Telecommunication Network Security

Abstract

Our global age is practically defined by the ubiquity of the Internet; the worldwide interconnection of cyber networks that facilitates accessibility to virtually all ICT and other elements of critical infrastructural facilities, with a click of a button. This is regardless of the user’s location and state of equilibrium; whether static or mobile. However, such interconnectivity is not without security consequences. A telecommunication system is indeed a communication system with the distinguishing key word, the Greek tele-, which means "at a distance," to imply that the source and sink of the system are at some distance apart. Its purpose is to transfer information from some source to a distant user; the key concepts being information, transmission and distance. These would require a means, each, to send, convey and receive the information with safety and some degree of fidelity that is acceptable to both the source and the sink. Chapter K begins with an effort to conceptualise the telecommunication network security environment, using relevant ITU-T2* recommendations and terminologies for secure telecommunications. The chapter is primarily concerned with the security aspect of computer-mediated telecommunications. Telecommunications should not be seen as an isolated phenomenon; it is a critical resource for the functioning of cross-industrial businesses in connection with IT. Hence, just as information, data or a computer/local computer-based network must have appropriate level of security, so also a telecommunication network must have equivalent security measures; these may often be the same as or similar to those for other ICT resources, e.g., password management. In view of the forgoing, the chapter provides a brief coverage of the subject matter by first assessing the context of security and the threat-scape. This is followed by an assessment of telecommunication network security requirements; identification of threats to the systems, the conceivable counter or mitigating measures and their implementation techniques. These bring into focus various cryptographic/crypt analytical concepts, vis a vis social engineering/socio-crypt analytical techniques and password management. The chapter noted that the human factor is the most critical factor in the security system for at least three possible reasons; it is the weakest link, the only factor that exercises initiatives, as well as the factor that transcends all the other elements of the entire system. This underscores the significance of social 2*International Telecommunications Union - Telecommunication Standardisation Sector 12 engineering in every facet of security arrangement. It is also noted that password security could be enhanced, if a balance is struck between having enough rules to maintain good security and not having too many rules that would compel users to take evasive actions which would, in turn, compromise security. The chapter is of the view that network security is inversely proportional to its complexity. In addition to the traditional authentication techniques, the chapter gives a reasonable attention to locationbased authentication. The chapter concludes that security solutions have a technological component, but security is fundamentally a people problem. This is because a security system is only as strong as its weakest link, while the weakest link of any security system is the human infrastructure. A projection for the future of telecommunication network security postulates that, network security would continue to get worse unless there is a change in the prevailing practice of externality or vicarious liability in the computer/security industry; where consumers of security products, as opposed to producers, bear the cost of security ineffectiveness. It is suggested that all transmission devices be made GPS-compliant, with inherent capabilities for location-based mutual authentication. This could enhance the future of telecommunication security.