Communications of the ACM
Attackers Can Make It Impossible to Dial 911
Researchers at Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have developed a cyberattack strategy that can block access to 911 emergency services.
Credit: meghvac.com
A new cyberattack strategy can block access to 911 emergency services by exploiting vulnerabilities in the system, according to researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel.
The method involves tying up all available phone line connections with malicious traffic, making it impossible for legitimate information to get through.
The most common vector for such an attack is the spread of malware to computers, including smartphones, so they can be remotely hijacked. Attackers can then tell the commandeered devices to flood a particular site or phone number with traffic.
To test a 911 denial-of-service attack scenario, the researchers set up simulations of North Carolina's 911 infrastructure, and of the U.S. emergency-call system. The team was able to significantly curtail 911 service in North Carolina with only 6,000 infected mobile phones, making it possible to block 911 calls from 20 percent of state landline callers and 50 percent of mobile customers.
Meanwhile, the researchers say only 200,000 infected smartphones could wreak comparable havoc on a national scale.
Moreover, the researchers warn a federal mandate that mobile phone companies forward all 911 calls directly to emergency dispatchers creates a serious vulnerability that hackers could take advantage of to enact 911 denial-of-service attacks.
From The Conversation
View Full Article
Abstracts Copyright © 2017 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA
No entries found