[aprssig] [OT] Re: CB traffic on APRS-IS

[Andrew P.]

Interesting observation. Maybe we need to start harvesting all the originating and digipeater callsigns and validating they are real. Not against the government lists, but against actual registrations (like APRS-IS used to do for I-Gate passcodes). We could start a gradual transition towards a new more secure API for importing I-Gates to keep the spam out, and start a distributed "whitelist" server for valid licensed amateur callsigns that the backbone would check before accepting a packet from such a callsign. Echolink and the like do something like that to try to keep the unlicensed off our service.

Such a practice wouldn't keep newbie hams from using local RF for APRS before they were registered on the whitelist server, and illegal RF users could be tracked down like any other "pirate" station. Eventually, once the transition (Phase 1) was declared complete, all I-Gates and clients using the old insecure protocol would be restricted to read-only access to the APRS-IS backbone. Whether we would need to go to a Phase 2 and shut down the old client/I-Gate ports entirely is another topic entirely, but that could be dragged out for years until the old clients were upgraded or shut down.

The only issues I can see with this is:

1. How do we validate "legal" callsigns for entry into the whitelist, and who does the actual data entry?

2. How do we prevent fraud stations from using someone else's legal and registered callsign?

Just my $.02.

Andrew Pavlin, KA2DDO
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

-----Original Message-----
From: Earl Needham <earl.kd5xb at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:05:30 
To: <aprssig at tapr.org>
Subject: Re: [aprssig] [OT] Re:  CB traffic on APRS-IS

It would go a long way toward getting rid of all those airplanes on APRS -- the ones that nobody knows if they're legal or not, and they put cursing, etc in their status when asked.

Vy 7 3
Earl
KD5XB

KD5XB -- Earl Needham http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cw_bugs Quoting from the Coast Guard: ZUT Posted via Blackberry

-----Original Message-----
From: "Lynn W. Deffenbaugh (Mr)" <ldeffenb at homeside.to>
Sender: aprssig-bounces at tapr.org
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:40:22 
To: TAPR APRS Mailing List<aprssig at tapr.org>
Reply-To: TAPR APRS Mailing List <aprssig at tapr.org>
Subject: Re: [aprssig] [OT] Re:  CB traffic on APRS-IS

I believe this was bandied about here a while back with the conclusion, 
IIRC, of an inability to define what is a "valid call sign".   Pattern 
matching can get you a bunch that MAY be valid, but not all licensing 
agencies publish lists like our FCC does, and worse, I don't see a 
feasible way of keeping every interested party up-to-date on the current 
lists of "valid" call signs globally either.

Lynn (D) - KJ4ERJ - Author of APRSISCE for Windows Mobile and Win32

PS.  If it were easy, it would already be implemented, I'm sure!

On 2/15/2012 1:28 PM, Greg Dolkas wrote:
> Couldn't we take the approach that only packets with valid call signs in them get processed?  Other packets may be legal, due to local context, but that doesn't mean we have to handle them.  There's a higher bar to cross in using a gateway.
>
> Just a thought,
>
> Greg  KO6TH
>
> Sent from my trusty HP iPAQ.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Lynn W. Deffenbaugh (Mr)"<ldeffenb at homeside.to>
> To: "TAPR APRS Mailing List"<aprssig at tapr.org>
> Sent: 2/15/12 4:57 AM
> Subject: Re: [aprssig] [OT] Re:  CB traffic on APRS-IS
>
> On 2/15/2012 7:40 AM, Dave wrote:
>> Anwyay, re the above snippet.   If somewhere in the packet, even in the
>> payload, there is a Ham call that somehow identifies the originator, it's
>> legal.
>>
> And even worse, not every packet (at least here in the US) needs to have
> that ID.  If you beacon a comment or a status report at least once every
> 10 minutes, you're legal (on the air), so any soft of filtering (that's
> the bush we're all beating around, right?) would have to be stateful and
> remember which stations had a "legal" identification within the past "N"
> minutes where "legal" and "N" are locale-specific and therefore nigh on
> impossible to do on the APRS-IS backbone IMHO.
>
> Lynn (D) - KJ4ERJ - Author of APRSISCE for Windows Mobile and Win32
>
> PS.  Now, to figure out how to implement locale-specific filters to
> mitigate the risk to bi-directional IGate operators for third-party
> message transmissions and/or APRS-IS to RF IGate rules...  Especially
> when the first packet that said IGate might see is a message from a
> distant source destined for a recently local station...  And even worse,
> when the message sender is using a tactical station ID and relying on
> comments or status reports to provide legal identification...
>
>
>
>
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