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I know about digital IFF but I had never given much thought to "old school analog" IFF. I sort of assumed that uniforms were the primary mechanism, but obvious
by jjoonathan 6y ago
I know about digital IFF but I had never given much thought to "old school analog" IFF.
I sort of assumed that uniforms were the primary mechanism, but obviously they can be spoofed, and with "tacticool" fashion as prevalent as it is they can be trivially spoofed. I never gave it enough thought to think up or chase down the actual solution. "They hand out gun stickers" is a delightfully simple and practical answer.
This is the best bit of trivia I've learned all day.
- hsbauauvhabzb 6y agoNot really. If you can spoof a uniform you can spoof a sticker. And given it’s not a reliable negative identifier, it’s probably not a huge help anyway.
- jjoonathan 6y agoYou can't spoof a sticker you don't know about, because they handed it out that day. It's a shared secret.
- hsbauauvhabzb 6y agoCool, fta just said some had stickers and some didn’t. Now you’re just adding confusion into the mix.
- Animats 6y agoIn the 1980s, the NYPD used elastic headbands. There was a color or pattern for the day, and plainclothes cops were issued the proper headband at the station. I wonder what they're using now, headbands being so over.
- jsheard 6y agoThey use armbands now: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/nypd-arm-bands/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/nypd-arm-bands/
- LeifCarrotson 6y agoI don't know about digital IFF. I had to look it up, stands for "Identification friend or foe". Does "digital" mean it's just for military applications of identifying ships and aircraft, or is that something you broadcast from a computer in a security/pen-testing context?
- throw0101a 6y ago> I sort of assumed that uniforms were the primary mechanism, but obviously they can be spoofed, and with "tacticool" fashion as prevalent as it is they can be trivially spoofed. This has been a plot point in various movies. See also dressing up as troopers in Star Wars. There's a 'what to do if you're an evil genius' guide floating around, and one of the recommendations is to make sure that helmets had clear masks so people's faces could be seen—at least in the Evil HQ.
- dafoex 6y agoI read a rendition of that Evil Genius How To and never understood that point until now: as someone evil, I want my minions to be faceless and threatening, and above all I don't want their targets to see the fear behind the mask and get hope that they could defeat my minions. Looking at it from an opsec point of view and it makes total sense, however, so long as your minions can all recognise each other. Failing that, its the information age so just use facial recognition - not as biometric locks, but to identify unique individuals and alert security of unrecognised people or people with face coverings. Uniforms and battledress could even incorporate body-worn cameras in order to identify individuals both to the minion wearing the device, and also as a remote "eye on the ground" to the security team.
- throw0101a 6y agoBiometrics should always only be used as usernames and not passwords, both in fiction/sci-fi and real life.