Security for the core network of third generation mobile systems

This contribution gives a survey of the present standardisation activities by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project1) in the area of security for signalling in the core network of third generation mobile systems. We give an overview of the protocols that need to be secured, present the basic principles behind the overall security architecture and describe the key management and format of secured messages, as far as they have already been finalised. In particular, we address core network security aspects of the 3GPP multimedia domain.