As 911 goes digital, security and training pose major challenges

mood · Oct 2, 2019

As 911 goes digital, security and training pose major challenges
October 2, 2019
https://statescoop.com/next-generation-911-security-training-challenges/

Government computer systems are frequently updated as a matter of course, but a sanguine nationwide effort to shift the country’s aging 911 systems onto a digital platform belies a moral dilemma that could touch the lives of everyone who might one day call for help in an emergency.

But along with the advantages of a more advanced digital network will also come new security risks that today’s outdated analog systems have had the accidental good fortune to be insulated from.
The lack of connectivity in decades-old computer systems is both the reason they’re considered outdated and the primary reason they don’t get hacked.

The implicit question facing governments updating these systems is whether the new capabilities they are enabling will save more lives than will be threatened when a next-generation 911 system is inevitably hacked and taken offline.
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mood · Mar 14, 2020

DDoS attacks could affect next generation 911 call systems
March 13, 2020
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2020/03/13/ddos-911/

In the study the researchers evaluated the impact of DDoS attacks on the current (E911) and next generation 911 (NG911) infrastructures in North Carolina.
Implementation of NG911
In recent years, organizations have experienced countless DDoS attacks, during which internet-connected devices are flooded with traffic – [...] When an attacker ties up all the available connections with malicious traffic, no legitimate information – like calling 911 in a real emergency – can make it through.

“In this study, we found that only 6,000 bots are sufficient to significantly compromise the availability of a state’s 911 services and only 200,000 bots can jeopardize the entire United States,” Dr. Guri explains.
To demonstrate how DDoS attacks could affect 911 call systems, the researchers created a detailed simulation of North Carolina’s 911 infrastructure, and a general simulation of the entire U.S. emergency-call system.
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Using only 6,000 infected phones, it is possible to effectively block 911 calls from 20% of the state’s landline callers, and half of the mobile customers. “In our simulation, even people who called back four or five times would not be able to reach a 911 operator to get help,” Dr. Guri says.

“Many say that the new NG911 solves the DDoS problem because callers can be connected to PSAPs around the country, not just locally,” Dr. Mirsky explains.
“But the system would still need to communicate locally to dispatch police, medical and fire services. As a result, the despair rate is more likely to be 56% with 6,000 bots –worse than using the original E911 infrastructure.”
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As 911 goes digital, security and training pose major challenges

mood Updates Team

mood Updates Team

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As 911 goes digital, security and training pose major challenges

mood Updates Team

mood Updates Team

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