As reported by the the Daily Beast, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon sent letters to all 4 US mobile operators last week inquiring on the steps they have taken to secure their networks against SS7 based vulnerabilities.

In the letter, Senator Wyden presents SS7 penetration testing as an effective way to learn the extent of the vulnerabilities existing in each network, and questions if operators are cooperating with the Department of Homeland Security to have such tests conducted. He also suggests that GSA (the General Services Administration which is responsible for all US government services RFPs) should be allowed to conduct SS7 vulnerability assessments of a mobile network prior to awarding it US government contracts, a novel but logical idea.

This new wave of government scrutinety will hopefull contribute in securing the US critical telecommunications infrastructure from SS7 and Diameter based attacks for good, just like other countries worldwide have been securing their own critical infrastructure in the past few years.