Using SSL/TLS in authentication and key agreement procedures of future mobile networks

Existing security schemes in 2G and 3G systems are inadequate, as there is a greater demand to provide a more flexible, reconfigurable and scalable security mechanism that can advance as fast as mobile hosts are evolving into full-IP enabled devices. Work has already begun on such an "all-IP" end-to-end solution, commonly referred to as 4G systems. Fully-fledged integration between mobile networks and the Internet demands fully compatible, time-tested and reliable mechanisms to depend on. SSL/TLS protocol has proved its effectiveness in wired Internet and it will probably be the most promising candidate for future wireless environments. We discuss existing problems related to authentication and key agreement procedures (AKA), such as compromised authentication vectors attacks, as they appear in 2G and 3G systems, and propose how SSL/TLS can be used to overcome these inefficiencies. Further on, we mark down additional benefits that stem from the introduction of SSL/TLS combined with the appropriate PKI elements in the 4G wireless environment.