The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau has released a Public Notice encouraging communications service providers to implement the security countermeasures recommended by the Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council (CSRIC), a federal advisory committee to the FCC, to prevent exploitation of carrier Signaling System 7 (SS7) network infrastructure.
SS7 supports fixed and mobile service providers in processing and routing calls and text messages between networks, enabling fixed and mobile networks to connect, and providing call session information such as Caller ID and billing data for circuit switched infrastructure. Over the last several years, numerous research findings and media reports have called attention to security vulnerabilities present within SS7 networks. Reports suggest that attackers target SS7 to obtain subscriber information, eavesdrop on subscriber traffic, conduct financial theft, and promulgate denial-of-service attacks (DoS).
