[EAS] Another bad message going through IPAWS CAP.

[Ed Czarnecki]

>>I'm not sure all alert originators have current digital certificates.
Is very possible there are some local alert originators with outdated certificates.  I know that FEMA is pretty good about reaching out to the originators in a timely manner with information about new certificates.  For various regions, some originators have not been able to apply new certificates in a timely manner.

>>Do states with their own CAP distribution systems, require
their own CAs?

That is an excellent question.  Several state CAP systems are reusing the FEMA certs, which makes life easy. 

At least one state system was not using digital certificates at all, which  is a problem, but I think at some point they had decided to use FEMA certs.

I'm not certain about some state systems, as they (or their vendors) had been rather uncommunicative, or at least rather "selective" with whom they share information.

Edward Czarnecki, Ph.D.
Senior Director - Strategic and Government Affairs
Monroe Electronics Inc. / Digital Alert Systems

ed.czarnecki at monroe-electronics.com
585-765-2254 | fax 585-765-9330
Reston VA | Lyndonville NY

From: Sean Donelan
donelan.com>
radiolists.net>
radiolists.net>
donelan.com>

On Tue, 20 Jun 2017, Ed Czarnecki wrote:

> (2) digital signature inspection should always be enabled on EAS devices.

> (3) software updates should be applied to EAS devices in a timely manner to
> ensure the most current digital certificates and security updates are
> installed.

I agree.  I believe all major CAP/EAS decoding vendors have updated their
software with the latest IPAWS certificate authorities and digital
signatures.

Most state/local alert originators show up with valid digital
signatures, but I'm not sure all alert originators have current digital
certificates. Do states with their own CAP distribution systems, require
their own CAs?

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