[EAS] IPAWS expiration dates...

[David Turnmire]

Thanks Ed and Mark.  A few questions for Mark:

1. Would the nature of this process be such that the expiration dates of the certificate and the MOA would inherently be close or identical?  Or is any such similarity purely coincidental?  The reason I ask is that the certificates I'm familiar with (SSL and the like), it is easy for software to read the expiration date.  Thus, any vendor that is handling that IPAWS communication on behalf of EM, could establish automatic warning mechanisms.  If I'm understanding correctly, that is what Ed has indicated is true with his product.
2. If there isn't any direct correlation between the MOA and the certificate expiration dates... is there provision with the IPAWS protocol to allow a vendor to query IPAWS (server) and determine that date?  If not, is it practical to add that?  Alternatively, is it possible for FEMA to implement an automatic notification system (say, at 60 days and 30 days before expiration) of their own?  My preference would be a combination of both.  The problem with the automatic notification by FEMA, especially by email, is it is dependent on FEMA having the correct email address 3 years later. 

   The ability to query IPAWS' server would seem to have two potential weaknesses, albeit hopefully less significant.  One, of course, is the vendor's willingness to implement that feature.  The other is having a reliable system in place for that info to get from a paper MOA to the database being queried.  If the vendor makes the current expiration date readily visible, it would be easy for an EM to keep an eye on that in the immediate aftermath of renewal, and contact FEMA if it doesn't get updated.  That would act as an additional double-check for any systems implemented at FEMA's end.

   As for appropriate record keeping and oversight of expiration dates at the EM level...  Well.  I think I'll avoid comment on the likeliness of that being reliable.

Thanks

Dave