I
see the transponder issue as being one of not guaranteeing security but making it *difficult* for wrongdoers - within the Imperium at least.
I was thinking that the transponder would be the key element, set up and sealed by the starport authority with a variety of anti-tamper mechanisms whose job is not to stop unauthorised access to the box, but to render it unusable if you do (including destroying
the storage that contains the keys). That makes it *difficult* for anyone to get hold of any private keys - but not impossible (the corsair, for instance, is described as having a transponder that can be switched between several IDs).
[Dons nomex underwear, fire suit, adjusts flame suppression systems to trigger properly]
Ahem; this exact kind of thing was what lead the Imperium to adopt Cymbelline origin silicon lifeforms as the basis of their transponder systems.
Which, of course, let Virus do it’s thing…..
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Bruce Johnson
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Finally, an explanation for why it was necessary to 'burn everything down'!
Imperial bureaucrats got 'huffy'!
Works for me! ;-P