AUTHENTICATION OF OPERATOR-DESIGNED MONITORING SYSTEMS

The IAEA has been offered the use of operator-designed safeguards systems in the recent past. It is expected that in the future more operator designed systems will be offered for use. While the acceptance and use of such systems benefits the IAEA, the question arises of how the information from the systems can be authenticated. This paper discusses the four major areas of concern for authentication of an operator designed system. These areas include: tamper protection of system components, tamper protection of information being transferred between system components, determination that i n f o r m a t i o n is processed correctly, and determination that the source is detected by the sensors. Generic methods to address these areas of concern are presented. Suggestions are also given on features an operator can incorporate when designing a system which will aid in the application of the authentication techniques.