It was pointed out at the February 2020 club meeting that the default security (e.g., Pi-Star DMR Gateway login to a Brandmeister master server) is easy to compromise. Why? the default password is in the clear and easy to find on the web. There have been reports of non-licensed people buying a hotspot and usurping a certified hams DMR Id and callsign and then running traffic through the unlicensed person's hotspot.
To thwart this, you can change your hotspot security settings in Brandmeister's self-care page, turn on hotspot security, type in a password, and then hit save.
Next, you will have to go to your hotspot (e.g., Pi-Star), find the DMR Gateway settings (e.g., expert --> DMR GW), and then look for DMR Network 1. In that section of the expert settings, you will find a password field. Type in the password you set in Brandmeister's self-care page. Click apply/save (whatever your hotpot has) and then reboot the hotspot.
Assuming you typed everything correctly, you will see, at the bottom of /var/log/pi-star/DMRGateway...[a date].log, a message similar to this:
BM_Canada_3021, Logged into the master successfully
This assumes you chose the Canadian BM server.
See this web page for some details:
https://brara.org/BLOG/2019/05/15/brandmeister-hotspot-security-by-al-af4fa/
regards,
Brian
VE3IBW