Insights

Webinar Recap: STIR/SHAKEN 101: Demystifying Call Authentication for a Trusted Telecom Ecosystem

Sep 12, 2025

In the first installment of Somos’ Trust Framework Webinar Series, Jamie Zetterstrom, VP of Product Management at Somos, offered a walkthrough of STIR/SHAKEN and why it matters in today’s telecom ecosystem. At its core, STIR/SHAKEN is a mechanism for verifying that a call really comes from the party claiming to place it: STIR provides the stamp, SHAKEN is the rulebook for validating and trusting those stamps.

Though often viewed as a silver bullet for scam prevention, the current implementation of STIR/SHAKEN, which is focused primarily on carrier-to-carrier call authentication, leaves critical gaps when it comes to traceability, accountability and trust. Three persistent accountability gaps stand out: whether the caller has the Right-to-Use a number, whether the calling entity is accurately represented and who is ultimately responsible for the call. These gaps, she explained, allow bad actors to hide in plain sight.

The path forward? End-to-end authentication that connects identity, intent and accountability from the originating entity to the end user. This means expanding beyond today’s standards to include verified entity data, cryptographic trust signals and protections for both IP and non-IP networks.

With collaboration across carriers, enterprises and regulators, the industry can advance toward a more transparent and secure communication ecosystem. Join us for the next webinar in the series, where we dive deeper into the Trust Framework and how it helps to close the trust gap and increase confidence in communications:

Are you interested in learning more about how Somos solutions can help you strengthen end-to-end call authentication? Contact us at connect@somos.com.

For those who were not able to attend the webinar, you can catch up by accessing the on-demand recording for viewing anytime!