NIST IR 8071 (Draft) - LTE Architecture Overview and Security Analysis

NIST Announces Release of Draft NISTIR 8071, LTE Architecture Overview and Security Analysis April 12, 2016 NIST requests comments on Draft NIST Internal Report (NISTIR) 8071, LTE Architecture Overview and Security Analysis. Cellular technology plays an increasingly large role in society as it has become the primary portal to the Internet for a large segment of the population. One of the main drivers making this change possible is the deployment of 4th generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular technologies. This document serves as a guide to the fundamentals of how LTE networks operate and explores the LTE security architecture. This is followed by an analysis of the threats posed to LTE networks and supporting mitigations. This document introduces high-level LTE concepts and discusses technical LTE security mechanisms in detail. Technical readers are expected to understand fundamental networking concepts and general network security. It is intended to assist those evaluating, adopting, and operating LTE networks, specifically telecommunications engineers, system administrators, cybersecurity practitioners, and security researchers. Email comments to: nistir8071@nist.gov (a comment template is available). Comments due by Wednesday, June 1, 2016.