Digital signature on code

[hallambaker]

Something sorely needed in the CNC world is security. GCode isn't just used for 3D printing, it is used in CNC equipment moving tons of material at high speed. We have actual real world instances of state actors corrupting code to destroy machinery.

Making space for a digital signature wrapper around the Gcode would provide the option of signing it. Basically you just have a preamble saying it is going to be signed and the digest value is X and then comes the data and then the computed signature goes at the end.

While 3D printers don't move massive amounts of material in quite the same way as a CNC lathe, signatures could be very useful for making copyright claims. In a production environment, they can be used to make sure that printers are building the correct part rather than a modified one.

There are standard packaging formats and support libraries that can be used.