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A Comprehensive Guide to 5G Security, First Edition. Edited by Madhusanka Liyanage, Ijaz Ahmad,
Ahmed Bux Abro, Andrei Gurtov, and Mika Ylianttila.
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2018 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
3
3.1 Introduction
The mobile network started merely as a voice communication channel but has surpassed
any other medium in history to become the center of our daily life, economy and governance. Future of societies and major economies such as Europe rely heavily on the mobile
infrastructure where a direct financial and economic impact of the ICT (Information
and Communications Technology) industry results in approximately 5% of GDP or hundreds of € billions [1]. The mobile population is going to hit 5.5 billion by the time 5G is
officially launched in 2020 [2]. That means more connectivity and more information
generation and sharing using the mobile networks.
As a result of the telecommunication boom and its critical role in the overall public
and economic health, this industry will soon become a prime target for anti‐state and
criminal actors who want to leverage this platform to disrupt its growth and in turn use
it to launch attacks against a wider user base of mobile networks. Impacts of breaches
in this new generation of the connected world can be huge and impactful, as happened
recently in the case of the Yahoo massive data breach that impacted 1 billion users in a
single attack or the LinkedIn 2016 breach that impacted 117 million, resulting in a leak
of sensitive personal and professional data [3].
Mobile network security has gradually evolved in parallel to the evolution of the telecommunication industry. In this chapter, we will cover the overall security threat landscape of
mobile networks as it evolved with the various generations of mobile networks. We will
also discuss the history of mobile security threats, relative protection mechanisms and
impacts to the mobile networks.
3.2 Mobile Networks Security Landscape
The mobile network security landscape (as shown in Figure 3.1) should be viewed in the
light of how the various generations of mobile networks have evolved. There is a direct
correlation between the evolution of the mobile network technology and the relative
Mobile Networks Security Landscape
Ahmed Bux Abro
VMware
A Comprehensive Guide to 5G Security, First Edition. Edited by Madhusanka Liyanage, Ijaz Ahmad,
Ahmed Bux Abro, Andrei Gurtov, and Mika Ylianttila.
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2018 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
3
3.1 Introduction
The mobile network started merely as a voice communication channel but has surpassed
any other medium in history to become the center of our daily life, economy and governance. Future of societies and major economies such as Europe rely heavily on the mobile
infrastructure where a direct financial and economic impact of the ICT (Information
and Communications Technology) industry results in approximately 5% of GDP or hundreds of € billions [1]. The mobile population is going to hit 5.5 billion by the time 5G is
officially launched in 2020 [2]. That means more connectivity and more information
generation and sharing using the mobile networks.
As a result of the telecommunication boom and its critical role in the overall public
and economic health, this industry will soon become a prime target for anti‐state and
criminal actors who want to leverage this platform to disrupt its growth and in turn use
it to launch attacks against a wider user base of mobile networks. Impacts of breaches
in this new generation of the connected world can be huge and impactful, as happened
recently in the case of the Yahoo massive data breach that impacted 1 billion users in a
single attack or the LinkedIn 2016 breach that impacted 117 million, resulting in a leak
of sensitive personal and professional data [3].
Mobile network security has gradually evolved in parallel to the evolution of the telecommunication industry. In this chapter, we will cover the overall security threat landscape of
mobile networks as it evolved with the various generations of mobile networks. We will
also discuss the history of mobile security threats, relative protection mechanisms and
impacts to the mobile networks.
3.2 Mobile Networks Security Landscape
The mobile network security landscape (as shown in Figure 3.1) should be viewed in the
light of how the various generations of mobile networks have evolved. There is a direct
correlation between the evolution of the mobile network technology and the relative
Mobile Networks Security Landscape
Ahmed Bux Abro
VMware