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Correct, although there are a group of us looking to change this rule and the FCC seems receptive. It is the AARL that is a bit slow on this issue. The origina

Correct, although there are a group of us looking to change this rule and the FCC seems receptive. It is the AARL that is a bit slow on this issue. The original rules were drafted during the cold war, so times have changed. More importantly, we believe it is possible to not hide the intent and recepient of a message, while still protecting sensitive content using open source encryption methods. There are cases that encryption is necessary to maintaining the integrity of emergency infrastructure. For example, remotely logging into a Mesh Node to change the operating frequencies, or sending HIPPA information. If someone wanted to monitor RF packets they could see that I am logging into my administration console, but they don't really need to see the password. But, until the FCC issues clear guidance on encryption on the microwave frequencies we do our best to disable it, although there are some emergency services that are literally only available over https, so some hams have decided to forge ahead in the hopes of forcing a rule change.

brians 7y ago
I don’t see how encryption is required there. Strong cryptographic authentication, yes—but that could be as easy as an HMAC with a key shared offline. The HIPAA information is a great example of what should be kept off the amateur bands, except in an emergency when forgoing encryption is appropriate.
Karunamon 7y ago
>If someone wanted to monitor RF packets they could see that I am logging into my administration console, but they don't really need to see the password. Interesting note.. some regular analog repeaters do something similar to this. If someone needs to make a settings change, they're managed via DTMF (dialpad) sounds. Normally the repeater would relay everything, but it can detect the DTMFs and just replace them with beeps or silence before rebroadcasting.

brians 7y ago

I don’t see how encryption is required there. Strong cryptographic authentication, yes—but that could be as easy as an HMAC with a key shared offline. The HIPAA information is a great example of what should be kept off the amateur bands, except in an emergency when forgoing encryption is appropriate.

Karunamon 7y ago

>If someone wanted to monitor RF packets they could see that I am logging into my administration console, but they don't really need to see the password. Interesting note.. some regular analog repeaters do something similar to this. If someone needs to make a settings change, they're managed via DTMF (dialpad) sounds. Normally the repeater would relay everything, but it can detect the DTMFs and just replace them with beeps or silence before rebroadcasting.