A Contemporary Foreword on GSM Security

This article contains a current outline of the GSM system security, with focus on the air interface protocol. It presents the terminology and describes the GSM security operation, including its principles and features. This document also discusses the effectiveness of GSM authentication and the strength of GSM encryption. It includes therefore the most significant physical and cryptanalytic attacks on GSM security mechanisms, such as the up to date optical fault induction and partitioning attacks. GSM security features retained and enhanced for the 3G Security and further applications in network (Internet) remote access are also contemplated. This article aims primarily at contributing to a progressive research in mobile systems security and at reviewing the security solutions implemented in this area for further applications.