Swatting in the Digital Age: A Threat to Public Safety.....by Gurjot Singh Kaler

Chandigarh: In today’s digital era, the topic of cyber-crime has become a stark reality and it knows no geographical boundaries or territorial limits. One peculiar type of cybercrime, known as ‘Swatting’ has become a cause of grave global concern for the security agencies and law enforcement authorities in recent years.

In various countries around the world, swatting calls and hoax threats have been received by individuals, government officials, online gamers, celebrities, journalists, as well as institutions like schools, hospitals, airports, hotels, places of worship, etc., causing fear, anxiety and life-threatening interactions between the targets and heavily armed law enforcement personnel.

Recently, the Indian law enforcement agencies and airport authorities in India have received dozens of hoax calls with threats of bombs planted in the airlines.

As a result, it created mass panic amongst the passengers, with huge financial losses to the airlines as well as the taxpayer’s money getting wasted due to heavy police engagement in a fake emergency.

In simple terms, ‘Swatting’ can be defined as the false reporting of a life-threatening emergency, justifying a SWAT team response by local law enforcement. Swatters often report that the target is a violent criminal or holding hostages, prompting police to respond urgently, often without first verifying the claims.

The word, ‘Swatting’ typically refers to the act of making a hoax phone call to emergency service responders to report a fake serious crime with the aim that heavily armed law enforcement machinery, such as a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team will be deployed to visit the targeted victim’s situation to address it.

The aim is to fool the emergency services into sending their SWAT team as an effective response to the supposed emergency, which justifies the etymology of this typical cyber-crime known as ‘Swatting’.

The swatters who make such hoax calls, falsely report grave events like murders, gang wars, bomb threats, and hostage situations, to the law enforcement authorities to elicit the most serious responses from them.

To escape from getting traced by the police, the swatters use artificial intelligence and technological advancements like caller ID spoofing to mask their voices, phone numbers, and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

When the SWAT teams dutifully arrive at the designated spots in action mode, it sometimes leads to grim situations in which many innocent lives have been lost.Sometimes, even the SWAT teams have faced human losses as there has been retaliatory firing in self-defense from the other side during the raids.

Swatting not only endangers the lives of innocent citizens but also, wastes the precious time of the SWAT team members, which could have been better utilized to address some other pressing real emergency at the same time. It also creates an unnecessary burden on the taxpayers as valuable resources of law enforcement get engaged in meaningless fake emergencies.

Swatting usually happens when the swatters gain access to the confidential information of the individual victim or the organization like their phone numbers, addresses, etc.

Swatters employ various interesting strategies to gain access to such information like doxing techniques in which they use public databases, and social media profiles or simply hack the targets’ accounts or computer systems to trace their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, etc.

The majority of the swatters indulge in the act of swatting out of sheer pranks, or to get attention and some of them also do it as a mode of seeking revenge or hate upon government or law enforcement agencies to waste their time and a few swatters do it to cause embarrassment, humiliation and generating fear amongst their targets or just cause physical harm or mental trauma to them.Swatting may seem like a prank to some, but it carries serious risks, especially when SWAT teams respond to false reports.

Often targeting live-streaming gamers, public figures, and celebrities, these attacks can be highly sophisticated, with perpetrators masking their identity and location.To counteract this dangerous crime, the U.S. government has introduced severe penalties, with life sentences for those convicted.

Swatting has led to several serious incidents involving high-profile targets. In August 2020, Black Lives Matter LA co-founder Melina Abdullah's home was surrounded by armed police after a false hostage report. Similarly, Tyler Barriss’s 2017 swatting call led police to the home of Andrew Finch, who was tragically killed; Barriss received a 20-year sentence. In 2013, Ukrainian hacker Sergey Vovnenko attempted to frame cybersecurity blogger Brian Krebs by mailing him heroin and reporting it to authorities.

The plot failed, and Vovnenko was later sentenced to 41 months for an unrelated hacking case.

