Design of safeguards systems for authentication

To permit valid conclusions to be drawn from safeguards data, it is essential that this data is known to be authentic. That is, it must be known that the data originated from the intended source, that the data was not changed in transit, and that it is not a repeat or delayed copy of previous data. Safeguards systems and equipment should be designed with authentication included, instead of attempting to add security later. Failure to integrate authentication measures early in the design results in systems that are expensive or possibly impossible to deploy securely. This paper gives some of the factors that should be considered and some of the methods that can be employed for ensuring high security while minimizing cost. The paper is a compilation of some of the lessons learned by the authors during many years of working with the authentication of these systems. (author)