:05 PM UTC

munk-a wrote: post #127

jrimbault wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've pushed that reflex further : if it's important, the information will find its way to me.

I just wish various Doctors and Dentists could jump on the text/email bandwagon. Those two groups are responsible for nearly all of my phone usage - with a slim minority (that is itself mostly spam) being calls from my bank.

Even with banks I do not trust incoming calls and always return the call using an official phone number from the bank’s HTTPS secured website.

Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#139

Post by negus » Tue, Mar 31, 2020, 11:06 PM UTC

It is bad news for the US citizens indeed. Unauthenticated phone number is the last island of privacy in our modern world. Think about it: from some point all citizens will carry a geolocation tracking device that is directly linked with their ID. The internet access will also be bound to your ID and so on. There are better ways to fight spam that do not pose a treat to privacy -- think about email or Facebook. There were tons of spammers, but there are commercial spam filters that do well now.

I live in a country where cellphone carriers are legally forced to authenticate users. And this data is used against political opposition and journalists.

Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#140

Post by VectorLock » Tue, Mar 31, 2020, 11:12 PM UTC

negus wrote: post #139

It is bad news for the US citizens indeed. Unauthenticated phone number is the last island of privacy in our modern world. Think about it: from some point all citizens will carry a geolocation tracking device that is directly linked with their ID. The internet access will also be bound to your ID and so on. There are better ways to fight spam that do not pose a treat to privacy -- think about email or Facebook. There…

Does this mandate do that? It seems like it just enforcing STIR/SHAKEN to prevent spoofed numbers. It doesn't, at least from what I can see, mandate any tying of identity to number. Your 7-11 burner phone and prepaid AT&T number should be fine.