Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military
From: erc@khijol.UUCP (Edwin R. Carp)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: "Identify-Friend-or-Foe" questions
Message-ID: <12931@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 9 Jan 90 02:20:22 GMT
References: <12566@cbnews.ATT.COM> <12598@cbnews.ATT.COM> <12758@cbnews.ATT.COM>
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From: erc@khijol.UUCP (Edwin R. Carp)

In article <12758@cbnews.ATT.COM> s32822l@kaira.hut.fi (Ari J. Joki (OH6DJ)) writes:
>
>This is to say that in a crisis situation the military is going to switch 
>from the present system outlined above to a system where queries and responses
>have some kind of cryptographic authentication. At least that is how I read
>it and how I'd do it.

But what would prevent an enemy from sending out a query, then if it got a
response that it couldn't decrypt, using that to home in on a ship and zap
it?  Unless a friendly wouldn't respond unless the query was encrypted - but
that would cause problems, too, wouldn't it?
-- 
Ed Carp			N7EKG/5 (28.3-28.5)	uunet!cs.utexas.edu!khijol!erc
Austin, Texas		(512) 832-5884		"Good tea.  Nice house." - Worf
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