On the security of an anonymous roaming protocol in UMTS mobile networks

In this communication, we first show that the privacy-preserving roaming protocol recently proposed for mobile networks cannot achieve the claimed security level. Then we suggest an improved protocol to remedy its security problems

MAN-IN-THE-MIDDLE-ATTACK: UNDERSTANDING IN SIMPLE WORDS

These days cyber-attack is a serious criminal offense and it is a hot debated issue moreover. A man-in-the-middle-attack is a kind of cyberattack where an unapproved outsider enters into an online correspondence between two users, remains escaped the two parties. The malware that is in the middle-attack often monitors and changes individual/classified information that was just realized by the two users. A man-in-the-middle-attack as a protocol is subjected to an outsider inside the system, which can access, read and change secret information without keeping any tress of manipulation. This issue is intense, and most of the cryptographic systems without having a decent authentication security are threatened to be hacked by the malware named ‘men-in-the-middle-attack’ (MITM/MIM). This paper essentially includes the view of understanding the term of ‘men-in-the-middle-attack’; the current work is mainly emphasized to accumulate related data/information in a single article so that it can be a reference to conduct research further on this topic at college/undergraduate level. This paper likewise audits most cited research and survey articles on ‘man-in-the-middle-attack’ recorded on 'Google Scholar'. The motivation behind this paper is to help the readers for understanding and familiarizing the topic 'man-in-the-middle attack'

A cocktail protocol with the Authentication and Key Agreement on the UMTS

At present, the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is very popular in most parts of the world. It is a third-generation mobile communication technique known for its ability to conduct user authentication and for its security of communication with the use of Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) protocol. A mobile station (MS), a service network (SN) and a home environment (HE) use the protocol to authenticate each other and make an agreement with a session key. With the UMTS-AKA protocol standard, all authentication vectors (AV) produced by the HE are transferred to the SN for mutual authentication with the MS. In this scenario, authentication is exposed to two kinds of defects. One defect is computational overhead concentrating on the HE and the other is the communication overhead for delivering the AVs. To overcome these congenital defects, this study proposes a unique UMTS-AKA protocol called the cocktail-AKA protocol. The goal of this protocol is to allow the SN to share some medicated authentication vectors (MAV) that are calculated in advance and combined with a prescription at the authentication stage. So, the HE only needs to produce a prescription authentication vector (PAV). Once the authentication stage is initiated, the SN distributes MAV and PAV and produces an effective AV for mutual authentication with the MS. The cocktail-AKA protocol can overcome both the aforesaid defects. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

A Cocktail Protocol with the Authentication and Key Agreement on the UMTS

[[abstract]]At present, the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is very popular in most parts of the world. It is a third-generation mobile communication technique known for its ability to conduct user authentication and for its security of communication with the use of Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) protocol. A mobile station (MS), a service network (SN) and a home environment (HE) use the protocol to authenticate each other and make an agreement with a session key. With the UMTS-AKA protocol standard, all authentication vectors (AV) produced by the HE are transferred to the SN for mutual authentication with the MS. In this scenario, authentication is exposed to two kinds of defects. One defect is computational overhead concentrating on the HE and the other is the communication overhead for delivering the AVs. To overcome these congenital defects, this study proposes a unique UMTS-AKA protocol called the cocktail-AKA protocol. The goal of this protocol is to allow the SN to share some medicated authentication vectors (MAV) that are calculated in advance and combined with a prescription at the authentication stage. So, the HE only needs to produce a prescription authentication vector (PAV). Once the authentication stage is initiated, the SN distributes MAV and PAV and produces an effective AV for mutual authentication with the MS. The cocktail-AKA protocol can overcome both the aforesaid defects

