On Thu, 17 Feb 2005, John J. Trammell wrote: > http://www.theregister.com/2005/02/17/spam_gets_vocal_with_voip/ > > Egads, why didn't I see this coming? Upcoming TCLUG meeting topic: > "Building a Firewall for your Phone." Luckily a challenge-response system is much more feasible in real-time than it is in e-mail. "You've reached Adam's phone. Please press 421 to leave a message." As long as the message is in your own words, and your own voice, I don't think it's likely that current voice analysis software could automate this. I could've instead said, "421 is the code to leave a message". I could blow the "efffffff" in 4 into the speaker. Or "hit 4, then half of that, then half of that". Or "The 1st 3 powers of two, in reverse, ending with 2^0" Or "Hit 42, and Bob's-your-uncle if you then hit one." This is only 2 digits away from whatever cell company has the "press 1 to leave a voicemail" thing today. And brute forcing 999 combinations should drive the per-spam cost up enough to make this infeasible. More concerning is the case where they actually reach you instead of leaving a message. And then setup the software to immediately call back if you hang up before the sales pitch is done? Maybe the "is it human?" test has to happen before your phone will ring. My home phone rings off the hook day and night. I pay $telco for the "privelege" of owning a land line. Then marketers pay $telco for my name and phone number. Then I pay $telco for an unlisted number. Then the marketers pay $telco more for my name and number. Then I pay $telco for privacy plus. And smaller companies not using auto-dialers STILL GET THROUGH. Yeah, I can't wait for this to happen on my cellphone. <echelon bait> Hey, let's just shut it all off. Ted Kaczinsky's ideal world isn't looking so bad. </echelon bait>