A Mechanism to Authenticate Caller ID

Abstract

Caller ID displayed on the phone is supposed to provide accurate information of the caller. However, with the help of computer and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), it is easy to spoof a Caller ID. The users of spoofing caller ID can be school district office, hospital, law enforcement, telemarketers etc. Although caller ID spoofing has legitimate uses, it imposes real threats to the receiver of the call when it is abused. In today’s world, it is important to restore the credibility of the incoming caller ID. In this work, we propose a mechanism that can authenticate certified caller IDs, which can be authentic or legitimately-spoofed. The proposed scheme involves caller, receiver of the call, and a third-party to exchange short information. It is caller and receiver’s discretion to adopt this scheme. The proposed scheme does not change switch or signaling protocol. The proposed scheme can be naturally integrated into current system. An Android-based application was developed to test the idea.