Michael if this is a highly important requirement for some government uses (which I can fully understand) then this is not really the place to ask the question. This is a user forum for users to share their knowledge and experience. If I were wanting to use it for government (or any other sensitive application) I would want direct confirmation from Garmin themselves - and typically I would have expected the Government agenc involved to want to certify the encryption etc themselves before it was used in any sensitive application
JSRunner, if the answer is NO, then there is no need to contact Garmin for further details. I am testing the device, and if it appears to be compliant with the needs, then the proper people will take over and test it in depth.
Encryption is not a government only requirement, it can be highly relevant for people travelling in places with less that tolerant regimes - think journalists doing critical writings etc.
So an answer would be relevant for many people - even if not for you.
Michael I didn't say encryption was a government only requirement but your post specifically asks about this.I understand that it may be a requirement for many reasons. Asking here however will get you the opinions of other users which may or may not be correct so if you get a no you may drop you testing on a false basis. I would have thought the most direct and fulproof route is to ask the question directly to Garmin where you should get a definitive response on ecryption and the method used.
Iridium as such has been claiming for a long time that it's really hard to crack - so it has been cracked, because they were asking for it. :p If you need to know all the details, here you go:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvKaC4pNvck. Pretty easy actually.
The bottom line is this depends on the use case. Iridium will not in itself provide any protection. Does InReach provide some? Garmin might know. My assumption is they don't by default, because it's not their primary use case, but they might on individual basis. At the same time, Iridium is used heavily by military and government agencies - it just depends on what you put on top of it.
JSLA7527, Iridium is indeed used - but with MILSPEC encryption hardware on the radio sets. I was wondering if Garmin had implemented say a simple AES 256 on messaging to keep customer data confidential. If so, for certain uses, an inReach might be able to replace costly hardware - and offer a lower profile.
True. From simple web search, it seems that at least in DeLorme times, there was support for optional encryption (using, as you said, AES-256) at least for business customers: https://files.delorme.com/support/inreachwebdocs/Encryption_Administration_Guide.pdf. But I have no experience with business accounts, so it's hard to say what is status of it right now, that would indeed be a question for Garmin.