Live streamers with a large online presence are frequent swatting targets, as attackers can often find their location and watch as they face a surprise police raid live on camera.

In 2014, streamer Jordan Mathewson was raided mid-stream while playing "Counter-Strike," and in 2019, 16-year-old "Fortnite" streamer Kyle Giersdorf was swatted—though, fortunately, one officer recognized him and prevented a full raid. Many celebrities like Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Paris Hilton, Tom Cruise, Miley Cyrus, etc., have also been the targets of swatting in recent years.

The Seattle Police Department in America was one of the first to tackle the issue of swatting directly by creating a voluntary Anti-Swatting registry in year 2018. This database is for individuals who feel they may be at risk of being swatted.

The individuals who feel scared of being swatted can willingly submit their names and addresses to the police to get registered in the Anti-Swatting registry whose details are kept fully confidential and are outside the purview of the public disclosure database.

The benefit of maintaining such lists or a registry of potential swatting targets is that police can always double-check the name and address of the individuals before reacting in haste to any hoax call.

The police departments worldwide are also contemplating passing legislation through which they can recover the costs of such hoax calls from the swatters and claim financial damages from them for wasting the precious resources of the department in terms of eliciting a SWAT response to a fake situation of crisis. Apart from this, the lawmakers are also in the process of increasing the penalty fines and imposing harsher imprisonment terms on the swatters for raising false public alarms.

Though swatting can be hard to prevent entirely, users can reduce their risk by using firewalls to enhance web security and guard against spoofing or SQL injection attacks.

To reduce the risk of swatting, it is recommended to keep in mind the following points-

1)Enhance Privacy Settings: Set strict privacy controls on devices and social media to limit access to personal information. Regularly review these settings, especially after getting a new device. Be wary of social engineering attacks. Disable location services while posting anything on social media.

2)Use Strong, Unique Passwords: Regularly update passwords for all accounts to ensure a compromised password doesn’t lead to further access.

3)Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Add a layer of security by requiring a code sent to your device for account logins, making unauthorized access more difficult.

4)Limit Personal Sharing: Avoid posting sensitive information online, such as your address or location details, which can be exploited by attackers. Devices like computers, gaming consoles, and mobile phones allow users to enable location services for a more personalized experience, but this can expose their location to others, potentially revealing their home address.

It’s best to turn off location when unnecessary or use a VPN to mask it. Also, if your job involves receiving letters and packages, a good option is to opt for a P.O. Box which will help you to receive mail away from your home.

If you find yourself the target of a swatting attack, here’s what you should do:

A) Stay Calm: Swatting incidents can mislead law enforcement into believing there’s an emergency, causing them to act with urgency and heightened caution. Keeping calm, avoiding sudden movements, and listening to instructions can help diffuse tension and ensure a safer response from the authorities, as seen in the calm approach taken by Black Lives Matter activist Melina Abdullah during her swatting incident.

B) Cooperate Fully: Swatting situations can be intense, and officers may need to secure the area, which could include searching your home or even temporarily detaining occupants. Cooperate by following their directions and explaining calmly that you may be the victim of a hoax call. This approach helps keep the situation under control and reassures the officers on the scene.

C) File a Report and Press Charges: Swatting is not only a misuse of emergency resources but can lead to severe consequences and waste police resources. After the situation is resolved, report the incident to law enforcement, provide any evidence you may have, and consider pressing charges against those responsible to deter similar incidents in the future.

In summary, swatting is a serious crime that misleads emergency responders into taking extreme action, often targeting public figures, online streamers, and private individuals to instill fear and chaos. To protect yourself, it’s essential to secure your digital identity and enhance online privacy through tools like VPNs and firewalls.By staying vigilant and encouraging awareness, you can lower the risk of swatting and promote safer online interactions.

Above all, apart from imposing hefty fines and imprisonment terms on swatters, the need of the hour is to focus on mass sensitization, creating public awareness, and community mobilization to tackle the threat of swatting.

November 12, 2024