Mike Borgelt wrote:
On Tue, 18 Nov 2003 05:39:03 GMT, Marc Ramsey wrote:
I'd make the simple point that if RSA was required when the first flight
recorder specification was issued in 1995, there were no existing flight
recorder designs which could have been approved.


So what? If RSA had been required at that time there soon would have
been.

I wasn't involved at the time, but the reason appears fairly obvious to
me, it's called "jump-starting a market" over here.

RSA (or equivalent
asymmetric algorithm) has been required for "all flights" approval since
1997, I believe...

So it has been perfectly acceptable to fly world records for the last
5 to 6 years without RSA security with loggers approved before 1997.

Yes.

If lack of RSA security was an issue why weren't legacy loggers given
say 12 months to comply or lose "all flights" approval back in 1997?

The only alternative available at the time was the Diamond-level
approval. I can imagine the outrage of the early adopters when told
they would need to spend more money to upgrade their already expensive
boxes a couple of years after they bought them. Mike, you know as well
as I do that most of those early designs would need a board swap to be
able to adequately handle RSA and the like.

Why the change now?

Would someone tell us why this is suddenly an issue?

The gap between what is needed to be approved now, and what was needed
back then, is just too large. Among other things, it is unfair to those
who are trying to get new designs approved to have to compete against
'grandfathered' designs.

Which world record flights are suspect?

None that I am aware of. Would you prefer to wait until there were some
before an effort is made to shift the flight recorder requirements
toward those currently required for approval?

Isn't it a remarkable coincidence that this action is being taken
right after CAI Model 20 and 25 loggers are no longer in production?

As far as I know, they are still considered to be "in production".

So a would a new design without RSA security would be acceptable for
all but World Records?

If not, why not?

The whole point behind adding the all badges/diplomas approval was to
allow more sensible security requirements for flight recorders used to
document flights other than world records. If you have something
specific to propose, you are welcome to contact GFAC for a formal answer.

Marc