A “Best Current Practice” for 3GPP-based cellular system security

This paper is an attempt at formulating a Best Current Practice (BCP) for access security and a baseline for core network security in the 3GPP-based systems. This encompasses the 2G circuit-switched GSM system, the 2.5G packet-switched GPRS system, the 3G UMTS system and the 4G LTE/LTE-A system. The 3GPP have defined several security standards, but many measures are optional and there are several areas deliberately not covered by the 3GPP standards. The present document is therefore an attempt at pointing out the best available options and providing advice on how to achieve an overall system hardening, which is badly needed as the cellular systems have undoubtedly become one of the most critical of all critical infrastructures in our modern society.