XTS5000 OTAR re key

[Radioprogram12]

Hi Everyone,

Just curious on how OTAR works... when the radio user hits the re key button, what happens? I know that administrators can re key radios over the network right? Does the radio have to be loaded with a key before it can be re keyed or can it have no key at all and then be keyed over the air?

Thanks!

 

[jim202]

Hi Everyone,

Just curious on how OTAR works... when the radio user hits the re key button, what happens? I know that administrators can re key radios over the network right? Does the radio have to be loaded with a key before it can be re keyed or can it have no key at all and then be keyed over the air?

Thanks!

I guess it would depend what options are in the radio, how the radio is programmed and how the OTAR is set up in the system. The answer is not just a simple yes or no answer.

Best to go talk with the system administrator who will probably send you to the radio shop that takes care of their radios.

 

[mikewazowski]

The radio must have a few special keys related to OTAR loaded in initially.

Once that's done, the radio can be rekeyed remotely or by the user.

 

[gesucks]

Actually it is very simple. When you hit the rekey button it sends a rekey request to the KMF and the KMF does an Update over the air.

 

[Radioprogram12]

Thanks for the info everyone, so just to confirm doe the radio need to have a key loaded during initial programming by a KVL ?

 

[gesucks]

No it does not have to have keys loaded in it depending on if it is a Motorola KMF and features used. The radio must be provisioned in the KMF and programmed correctly. If both of those are done and both the radio and the KMF has key loss key feature turned on then no you do not need it in the radio

 

[Thunderknight]

No it does not have to have keys loaded in it depending on if it is a Motorola KMF and features used. The radio must be provisioned in the KMF and programmed correctly. If both of those are done and both the radio and the KMF has key loss key feature turned on then no you do not need it in the radio

Wouldn't that be a security issue? What's to say I couldn't take a "cloned" radio and get rekeyed over the air? I thought the whole concept behind loading an initial key in the intended radio was to serve to decrypt or handshake with the KMF during OTAR?

 

[mikewazowski]

I still believe the radio needs a shadow key or key encryption key preloaded into it via some means before a rekey request can be generated.

 

[radioman2001]

All the systems I have seen require a shadow key, otherwise yes it would be a security issue with cloned radio ID's.

 

[gtaman]

I still believe the radio needs a shadow key or key encryption key preloaded into it via some means before a rekey request can be generated.

Yes. No matter what it needs a shadow key. Same when I use to OTAR SINCGARS radios. You just can't OTAR a radio and it takes they keys. You must load the shadow keys then the transmission keys. If you zero the radio the shadow key will be retained which allows it to be rekeyed. The only way to wipe a shadow key (well at least for an RT1523) is to send an OTA command to zero. After that it's a lost cause.

 

[GTR8000]

No it does not have to have keys loaded in it depending on if it is a Motorola KMF and features used. The radio must be provisioned in the KMF and programmed correctly. If both of those are done and both the radio and the KMF has key loss key feature turned on then no you do not need it in the radio

As others have stated, that's not correct.

The subscriber must initially have the UKEK (Unique Key Encryption Key) loaded via the KVL. Only then will it function correctly with OTAR.

No UKEK = no OTAR

 

[gesucks]

edited