FPIC Products

The FPIC develops products to address topics and questions concerning interoperable communications, security services, spectrum (related to interoperability), and standards.

Highlighted Resource: 
The Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of Encryption in P25 Public Safety Land Mobile Radio Systems

This document provides readers new to the topic of encryption with a discussion of basic issues related to establishing and maintaining effective encryption for Project 25 (P25) interoperable land mobile radio (LMR) communications systems.

DownloaD (PDF, 1.92 MB) 

Encryption in Land Mobile Radio Systems

Best Practices

Best Practices for Encryption in P25 Public Safety Land Mobile Radio Systems (PDF, 634.25 KB)
This document addresses methods to improve cross-agency coordination and emphasizes the use of standards-based encryption to enhance secure interoperability and minimize the risk of compromising sensitive information.

Best Practices for Encryption in P25 Public Safety Land Mobile Radio Systems - Developing Methods to Improve Encrypted Interoperability in Public Safety Fact Sheet (PDF, 162.26 KB)
This document highlights best practices of key management necessary to allow encrypted operability and interoperability.

Encryption Key Management Fact Sheet (PDF, 134.80 KB)
This fact sheet educates public safety organizations on how to effectively manage cryptographic keys for their radio systems. 

Operational Best Practices for Encryption Key Management (PDF, 3.00 MB)
This document provides public safety organizations that have chosen to encrypt their radio transmissions with information on how to effectively obtain, distribute, and manage cryptographic keys.

Considerations and Guidance

Considerations for Encryption in Public Safety Radio Systems (PDF, 321.33 KB)
This document examines the complex issues of why encryption may be needed during critical operations of an urgent or time-sensitive nature or when open communications may not be sufficient to protect personally identifiable and/or sensitive information. This document provides guidance to public safety users through a process to assess the need for encryption as well as the questions that must be considered.

Considerations for Encryption in Public Safety Radio Systems - Determining the Need for Encryption in Public Safety Radios Fact Sheet (PDF, 183.94 KB)
This document provides a high-level overview of all the factors public safety agencies and departments should thoroughly discuss and carefully considered before reaching a decision to encrypt their public safety radio systems.

Guidelines for Encryption in Land Mobile Radio Systems (PDF, 222.55 KB)
The purpose of this document is to provide information that should be considered when evaluating encryption solutions to minimize the possibility of sensitive information being monitored, but are concerned with the cost of standards compliant encryption.

P25 Inter-RF Subsystem Interface (ISSI) and Console Subsystem Interface (CSSI)

Inter-RF Subsystem Interface (ISSI) Fact Sheet (.pdf, 214.43 KB)
This document provides an overview of ISSI, which provides a standards-based connection between two or more Project 25 (P25) networks to form a "system of systems." 

Project 25 Inter-RF Subsystem Interface (ISSI) and Console Subsystem Interface (CSSI) Primer (.pdf, 474.71 KB)
This primer provides a high-level overview of a broad range of introductory topic areas relevant to ISSI and CSSI, including an overview of ISSI/CSSI technology, the benefits of ISSI/CSSI, how Project 25 standards address ISSI/CSSI, ISSI/CSSI planning and implementation challenges, resources for effective ISSI/CSSI implementation, and current FPIC ISSI/CSSI Focus Group activities.

Best Practices

Best Practices for Planning and Implementation of P25 Inter-RF Subsystem Interface (ISSI) and Console Subsystem Interface (CSSI): Volume I (.pdf, 915.32 KB)
This document helps the ISSI/CSSI user community address pre-planning, partnerships, and governance practices essential to planning an ISSI and/or CSSI implementation. It includes a high-level overview of ISSI/CSSI technologies and a "Best Practices Checklist" to help explain the benefits of interoperability enhancements and the potential for infrastructure sharing for current and prospective ISSI/CSSI users as they plan and implement these interoperability solutions.

Best Practices for Planning and Implementation of P25 Inter-RF Subsystem Interface (ISSI) and Console Subsystem Interface (CSSI): Volume II (.pdf, 596.86 KB)
This document addresses technology, policy and partnerships for planning and implementing an ISSI or CSSI. The volume includes a best practices checklist intended to prompt practitioners to ask questions and consider strategic elements that may otherwise be overlooked during planning or implementation.

Features and Functions

The Patching and Dynamic Regrouping: Project 25 Inter-RF Subsystem Interface (ISSI) and Console Subsystem Interface (CSSI) Features and Functions White Paper (.pdf, 313.18 KB)
This white paper provides technical explanations on how these features work, challenges public safety users have witnessed, and implementation considerations for multi-system environments.

Emergency Alarm: Project 25 Inter-RF Subsystem Interface (ISSI) and Console Subsystem Interface (CSSI) Features and Functions White Paper (.pdf, 524.34 KB)
This white paper provides communications system planners, administrators, and technicians with instructive and actionable information about emergency alarms and emergency calls across ISSI and CSSI connections. It provides technical explanations on how these features work, challenges public safety has witnessed, and implementation considerations for multi-system environments.

The Transition to Advanced Encryption Standard White Paper (.pdf, 686.41 KB)
In an environment of rapidly evolving cybersecurity threats, the continued reliance on the Data Encryption Standard (DES) and other non-standard encryption algorithms poses a significant threat to the security of sensitive data and information systems. The Transition to Advanced Encryption Standard White Paper highlights the vulnerabilities of the continued use of the deprecated DES and other non-standard algorithms and provides an overview of actions and next steps being taking to support state, local, tribal, territorial (SLTT) agencies transition to Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) capabilities. The White Paper also provides background information on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Criminal Justice Information Service Policy, and CISA's Protected Critical Infrastructure Information (PCII) Program. All Public safety and Criminal Justice agencies can leverage this information to ensure infrastructure and sensitive information is properly protected, while also providing Critical Infrastructure Information (CII) exchange to the government to help aid in identifying cyber threats.