[Dxspider-support] Trusting spots... A proposal

[Dirk Koopman]

A while ago, I suggested that I might implement the "nuclear option". 
Well this is it.

The "simple" answer is to compare the incoming spot with the contents of 
the routing table.

If the user or the node is not in the routing / user tables, then the 
spot is *likely* fake.

Now, there are a number of circumstances where this assumption is not 
true. They include:

  * When a node restarts, it will have an empty routing table which will
    not be fully informed for at least three hours - by which time it
    will have received PC92 C records from all the nodes then connected.
    Obviously PC92 A and records will have been received in "real time"
    for all the users that have come and gone in the interim. Therefore,
    until the enforcement wait time expires (default three hours), all
    spots will be treated as "valid".
  * It's a spot coming from a source that does not (reliably) send PC92
    [ADC] or PC16/17 records. That means anything behind a gateway into
    the AR-Cluster network (e.g. K1TTT). The gateway itself does supply
    this information to a directly connected node, but it won't be
    passed on because of the problems deduping PC16/17 and the fact that
    they are likely to be isolated nodes. If we don't pass these on,
    then I suspect the wailing and gnash of teeth will be too great.

So what I propose to do is to test every spot coming in and depending 
and after three hours (configurable) the node will grade a spot and, 
depending on the value of $DXProt::senderverify, will do one of these 
things if a spot fails the test above:

For users:

If set to 1, add a '?' to the one or more callsign(s) e.g.:

DX de II9IAKE:    7113.0  IQ9AAP       15.55 IQ\'S DISTRICTS ARMI 
VESPUCCI AWARD

becomes

DX de II9IAKE*?*:    7113.0  IQ9AAP*?*       15.55 IQ\'S DISTRICTS ARMI 
VESPUCCI AWARD

It may be adequate to just add it to the spotter call...

If it is set to 2 then users won't see it at all.

For nodes:

If set to 1, pass it onward to other nodes. If set to 2 and it's a PC61 
then dump it. If set to 3 then just dump it.

Confession time: This variable already exists. You can set it to 1 
(warning) or 2 (dump). But to see the sort of effect it can have,  just 
do a "set/debug suspicious" and start a "watchdbg suspicious" in another 
window.  You can unset/debug it and normal service will be resumed. This 
version does not affect what users see if set to 1.

73 Dirk G1TLH

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