New Specification by ATIS and SIP Forum Advances Network Capabilities to Mitigate Unwanted Robocalling and Caller ID Fraud
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2017 — 
WASHINGTON and NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Feb. 2, 2017 — ATIS and the SIP Forum are pleased to announce publication of the SHAKEN (Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs) specification, a major advancement in industry efforts to mitigate unwanted robocalls and caller ID spoofing.
Developed to efficiently implement the IETF’s STIR (Secure Telephony Identity Revisited) standard, SHAKEN defines a signature to verify the calling number and specifies how it will be transported in SIP “on the wire.” The SHAKEN framework provides guidance for service providers to implement STIR. Together, STIR/SHAKEN will offer a practical mechanism to provide verified information about the calling party as well as the origin of the call — what is known as “attestation” — for the first time in the network. Giving service providers the tools needed to sign and verify calling numbers makes it possible for consumers to know, before answering, that the calls they receive are from legitimate parties.
“Today’s solutions for blocking unwanted calls depend on caller ID, which can be easily spoofed leaving consumers inherently vulnerable. STIR/SHAKEN verifies calling party information, creating a solid foundation for existing and future call-blocking applications,” said ATIS President and CEO Susan Miller. “Unwanted robocalling is the FCC’s leading cause of consumer complaints. This ATIS specification not only mitigates the problem but also assists law enforcement in finding the source of unwanted calls. ATIS is pleased to have developed this solution with the SIP Forum giving consumers more control over the calls and texts they receive.”
“The SIP Forum is delighted to work with ATIS on advancing this technology. Not only are robocalls the leading cause of consumer complaints in the United States, but they are also the number one consumer complaint in the United Kingdom and Canada. We jointly hope to see this solution adopted internationally,” said Richard Shockey, Chairman of the Board of the SIP Forum. “And we will not stop here. The SIP Forum will continue to work closely with ATIS in the weeks and months ahead on advancing the state of the art and work with the industry-led Strikeforce on Robocalls and appropriate national regulatory authorities. ”
To obtain a copy of the SHAKEN Specification, please visit the ATIS White Paper Center here: https://atis.org/01_resources/whitepapers.asp#signature or the SIP Forum website here: https://www.sipforum.org/content/view/439/312/.
To speed deployment of the new specification, carriers will be validating its effectiveness through the ATIS Robocalling Testbed: https://www.neustar.biz/atis-testbed/index.php.
