What All Carriers Need to Know About STIR/SHAKEN

The implementation deadline to have STIR/SHAKEN standards in place in the US is rapidly approaching, as in June 30, 2021. Maybe you’ve heard about this, maybe you’re just now learning… but whether you’re a carrier serving millions of subscribers or a small provider serving 10,000, these are some of the basics you need to know. 

Who likes scam calls? No one. In 2019 the FTC received 1.7 million fraud complaints for a reported total loss of $1.9 billion USD—and that’s only the number reported! This total is much, much, higher when you consider unreported calls and actually look at the traffic—maybe even closer to $20 billion. So how does the industry solve this? 

The FCC (a.k.a. “The Commission”) thinks carriers can help mitigate the “telephone number identity” problem, which is why they implemented regulations and mandates relating to standards called STIR and SHAKEN.  When carriers comply with STIR/SHAKEN standards, they help distinguish legitimate telephone numbers from illegitimately spoofed ones. 

What is STIR/SHAKEN? 

STIR (Secure Telephony Identity Revisited) and SHAKEN (Secure Handling of Asserted information using toKENs) is a framework to securely sign and verify calling party numbers in Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) signaling used to set up phone calls.  

But these standards do not innately prevent illegal and unwanted calls—STIR/SHAKEN cannot determine the content or intent of the call. The standards do, however, establish a framework for carriers to help identify, track, and mitigate spoofed calls.  

Why STIR/SHAKEN? 

The advent of VoIP has made it easy and cheap for scammers to place calls. Frequently, scam calls are spoofed, either to mask the true originating number or to trick the called party into thinking the call is from someone they might know (known as neighborhood and enterprise spoofing). Originating service providers (those who originate calls) are responsible for digitally signing certain aspects of the call signal, thereby allowing terminating service providers (those completing the call) a way to validate the signature. 

Where can Carriers get help?  

First Orion deployed the first-ever-in-the-world implementation of STIR/SHAKEN. We now deliver STIR/SHAKEN for two Tier 1 carriers in the US. We help carriers navigate the regulatory world of STIR/SHAKEN and ensure compliance or robocall mitigation through our world-class solutions.  

First Orion’s STIR/SHAKEN solution is deployed using our Transparency Hub platform, allowing additional First Orion solutions to be added with minimal implementation effort. Combining a STIR/SHAKEN solution from First Orion with our analytics solutions can also ensure incoming calls are informative, authentic, legitimate, and transparent. With a single query to the platform, all applicable services are processed at once, reducing latency.  

First Orion’s analytic services use deep machine learning for enhanced Call Validation Treatment which allow carriers and enterprises to unlock the ability to deploy other services, such as call disposition and calling number category. Providing the STIR/SHAKEN solution via the First Orion Transparency Hub means these services can be implemented within the cloud or on premise (carrier-hosted). 

Once the originating number has been verified– or not– service providers have the information they need to make decisions that protect consumers (such as category labelling or blocking), and they can minimize illegal, spoofed, or robocall activity. 

For more information on STIR/SHAKEN and how First Orion can help, contact us.