For those of you who think they know what swatting is, guess again. It has become “the next generation of dangerous cybercrime” across the country and it can have dangerous consequences.
Swatting, along with a discussion on the Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center, were the two topics of discussion Friday morning of the Clinton County School Safety Commission held in the Training Room of the Frankfort Police Department.
How did these subjects come up as conversation topics?
“I don’t know if its a big issue in schools, but it’s a possibility,” said Rossville Superintendent and Clinton County School Safety Commission Chairman Dr. Jim Hanna. “I think a lot of what we do is try to prepare and be prepared for anything that happens. The County School Safety Commission has taken the approach we’re all-hazard. It’s not the weather, the fog and all that we deal with throughout the winter months,.But it’s also those things that could happen.”
Captain Brady Sorrells of the Frankfort Police Department led the discussion about swatting with help from newly-hired Keshia Head, a forensic scene investigator, to Clinton County Assistant Prosecutor Chris Vawter, both of whom went through various ways criminals can come up with your personal information, no matter how careful you are, and use it against you.
Head showed a website called “Webmii.com” that came with about 56 different ways people can use to get your information.
Sorrells also presented three different videos clips how swatting becomes deadly — from a house-shooting in Wichita, Kansas, to a bomb threat at the Memorial High School in Evansville. The case in Wichita saw a man answer the door with the police outside, looked like he was reaching for a weapon and was shot and killed by a police officer. The person who called this information in was from another country.
Caller ID spoofing, social engineering, TTY, prank calls, and phone phreaking techniques may be variously combined by swatting perpetrators. 911 system (including computer technology systems and human operators) have been tricked by calls from cities hundreds of miles away from the location of the purported call, or even from other countries.
Swatters, who are often gamers playing games such as “Call of Duty” consider what they are doing to be a prank, but it can come with serious consequences. Swatting occupies law enforcement response teams, making them unavailable to respond to real emergencies.
“What I try to do is look and see what is out there,” said Hanna. “What’s going on in the world today and swatting is something that is going on today and I thought the same way with the Fusion Center. A lot of people, especially school people are not aware of that. I try to find topics and give more information.”
Hanna added another reason is that the Commission has changed over the years.
“We’ve kind of transitioned over the years from just sharing what we do to more of a professional development type of program,” said Hanna. “When you leave the High School Safety Commission, you should leave with some knowledge.”
The Fusion Center was built in 2006 and has about 80 sites nationwide. Indianapolis is the lone site in Indiana.