Bomb threats to schools using anonymous robocall technology

17 Apr 2016 · 2 min

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2:10

The WBZ News segment, reported by Christina Hager, details a surge of phoned‑in bomb threats targeting over a dozen Massachusetts schools, including Hudson. All threats proved false but caused significant anxiety, evacuations, and diverted public‑safety resources. Cybersecurity expert Robert Siciliano demonstrates how anonymous robocall services operate: they provide custom caller‑ID spoofing, mass‑call capabilities, and scripts that can be launched with a single click, often routing through overseas servers—frequently in Russia—making the calls hard to trace. Superintendent Jody Fortuna describes the unprecedented nature of the attacks and the strain on emergency responders. The report underscores the difficulty authorities face in stopping these masked, automated threats and the broader impact on school safety and community confidence.

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Schools across the Bay State hit again with phoned-in threats. It's been another frustrating day for school administrators, parents, and police. Schools in well over a dozen communities receiving threats today. They all turned out to be false alarms, but each threat, of course, raising anxiety levels and wasting a lot of time. WBC's Christina Hager reports from one of those towns affected, Hudson.
Send robocalls to anyone instantly. Cybersecurity expert Robert Siciliano showed us this within seconds searching the internet. The threat. Countless services sending out mass computer-generated phone calls. They can cause a big safety threat in the wrong hands, like the rash of bomb threats inundating schools this year.
Unfortunately, it's very difficult to stop.
Hudson is among about 20 schools in the latest batch of threats, from Boston to Billerica to Lemonster, naming a few.
Well, it started basically just over the loudspeakers. We heard, so there was a bomb threat, and we're going to slowly not evacuate the building but get everybody into the gym.
A source close to the investigation tells tells us in the past such calls were traced to Russia.
And as you can see right off the top, custom caller ID number, which means that they are facilitating the process of you changing your caller ID to mask who you are. And you just provide them with a list of phone numbers you want to call and a script, and you just hit a button and all of that takes place right in front of you.
But I can't even speculate on why somebody would be doing this. Hudson School Superintendent Jody Fortuna. It's really amazing. It's It's unprecedented, I think. You know, we had it earlier in the year, and then for it to happen again now is just remarkable. And it's unfortunate because I think in a lot of ways it takes very valuable public safety resources away from other things.
The biggest challenge for authorities, according to a source close to the investigation, is these pranksters use masking programs so they can't be traced. It just goes back to a server overseas, usually Russia. In Hudson, Christine Katharina Hager, WBZ News.