CISA Report on Cyber Risks to 911: TDoS

A telephony denial of service (TDoS) attack is a specific type of DDoS attack directed towards a telephone system to bring the targeted system down. These attacks can affect anyone, including our 911 infrastructure, and may often include ransomware requests. 

As such, TDoS attacks present a unique risk to public safety communications stakeholders, including Emergency Communications Centers (ECC), Publics Safety Answering Points (PSAP), and other 911 centers. 

In response, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) developed the Cyber Risks to 911: Telephony Denial of Service fact sheet to educate the public safety community on TDoS threats. 

Specifically, the fact sheet reviews:

• The most common TDoS attack vectors
• Real-world TDoS incidents and impacts
• Best practices to mitigate TDoS vulnerabilities

One of the key takeaways is for ECC/PSAPs should consider a managed service provider to address two of these migrations:

• Implement the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework to improve cybersecurity posture
• Conduct cybersecurity assessments, identify capability gaps and vulnerabilities, and determine appropriate cybersecurity standards

Take Action to Prevent Attacks:  Download CISA’s TDoS fact sheet to see the seven steps to prevent cyber attacks.