As we have seen throughout the United States, schools and First Responders are dealing with a high volume of swatting calls in their communities. These calls increase the risk of tragedies as law enforcement and parents rush to the scene, fearing the worst.
Swatting calls differ from bomb threats because these hoax calls always report a shooting in progress at a school. Many of these calls are made using the same technology that produces our mass amounts of spam phone calls to mobile and home phones. However, just as schools worked with First Responders to keep schools safe and minimize the effects of bomb threats, we must also do the same with swatting calls.
As usual, my go-to source for information is the REMS TA Center. The Washington School Safety Center posted to the site great information from the New Jersey Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Cell. This information will not prevent swatting calls but it can guide us on how to better respond to these calls.
CLICK HERE to download your copy of this Swatting: Mitigation Strategies and Reporting Procedures guideline from the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell.
