Improvements to the AirSecurity feature

The Brandmeister DMR development team has made improvements to the Airsecurity feature! The repeater and area scopes are now available. For extra convenience, a Secure Local Pass option allows to bypass the AirSecurity authorization from your personal password-protected hotspots.

What is AirSecurity for?

As most of you already know, Brandmeister DMR only accepts transmissions from DMR IDs that are registered and active in the RadioID database.  However, there is a possibility that someone may inadvertently configure their radio with your personal DMR ID, causing their transmissions to appear as originating from you on the Brandmeister DMR network. This can be avoided by utilizing the AirSecurity feature.

How does it work?

Once AirSecurity is activated for your callsign, any over-the-air transmission from one of your DMR ID will need to be pre-authorized by sending a one-time code via private call. The authorization will be valid for a pre-determined time period, and can be restricted to a single repeater, to a group of repeaters, or to all repeaters connected to a particular master server. If a transmission is made over the air without authorization, the message “Access denied” will be played back by the Brandmeister network.

How to enable and configure AirSecurity?

Login to the Brandmeister dashboard, and open your selfcare page. Click on AirSecurity / TOTP.

A set of options will appear:

When AirSecurity/TOTP is set to ON, the feature is active for your callsign

When Secure Local Pass is set to ON, transmissions from your personal hotspot (for which the first 7-digits matches your DMR ID) will be allowed without authorization

Choose the scope of AirSecurity protection

Repeater : only the repeater from which you are sending the authorization code will accept transmissions from your DMR ID

Area : this option is currently under development. It will allow to authorize a group of repeaters.

Master: only repeaters connected to the master you select will accept transmissions from your DMD ID. Choosing this option will allow you to provide authorization from your web browser in Selfcare, in addition to the TOTP private call method.

Once you have made your scope choice, scan the QR code using any TOTP authenticator application, enter the current code in the “QR Code Verification” field, and click the Save button.

How to use AirSecurity?

When the AirSecurity feature is enabled on your Selfcare account:

Open your TOTP application and look at the current 6-digit code

Using a radio programmed with your DMR ID make a private call to 9 + followed by the 6 digits code. (for example, if the current TOTP code is 123123, then make a private call to the contact ID 9123123). A short PTT is enough.

From that point on, you can transmit with your ID, within the scope you have chosen (repeater or master)

If you have enabled both “AirSecurity” and “Secure Local Pass”, you can make calls with your DMR ID from your personal hotspot without having to enter the TOTP code. The first 7 digits of the hotspot ID must match your Radio ID.

If you selected a scope of Master, an additional method of authorization is available: by pressing the “Enable PTT Now” in your Selfcare. This method also comes with a choice of different time periods for the duration of the authorization: