Sage Alerting has issued a technical note regarding Emergency Alert System passwords.
In response to the Federal Communications Commission’s recent rule change, it sent an email to users of the Sage Digital ENDEC model 3644. It applies only to users in the United States.
“Important: If you are changing your ENDEC’s password to meet the new FCC requirements, do not use the ampersand (&) or plus (+) character in your new password,” it states.
The FCC will now require that stations and other EAS participants use a strong password with at least 15 characters. It said to avoid common words or using the same password for other purposes.
Security updates must be installed promptly, and stations must use firewalls or other network segmentation.
“While these rules take effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, these are commonly accepted cybersecurity rules,” Sage wrote. “There is no reason to wait.”
The company said it plans a free software update this year that fixes bugs and will permit the use of & and + in the password.
“You do not need to wait for that update to implement the new password requirements if you avoid those characters.”
The complete report and order is here. And Sage has posted specific guidance for its users here.
This article was intially published by our sister publication Radio World.
