Challenge

One of the country’s largest metropolitan police departments was experiencing multiple voice security issues when they approached SecureLogix®. SecureLogix activated its platform to stop a Telephony Denial of Service (TDoS) attack on the police commissioner and all direct dial-in numbers for the detectives. The situation was dangerous since no one could reach any of the detectives during a protest uprising in their jurisdiction.

Activists associated with a protest launched the TDoS attacks to hamper coordination of the police response to the protests. The attacks also impacted the public’s ability to call for service from the police department.

A subsequent inadvertent TDoS attack involved a celebrity’s publicist mistakenly using the police department’s phone number for a public relations campaign. The result was thousands of calls flooding the police precinct’s voice system such that legitimate callers could not get through.

Approach

SecureLogix gave the police department the stronger security posture it needed. The TDoS attacks on the police department during the unrest were stopped quickly once the Call Defense™ platform was activated.

For the celebrity public relations campaign gone wrong, SecureLogix instituted new rule sets quickly to filter calling numbers and exchanges likely involved in the PR calling campaign. Calls were redirected to a voicemail advising callers they had reached the wrong number.

While both TDoS attacks had different intentions, the impact on law enforcement operations was the same. Because the entire police department and headquarters voice system was targeted, a TDoS attack would result in network-wide loss of voice service if not addressed.

Result

SecureLogix now protects one of the country’s largest metropolitan police departments from call threats and attacks, even as they migrate from a traditional phone system to a Cisco SIP voice network infrastructure. The police department now relies on SecureLogix to protect its entire voice infrastructure from all types of voice security threats.

Solutions

  • Call Defense™ system
  • Call Secure™ managed service