[875] in Privacy_Forum
[ PRIVACY Forum ] More on "phone app terrorist threat" (ADS-B
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (privacy@vortex.com)
Mon Oct 4 15:39:07 2010
Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2010 12:19:06 -0700
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Greetings. The reference I sent out yesterday to "A phone app that
threatens airline security?" ( http://bit.ly/9jOsvl [NNSquad] ) -- in
which I asked why ADS-B transmissions are not encrypted -- triggered a
number of retorts, mostly suggesting that encryption was either too
difficult, unreliable, unnecessary, or some combination of these.
I should have noted the following originally, but interested parties
would be well served by doing the simple Google Search:
ads-b encryption
to see the vast numbers of discussions, arguments, papers, proposals,
and assorted other documents related to this issue from both military
and non-military sources.
Concerns about military aircraft (and planes carrying heads of state
and other "VIPs") along with detailed ADS-B encryption proposals for
such situations at least, have been around for quite a while.
While it's easy to suggest that ADS-B doesn't present a threat since
"you can see planes in the sky anyway" -- military planners in general
do not agree. You may or may not accept their reasoning, but
the controversies are very real.
Also, keep in mind that concerns regarding ADS-B security involve
not only theoretical targeting risks but also concerns regarding
jamming and falsification of ADS-B data.
Fundamentally, the existence of a phone app that can access Internet
servers with shared ADS-B data isn't the heart of this issue. Rather,
the very mechanisms of ADS-B -- which keep in mind are designed to
significantly supplant conventional radar-based navigation systems
over time -- are themselves in dispute in various contexts.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com)
http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
Co-Founder, PFIR (People For Internet Responsibility): http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, NNSquad (Network Neutrality Squad): http://www.nnsquad.org
Founder, GCTIP (Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance):
http://www.gctip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Google Buzz: http://bit.ly/lauren-buzz
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