Secure Transport of Authentication Data in Third Generation Mobile Phone Networks

Abstract

In this paper a mechanism for securing sensitive MAP messages between network elements belonging to different network operators is described. The mechanism is currently under discussion in the security group of the Third Generation Partnership Project, a joint project of ETSI and Japanese, American, Korean and Chinese standardisation bodies working on the security specifications for UMTS. The proposed mechanism provides confidentiality, authenticity and integrity of the messages exchanged; however, there may be messages where no confidentiality or no protection at all is needed. Therefore, three levels of protection have been defined that are applied to the various MAP messages according to their sensitivity.