Chapter 4
Configuration
MAN_105G_1.5
Page
36
4.2.2
Security
There are two security features available. You can enter a password to protect the
configuration files, and you can enable security encryption of the radio transmissions.
The password can be between 6 and 256 characters. The password is case sensitive and any
ASCII characters can be used. If you have entered a password, then this password will need
to be entered whenever the configuration is changed. You are able to change the password
from the “Utilities” menu. If unauthorised access to the files is a concern, we recommend that
you change the password regularly or whenever there is a change of staff.
Data Encryption is an additional level of security. The security option uses a 64 bit security
key to provide data encryption of the radio messages. All modules in the same system will be
configured with the same security key used to encrypt and decrypt the messages. This feature
is available for modules with firmware version 2.1 and higher. If you are adding modules to
an old system which does not have the security encryption feature, then you cannot use
security encryption on the new modules.
Note that the security key is different than the password.
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To enable the security encryption, select the “Enable Security” box on the project display.
An 8-character random security key is automatically generated. If desired, a different
security key may be entered and you will be prompted to enter the security code a second
time to confirm. The security key can be any characters or numbers. Characters are case
sensitive. The security key will never be displayed.
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If you do not enable security, there will be no data encryption of the radio messages. This
is the default setting.
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If a security key has been entered, this key is downloaded into each module as part of the
configuration download process. You can download another configuration at any time -
if the security key is different, or if there is no security key in the new configuration, the
old key will be over-written.
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You can change the security key in the configuration files simply by entering a new
security key in the security key window. You will be prompted to confirm the new
security key. Note that if you change the security key, it will not match the security key
previously loaded into existing modules.
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If you want to change a configuration, we recommend that you change the archived
configuration, and then download the configuration onto the module. The archived
configuration already has the valid security key.
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If you lose the archived configuration, you can upload the configuration from a module,
but you cannot upload a security key. That is, you can upload the module configuration,
view it, change it - but if you don’t know the original security key, the old key will be
over-written when you download the new configuration. This module will no longer
communicate with other modules in the system as the security key is different.
The security options provide security against a “hacker” in the following way:
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A hacker cannot listen-in to radio messages without the security key to decrypt the radio
messages. Similarly, a hacker cannot force outputs by transmitting a radio message to a
module without the security key.
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A hacker cannot access the security key from an installed module or from the
configuration files.
