[Skimmertalk] Building Authentication and Auditing into the Growthof Skimmers and RBNs

[John Pescatore]

I think the biggest issue is authentication. First of those connecting  
to skimmers, but also of those running public skimmers.

Next is audit trail of connections in a standardized manner then some  
thought into the protocols to be used as skimmer nodes turn into  
networks and them those networks interconnect.
The audit trail assures that data will available and usable by contest  
sponsors.

As I said below, Echolink put some thought into much of this and have  
been using a decent level of security to keep that from turning into a  
swamp.

Regards, John P.

On Apr 21, 2010, at 8:21 PM, "W0MU Mike Fatchett" <w0mu at w0mu.com> wrote:

> The biggest issues is making sure that the RBN does not infused with  
> the DX
> clusters or those clusters that do not want this service.
>
> VE7CC is looking for at a solution that would allow node owners to  
> chose to
> post the RNB/skimmer spots to their local nodes and not have the  
> spots sent
> to the rest of the network and then allow the individual users to  
> determine
> which spots they want.
>
> I am not sure what security is needed here as you have to want to  
> get the
> spots you need to connect to get them.  It is not up to Skimmer or  
> RBN to
> determine who may or may not be claiming the proper class in contests.
>
> Mike W0MU
>
>
>
>
>
>
> CC Packet Cluster W0MU-1
> W0MU.NET or  67.40.148.194
>
> "A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue  
> you may
> never get over." Ben Franklin
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: skimmertalk-bounces at contesting.com
> [mailto:skimmertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of jpescatore at aol.com
> Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 7:00 PM
> To: skimmertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: [Skimmertalk] Building Authentication and Auditing into the
> Growthof Skimmers and RBNs
>
>
> Below is a reply I made to the earlier thread on CQ-CONTEST that Tom  
> or John
> or whoever is actually moderating bounced to Skimmertalk.
>
>
> There's no need to try to build perfect security in as skimmer  
> networks
> mature, but it is really important not to just repeat the mistakes  
> made with
> the way Packetcluster grew.
>
>
> But this is the right time in Skimmer software and system  
> development to be
> building in some security mechanisms. If in 1980 or so Dick Newell  
> could
> have imagined what the global Packetcluster monster looks like  
> today, a lot
> of access control features could have been baked in early on.  
> Doesn't even
> have to be Draconian - what Echolink has built in from nearly day 1  
> is a
> good simple starting point.
>
> 73 John K3TN
>
>
> Pete said:
>
>> Ah, I understand your point now, Luc. At the moment, it is no more,
>> and no less secure than existing dx cluaster nodes. But remember,  
>> this
>> is an early experimnent. At this point, we're not even sure that it
>> will be left on for major contest weekends.
>
>> 73, Pete N4ZR
>
>
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