FCC wants hackers to go after Rachel

The FCC has Rachel in the crosshairs. Rachel is the most prolific robocall bot currently operating in the United States. And the FCC has called upon hackers at the DEF CON conference in Las Vegas to track her down.

"'Rachel from Cardholder Services' is one of the most notorious — and most annoying — robocallers ever," the FTC said. "The FTC is challenging the tech-savvy public to help us zap Rachel and her robocall buddies by creating the next-generation robocall honeypot at DEF CON 22. A robocall honeypot is an information system designed to attract robocallers, which can help researchers and investigators understand and combat illegal calls."

There is a three part component of the award to be given:
"Creator," to build a honeypot to lure the robo-callers
"Attacker," to attack the honeypot to find its vulnerabilities
"Detective," to analyze the data a honeypot collects on robocalls

The prize? A respectable $17,000 between the three eventual winners.

Zap Rachel is turning out to be hugely popular this year. Top competitiors will be announced Sunday, with actual winners at a later date.