The Federal Communications Commission has finally made the move to introduce regulations which aim to reduce the amount of call spoofing and robocalls. Starting by June of 2021, all cell phone carriers in the US will be required to implement the STIR/SHAKEN protocol on their networks.
STIR/SHAKEN (Secure Telephone Identity Revisited / Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs) digitally validates phone calls as they pass between carriers, allowing the receiving carrier to verify that the number displayed on caller ID is genuine. This directly attacks the call spoofing technique used by the vast majority of robocall operations.
Why This Matters
Call spoofing — displaying a fake caller ID number — is the primary tool used by scammers running robocall campaigns. By faking a local area code or a legitimate business number, scammers dramatically increase the likelihood that people will answer. STIR/SHAKEN makes this technically much harder at the carrier network level.
What You May Notice
As carriers implement the standard, you may begin seeing "Spam Risk," "Scam Likely," or "Verified Number" labels on incoming calls depending on your phone and carrier. These labels are generated based on whether the call's authentication checks passed or failed.
For businesses using VOIP phone systems, proper STIR/SHAKEN implementation ensures your outbound calls aren't incorrectly flagged as spam. Landshark IT configures and manages VOIP phone systems with proper authentication for Tampa Bay businesses.