LTE/SAE Security Issues on 4G Wireless Networks

The authors give an overview on the state of the art of potential security issues that occur in the deployment of the LTE/SAE (Long-Term Evolution/System Architecture Evolution) protocol in emerging 4G wireless technologies. Although security concerns and challenges in wireless networks will remain a hot topic in the future, the LTE/SAE standard could adapt to these rising challenges, becoming more robust and secure. By looking at the authentication and ciphering algorithms, such as EAP-AKA (Extensible Authentication Protocol for Authentication and Key Agreement), currently operating within the LTE protocol, the authors analyze several vulnerabilities in LTE/SAE security architecture - specifically, insecure AKA key derivation procedures and the lack of fast reauthentications during handovers.