[aprssig] Igateing a Non Amateur

[Steve Dimse]

On Oct 2, 2005, at 4:16 PM, Jim Duncan wrote:

> Looks like I was right to be concerned way back then....It was just  
> a matter of time then and it's STILL just a matter of time before  
> we have a SERIOUS problem with this. It's time to lock it down  
> before it happens, folks. Having an open hack in the software is  
> NOT a good thing!

The crack is not a good thing, but it is no more of a threat to the  
APRS IS than already existed. As I stated, the only way to solve this  
is either with a closed hub network and a strong administrator, or  
end to end encryption which is a major headache.

However, keep in mind the situation is not new. Even before the APRS  
IS, one could, via the internet, log into a remote NOS node, answer a  
simple question (What is the split of an amateur repeater on 2  
meters?) and transmit through the node, no more authentication was  
done. The APRS IS has been open for 4 years, and neither of those  
systems ever generated any action from the FCC.

I do not think there is a need to panic, but I do think that IGate  
operators need to be aware of the problem, and make their own decisions.

Steve K4HG