A Study of UMTS Authentication and Key Agreement Protocol and Its Applications

行動通訊的發展與應用提供了現代人生活上不可或缺的便利，近年來第三代行動電話系統的發展方興未艾，尤其是UMTS(Universal Mobile Telecommunication System)，它是目前第三代行動電話系統中最為普及且使用人數最多的第三代行動電話系統。發展他的3GPP(3rd Generation Partnership Project)組織為了通訊安全與使用者認證的需求，發展了一個認證與金鑰協議的協定(Authentication and Key Agreement protocol, AKA)。但是很多研究都指出目前的AKA協定有一些問題需要解決，例如：同步問題，儲存空間問題，不安全且容易竊取的認證參數和對相互認證提出的質疑等問題。還有一些研究指出AKA協定有一些先天的缺憾，例如：計算量過載與通訊過載等問題，這些問題不只使得行動通訊系統的安全性受到質疑也可能傷害行動通訊使用者的權益與隱私。很多研究針對這些缺點進行改良並提出安全性較高的改良協定，他們或許解決了原來所發現的問題，但是他們都忽略了實務上的考量而可能喪失實際應用的務實性。 這份研究的第一個目標是設計一個更好且更安全的UMTS-AKA協定，當然也包括了實用性。我們的研究將採用與目前標準相同的技術，解決當前的問題並達到較高的安全性。採用與目前實務協定相同的標準可以確保我們所研究的技術可以無痛的移植到目前的實際環境中應用。 這份研究的第二個目標是解決目前對使用者不公平的計費系統。在目前的行動通訊系統中，UMTS已經成為最為普及且最多人使用的行動通訊系統了。但是UMTS的計費系統是一個單向認證的系統並不注重使用者的權益，而且他還存在著一些待解決的問題；例如：同步問題、離線問題、與必須儲存大量資料以防止事後爭議的解決。設計一個更好且更公平的UMTS計費協定是這個研究的第二個目標。 這份研究的最後目標是去探索其他UMTS應用的可能性。我們將注意力放在目前非常熱門的智慧通訊系統(Intelligent Transportation Systems, ITS)上，這研究將不只是去探討ITS所適用的通訊系統，更重要的是我們將稍微的修改AKA協定，使得他更適合於使用於ITS。Mobile communication is definitely one of the major high-technology applications that offer present-day people a modern life of appropriate convenience. In recent years, the third generation cell-phone system has approached maturity. The Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) is currently the most widely used system around the world. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project is equipped with the Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) protocol to maintain secret and secure both during the authentication process and during the telecommunication session through UMTS. However, there are some researches querying the UMTS-AKA protocol exist some problems, such as synchronization question, storage overhead, insecurity with leakiness authentication vector and mutual authentication is weakness. There are still some congenital defects have be querying by some researches, that are computational overhead and communication overhead. These defects are not only caused by mobile communications systems vulnerable and violations of the user''s security also caused the reducing of efficiency. Much research improved these defects and proposed new protocol with the higher security or higher performance, but they all have overlooked the practical. The first aim of this study is to design the safest and the best UMTS-AKA protocol. Indeed, the purpose is to design a most practical UMTS-AKA protocol. It is very important to adopt the same technology as the current UMTS-AKA protocol. It ensures painless transfer to a new environment without extra cost. The second aim of this study wants to solve the unfair phenomenon to mobile user under the UMTS billing system. In the present mobile communication environment, UMTS already became the most popular application. However, the UMTS design in billing does not protect the rights and interests of subscribers. It still exist some defects, for example: synchronization, off-line operation and storing many communication witnesses required for judgment when disputation. To design a better and fair billing system is our second objective under modern UMTS specification. The final aim of this study is to explore the possibility of other applications on UMTS. The study extend the research to the ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) which is very popular currently. It not only attempts to identify a suitable communication system for ITS applications but also impracticable to substantially modify the original UMTS-IMS-AKA protocol which is in practice because it can disturb the operation of the current system, and thus the study explore other possibilities through this research.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………1 1.1. Research Motivation ……………………………………………………………..1 1.2. Objectives ………………………………………………………………………..3 1.3. Research Scope …………………………………………………………………..3 1.4. Organization………………………………………………………………………6 2. The AKA Protocol on UMTS ……………………………………………………...7 2.1. Preliminary ……………………………………………………………………….7 2.2. Review of the Literature ………………………………………………………….8 2.3. Overview of the UMTS-AKA Protocol ………………………………………...10 2.4. Overview of the ER-AKA, AP-AKA and X-AKA Protocol ……………………11 2.5. The Study on the UMTS-AKA Protocol ………………………………………..14 2.6. Solution 1: TK-AKA: Using Temporary Key on Authentication and Key Agreement Protocol on UMTS ……………………………………………………...15 2.6.1. The Proposed Protocol ………………………………………………………..16 2.6.2. Discussions and Analyses …………………………………………………….17 2.6.3. The Formal Analysis…………………………………………………………..19 2.6.4. Comparisons …………………………………………………………………..22 2.7. Solution 2: A Cocktail Protocol with the Authentication and Key Agreement on the UMTS…………………………………………………………………………….24 2.7.1. The Cocktail-AKA Protocol …………………………………………………..25 2.7.2. Discussion and Analysis ………………………………………………………28 2.7.3. Security Analysis………………………………………………………………32 2.7.4. Summary………………………………………………………………………39 3. The Charging and Billing Protocol on UMTS ……………………………………44 3.1. Preliminary ……………………………………………………………………...44 3.2. Review of the Literature ………………………………………………………...47 3.3. The Study on the UMTS Billing Protocol ………………………………………49 3.4. Solution 1: A Simple Mobile Communication Billing System Among Charged Parties ………………………………………………………………………………..50 3.4.1. The Proposed Scheme ………………………………………………………...50 3.4.2. Analysis and Discussion ………………………………………………………54 3.5. Solution 2: A Provable Billing Protocol on the Current UMTS………………...56 3.5.1. The Proposed Scheme ………………………………………………………...56 3.5.2. Foundation …………………………………………………………………… 57 3.5.3. Our AKA Charging Protocol …………………………………………………58 3.5.4. Charging, Billing and Dispute ………………………………………………..60 3.5.5. Discussions and Analyzes…………………………………………………….62 iii 4. The Application of ITS on UMTS ………………………………………………..67 4.1. Preliminary ……………………………………………………………………...67 4.2. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………..67 4.2.1. Characteristics of ITS …………………………………………………………68 4.2.2. MANET and VANET ………………………………………………………...69 4.2.3. Communication Types in ITS ………………………………………………...70 4.3. Relevant UMTS Technology …………………………………………………...70 4.3.1. UMTS-AKA and UMTS-IMS-AKA Protocols ………………………………71 4.3.2. UMTS Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service …………………………….72 4.4. Solution: The UMTS-AKA Protocols for Intelligent Transportation Systems ....73 4.4.1. Group Key Extension of The UMTS-IMS-AKA Protocol …………………...74 4.4.2. Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication Systems for UMTS …………………….78 4.5. Discussion and Analysis ………………………………………………………..79 4.5.1. Property ……………………………………………………………………….79 4.5.2. Realization …………………………………………………………………….80 4.5.3. Security Analysis………………………………………………………………81 5. Conclusions and Future Researches……………………………………………… 82 5.1. Conclusions ……………………………………………………………………. 82 5.2. Future Researches ………………………………………………………………83 6. References………………………………………………………………………... 8