The 2019 – 2021 Statewide Emergency Communications Board Strategic Plan identifies physical security and cybersecurity of ARMER as core strategies. It calls out refreshing ARMER encryption keys and vetting new technology through the governance process as specific tactics to achieve these strategies.

At present, updating ARMER encryption keys is a manual process and would be a lengthy and expensive undertaking to execute statewide. Before keys can be updated and before we adopt any new technology to streamline the update process, we must first:

• Understand our capabilities and needs.
• Know the advantages and disadvantages of changing our existing capabilities.
• Weigh the costs against the benefits.
• Determine a desired outcome.

In 2019 the US Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) awarded Minnesota technical assistance (commonly known as a “TA”) to help us navigate a review of ARMER encryption. We embarked on a three step process.

1. Educate: In October 2019 CISA provided two webinars to Minnesota’s public safety communications personnel educating about land mobile radio encryption. The goal was to level set our understanding and to clear up any misunderstandings.
2. Survey: A survey should be sent to key ARMER stakeholders to understand their current use of encryption and to learn their desires for land mobile radio encryption.
3. Study: A workgroup should be formed to study the state’s encryption capabilities, needs, and wants. It should examine the advantages, disadvantages, benefits, and costs of the options it explores. The workgroup should report its finding to the Land Mobile Radio Committee.

This message serves as your invitation to take the survey mentioned in step two above. The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete.  It focuses on encryption use and desires by law enforcement, fire service, emergency medical service, and emergency management. The survey does not request anything sensitive but does ask for Storage Location Numbers/Common Key References (SLNs/CKRs) and Key IDs (KIDs) in an effort to identify numbering conflicts so it will be helpful if you have those handy before you begin. Each section of the survey is optional.

Please share this survey with Minnesota's ARMER public safety communications personnel that you feel can provide useful information through May 15.

Thank you!

Click here to take the ARMER Encryption Survey