Who knows how many times you have found yourself fighting daily with phone calls from unknown or apparently reliable numbers that are then proved to be attempts at aggressive telemarketing or, even worse, of real telephone scams. Something, apparently, is changing. THE’AGCOM (Authority for guarantees in communications) is in fact working on a Anti-Spoofing filter to reduce spam calls from illegal call centers. As anticipated by the Commissioner Massimiliano Capitaniothis tool will be obligatory For all telephone operators and could enter into force in the coming months, revolutionizing the way our phone manages the incoming calls. The filter aims to contrast the so -called in particular spoofinga technique that allows you to camouflage the true number of the caller, deceiving the recipient and inducing him to respond. Thanks to this regulatory and technological intervention, the goal is to restore conditions of transparency in the telephone communications sector and protect millions of users from incorrect and dangerous practices.
The anti-Spoofing measures designed by AGCOM
In recent years, aggressive telemarketing has achieved levels such as to compromise the quality of our daily life. These are not just annoying commercial calls: often behind apparently familiar numbers they hide real telephone scams. Precisely for this reason the Minister of Business and Made in Italy, Adolfo Ursoconvened a technical table dedicated to the theme, to which AGCOM He participated presenting the first results of his activities. As he explained Massimiliano CapitanioThe authority recently concluded a phase of discussion with the telephone operators, at the end of which a series of technical measures was defined to hit the problem at the root. Capitanio reported:
The initiative of Minister Urso to convene (…) a technical table on aggressive telemarketing is appropriate. The continuous spam calls are making millions of users impossible and that is why Agcom is intervening at the root of the problem. Just in recent days the authority has completed the work of a table together with the telephone operators with the aim of defining technical measures, a real technological filter, to prevent clispoofing. In fact, this practice makes the camouflage of the calling number possible, allowing hundreds of operators who operate in illegality and mainly from abroad to act undisturbed and outside the rules that instead weigh on the legal call centers. In the coming weeks Agcom will be ready to make the results of these interlocutions public. Once the resolution has been approved, operators will have a maximum of 6 months to block spam calls according to the technological standards indicated by AGCOM.
But what exactly is it spoofing? This term indicates a manipulation of the identification data of the caller – the so -called Caller ID – which allows you to view a number other than the real one on the recipient’s display. In this way, scammers manage to pretend to be public bodies, banks or reliable local numbers, increasing the probability that the victim responds. In many cases, the numbers used for spoofing are not even recalled, making it even more difficult to trace the origin of the call and denounce abuse.
According to the first rumors reported by the information site Key4biz, AGCOM should approve the resolution relating to the anti-Spoofing filter by April 30th. Although the technical details have not yet been officially disclosed, it is assumed that the filter will be based on a Specific algorithm capable of automatically recognizing and blocking calls from disguised or non -authentic numbers. Once the resolution has been approved, operators will have a maximum term of six months to implement the system and adapt to the established standards.
The collaboration between AGCOM and other entities
A central element of this project is the collaboration between AGCOM and the main stakeholders in the sectorincluding consumer associations such as Altroconsumo. The latter actively contributed to the public consultation launched last November, proposing specific interventions to strengthen the effectiveness of the new tool. Among the advanced proposals stand out theobligation for operators to verify the authenticity of the numbers in transit on their networksThe preventive block of suspicious calls and the introduction of dedicated security protocols Especially to international telephone traffic, where a significant part of fraudulent calls comes from (many telephone scams are perpetrated with foreign prefixes).
The path to get to this solution was not short: AGCOM opened one public consultation Duration six months to collect observations, suggestions and improvement proposals. This methodical and scientific approach testifies to the intention of building a sturdy systemcapable of responding both to the technical needs of telecommunications and end users’ rights. Even if the anti-Spoofing filter will not delete all unwanted phone callsshould certainly represent an important step forward in the protection of our telephone privacy.
