Subject: Wireless Technology

Topic: Wireless Metropolitan Area Network

Difficulty: Low

WiMAX systems were designed at the outset with robust security in mind. The standard includes state-of-the-art methods for ensuring user data privacy and preventing unauthorized access with additional protocol optimization for mobility.

The key aspects of WiMAX security are as follow: -

Support for Privacy:

User data is encrypted using cryptographic schemes of proven robustness to provide privacy. Both AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and 3DES (Triple Data Encryption Standard) are supported.

Device/user Authentication:

WiMAX provides a flexible means for authenticating subscriber stations and users to prevent unauthorized use. The authentication framework is based on the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) EAP, which supports a variety of credentials, such as username/password, digital certificates, and smart cards.

Flexible Key-management Protocol: The Privacy and Key Management Protocol Version 2 (PKMv2) is used for securely transferring keying material from the base station to the mobile station, periodically re-authorizing and refreshing the keys.

Protection of Control Messages: The integrity of over-the-air control messages is protected by using message digest schemes, such as AES-based CMAC or MD5-based HMAC.