One of the nastier things being done by people out to harass bloggers and now reporters is making false phone calls that cause a SWAT raid on innocent people. The latest victim is Brian Krebs who is something of a crusader in the Internet security field. More can be found at Ars Technica.
The tactic has moved out of the political arena to the organized crime category if what I’m reading is correct. If the militarization of local police forces didn’t concern me in the past, this sort of thing has me questioning it. In decades past, the image of heavily armed men kicking in doors and hauling people out was something you associated with communist countries and other dictatorships.
If that isn’t a sign of decline, I don’t know what is.
The only thing that can be done about the rise of SWATting is find some kind of way to have local police informed about the potential for false calls for specific people. That only helps those who know they might be SWATted, but I don’t any other thing that can be done other than to introduce training about the practice to local police forces.
Maybe Krebs experience will finally get the irresponsible mainstream media to start talking about the problem. One can only hope.
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