"Making Emergency Calls More Secure"

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $1.2 million grant to a team of Michigan State University (MSU) researchers to continue enhancing the security of cellular 911 calls. Customers benefit from improved coverage and faster service as the nation's cellular networks and technological infrastructure continue to develop. However, these advancements also present new opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit security vulnerabilities. Researchers from the College of Engineering at MSU have been concerned with the security of cellular 911 calls. They want to advance the technology for protecting next-generation services over cellular networks from the design phase to the implementation phase. This grant will allow Guan-Hua "Scott" Tu and Li Xiao, MSU professors of computer science and engineering, to continue expanding their work on securing cellular 911 calls. At the 28th Annual International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking (MobiCom) in October 2022, Tu and Xiao's team presented work titled "Uncovering Insecure Designs of Cellular Emergency Services (911)." This presentation highlighted vulnerabilities in the systems implemented in the US that allow anyone to connect to emergency services from a mobile phone. The team demonstrated that these vulnerabilities could be exploited to cause various issues, including allowing attackers to hijack cell services, send spam to customers, and even prevent 911 callers from reaching dispatchers. This article continues to discuss the project to continue reducing cybersecurity risks to protect cellular 911 calls. 

Michigan State University reports "Making Emergency Calls More Secure"