The US has no central system for recording SWATting attacks, but there is growing evidence the problem is going from bad to worse.
According to The New York Times, the latest victim was Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, whose houses in New York and San Francisco were surrounded in early November by heavily armed SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) teams after hoax phone calls claimed hostages were being held there.
After what is described as “tense, hours-long standoffs” the police realised there were no hostages and so the incident wad filed along with the lengthening list of SWATting hoaxes the media has reported on.
But that’s the power of a successful SWAT. Once the wheels of response are in motion, it can be hard for the authorities to distinguish a real incident from an imaginary one designed to intimidate and harass.
The motive for the attack? The newspaper speculated that it was probably Instagram’s recent crackdown on political content which violates its rules, fuelled by a dark web awash with the contact numbers and home addresses or prominent executives.
Tech companies, including Facebook, have become such a regular target for SWATting that a growing number of companies have reportedly had to brief executives that they believe might be targeted.
Things are so bad that registries of at-risk individuals have reportedly been drawn up in at least one US city so local police can check first before sending out SWAT teams.