[CQ-Contest] [Fwd: Contest Loggers to reduce cheating]

[David Gilbert]

You wrote this tongue in cheek, right?  Because otherwise, this is a 
good example of the kind of thing that in industry gives engineers a bad 
reputation for wasting a lot of effort creating complexity that causes 
greater problems than the one it was intended to fix.

Dave   AB7E


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	[CQ-Contest] Contest Loggers to reduce cheating
Date: 	Sat, 15 Dec 2007 19:34:31 -0800
From: 	Eric Hilding <b38 at hilding.com>
To: 	<cq-contest at contesting.com>
CC: 	'Jim Neiger' <n6tj at sbcglobal.net>



I need to add a few things about my suggestion for Contest Logger
modifications to reduce cheating.

 

In addition to recording any internal packet module use, similar to how
WriteLog handles the splitting up of audio files into manageable file size
chunks while recording a contest, here's what I envision as *one*
possibility.  BTW, this would eliminate any post-contest 'massaging' of logs
except for maybe the last one hour.  If a cheater attempts in any way to
screw around with his or her computer's internal time-clock during the
event, the program could self-destruct and fail to operate that contest
module any longer.

 

Let's use a 24 hour Contest as an example.

 

Once every hour, the special add-on module auto-writes an encrypted log for
*that* segment of the contest.

 

At the end of the next hour, it auto-writes the next sement, and so on.  Any
attempt to prevent the auto-writing would internally nuke the program.

 

Before the final hour QSO is logged, yes, a cheater could delay the entry in
order to try to amend or modify QSO data on screen, but only for that hour,
because all previous log segments were already encrypted into chunks or
segments that can NOT be decoded by the contest participant.

 

As the final QSO is logged as complete (CTRL + ENTER or whatever command is
normally used), that final hour segment is auto-written, and the special
module then also automatically combines all 24 encrypted module segments
into one master encrypted file for emailing or uploading to the contest
sponsor.  By encryption, I'm talking CIA grade (or close to it) encryption.
Certainly there must be a technical way to build in some kind of trigger or
self-destruct mechanism in the event a 'cheater' attempts to mess with the
file, or, a clever way to identify if it's been screwed with once it is in
the contest sponsor's possession.

 

There are several technical gurus who lurk here who may be able to 'confirm
or deny' the plausibility of such an anti-cheating deterrent.

 

FWIW & 73.

 

Rick, K6VVA * The Locust

 

 

 

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