User plane security alternatives in the 3G evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (e-MBMS)

The Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) has been included in the 3GGP architecture to provide broadcast/multicast services. In the 3GPP Long Term Evolution, the evolved MBMS (e-MBMS) architecture is currently being standardized. This position paper discusses the security issues currently being considered for the e-MBMS IP multicast user plane. Currently proposed security architectures "limit" themselves to include Group Security Associations (GSA). In this paper we raise the position that GSA might not be a sufficiently secure solution in the long run. In sight of this, we propose to adopt a secure multicast overlay approach as a possible short-term solution, thanks to its straightforward deployment. To prove this latter point we overview how to set-up a proof-of-concept implementation over public domain linux routers. We functionally compare GSA with the proposed secure multicast overlay approach, showing that the overlay approach provides not only the same level o...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2008
• Where: SCN
• Authors: Simone Teofili, Michele Di Mascolo, Cristina Basile, Giuseppe Bianchi, Stefano Salsano, Alf Zugenmaier
• Keywords: Communications, Multicast Overlay Approach, Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service, SCN 2008, Secure Multicast Overlay