Swatting

Swatting is the act of tricking an emergency service (via such means as hoaxing a 9-1-1 dispatcher) into dispatching an emergency response based on the false report of an ongoing critical incident. Episodes range from large to small — from the deployment of bomb squads, SWAT units and other police units and the concurrent evacuations of schools and businesses, to a single fabricated police report meant to discredit an individual as a prank or personal vendetta. While it is a misdemeanor or a felony in the U.S. in and of itself to report any untruth to law enforcement, swatting can cause massive disruption to the civil order and the public peace by the hoaxed deployment of police and other civic resources such as ambulances and fire departments. The term derives from SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics), a highly specialized type of police unit.

History and current status

Swatting has its origins in prank calls to emergency services. Increasing sophistication of the techniques employed and the objectives, notably attempts to direct response units of particular types, and in particular attempts to cause SWAT teams to be dispatched to particular locations, spawned the term swatting. The term was used by the FBI as far back as 2008.^[1]

In 2009, phreaker Matthew Weigman pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy including "involvement in a swatting conspiracy" and attempting to retaliate against a witness.^[2] He was sentenced to over 11 years in federal prison.^[3]

In 2013, a number of U.S. celebrities became the victims of swatting pranks, including Sean Combs.^[4] In the past, there have been swatting incidents at the homes of Ashton Kutcher, Tom Cruise, Chris Brown, Miley Cyrus, Linkin Park, Creed, Metallica, Nirvana, Maroon 5, Taylor Swift, Iggy Azalea, Jason Derulo, Snoop Dogg, Justin Bieber and Clint Eastwood.^[5] A law in the state of California will make it possible for authorities to require pranksters to bear the "full cost" of the response which can range up to $10,000;^[5] the author of the bill, state senator Ted Lieu, was himself a swatting victim in April 2011.^[6]

In May 2014, a 16-year-old in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, was arrested for having made thirty fraudulent emergency calls across North America,^[7] leading to sixty charges "including uttering death threats, conveying false information with intent to alarm, public mischief and mischief to property."^[8][9]

On 27 August 2014, YouTube user Jordan Mathewson, known online as Kootra, live streamed a game of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on Twitch. A viewer called 911 claiming that there was a shooting in the building with hostages. A SWAT team raided the office that Mathewson's gaming company, The Creatures LLC, was operating out of. Mathewson was thrown to the ground and searched as officers searched the room. The events were broadcast live on the internet, until law enforcement set the camera lens-down on Mathewson's desk.^[10] Videos of the swatting went viral, gaining over three million views on YouTube and being reported on news programs all over the world.

On 11 September 2014, Bukkit programmer Wesley "Wolvereness" Wolfe was the victim of a swatting incident. An unidentified Skype caller told police that Wolfe had shot his parents and was on a killing spree. Wolfe believed he was targeted in retaliation to his issuing of a DMCA takedown of CraftBukkit from the Bukkit repository. ^[11][12]

On 6 November 2014, the home of an unnamed executive with Bungie, a developer of the Halo franchise and the recently released Destiny, was raided by local police after a call, purported to be from someone inside the house, said that there was a hostage situation at the residence.^[13] The caller had demanded a ransom of $20,000 and claimed they had planted explosives in the yard.^[13] After 45 minutes, police determined the call originated from a computer and not from the residence; they further stated that the perpetrator of the hoax could face a fine and one year in jail if apprehended.^[13]

On 3 January 2015, twenty Portland police officers were sent to the former home of Grace Lynn. She stated this was the culmination of four months of online harassment from GamerGate supporters after she stopped supporting them,^[14][15] though The Verge believed it to be the work of "an unaffiliated troll lashing out".^[16] Lynn said that she was alerted to the incident because she had proactively checked for on-line harassment daily, and she had defused the situation by contacting police.^[17]

On 15 January 2015 in Sentinel, Oklahoma, Washita County dispatchers received 911 calls from someone who identified himself as Dallas Horton and told dispatchers he had placed a bomb in a local preschool. Washita County Sheriff's Deputies and Sentinel Police Chief Louis Ross made forced entry into Horton's residence. Ross, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, was shot several times by Horton. Further investigation revealed that the calls did not originate from the home and led Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents to believe Horton was unaware that it was law enforcement officers making entry. James Edward Holly confessed to investigators that he made the calls with two "nonfunctioning" phones because he was angry with Horton. ^[18]

Techniques

Caller ID spoofing, social engineering, TTY, prank calls and phone phreaking techniques may be variously combined. 911 systems (including telephony and human operators) have been tricked by calls placed from cities hundreds of miles away or even from other countries.^[19] The caller typically places a 911 call using a spoofed phone number with the goal of tricking emergency authorities into responding to an address with a SWAT team to an emergency that doesn't exist.

Government response

CNN interviewed political commentator Erick Erickson to discuss an incident in which he had been the victim of swatting. A caller to 911 gave Erickson's address as his own and claimed:

I just shot my wife, so.... I don't think I could come down there.... She's dead, now.... I'm looking at her.... I'm going to shoot someone else, soon.

—911 caller^[20]

That incident prompted Florida's 24th congressional district Representative Sandy Adams to push for a Justice Department investigation.^[21]

See also

• Computer security

References

External links

• The crime of swatting fake 9-1-1 calls have real consequences, FBI
• SWATting, a Deadly Political Game
• Guilty Plea: Phone Phreaks Use Caller-ID Spoofing to Get Foes Raided By SWAT
• Teenager Receiving Life In Prison For ‘SWATTING’ Gamer Is A Satirical Hoax Which Stirred Social Media
• The Psychology of Swatting