0 Encryption Problem In WiMAX

Encryption Problem In WiMAX With the improvements of Wimax (IEEE 802.16e standard), it supports for Advance Encryption Standard (AES) cipher, actively giving strong support for confidentiality of data traffic. Like the Wi-Fi (802.11) specification, management frames are not encrypted, permitting an attacker to collect data about subscribers in the area and other potentially sensitive network characteristics. (Joshua Wright,Dec 12 2006)

I will conduct research and propose the possible encryption technique to make the communication through WiMAX network more secure so that the attacker cannot access the information regarding the user or the service provider. I have to discuss about the management frames and suggest solution for it to give better quality of service.

0 Authentication Problem in Wimax Technology

Authentication Problem In WiMAX A primary standard in WiMAX (802.16) networks is that each Subscriber Station (SS) must have a X.509 certificate that will exclusively recognize the subscriber. The use of X.509 certificates makes it difficult for an attacker to spoof the identity of subscribers, adding sufficient protection against theft of service. A basic problem in the authentication mechanism used by WiMAX's is privacy and key management (PKM) protocol is the lacking in authentication of base station (BS) or service provider. This makes WiMAX networks vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks, exposing subscribers to various confidentiality and availability attacks. (Joshua Wright,Dec 12 2006)

According to this above authentication problem I will research and find out that how we can put X.509 or relevant certificate to subscriber station so that it uniquely identify the subscriber as well as provide more security to the network against the usage theft. I also have to research about the man-in-the-middle attack so that we can make it more secure and reliable. I have to research and discuss about the private key management protocol and find out the solution to replace it with another protocol or suggestion.

0 Water Torture Threats to Wimax Technology

Threat of Water Torture in Wimax Technology Threats are very common to the wireless networks and the Wimax technology is not the one that still safe for wireless communication. A common threat to wimax arises from the water tortureattack, in which an attacker sends a series of frames to drain out the receiver’s battery. Additionally, attacker with a properly positioned Radio Frequency (RF) receiver can interrupt the messages sent through wireless, and therefore a security mechanism in the design is required.
Current security mechanisms do not address well in IEEE 802.16a Mesh modes network, which lead into new security threats, such as the reliability of the next-hop mesh node. Introducing mobility in IEEE 802.16e standard will make the attacker’s life easier. As the physical location of the attacker is not an issue, management messages are more at risk than in IEEE 802.11. Therefore, it is important to maintain a secure connectivity while a mobile Subscriber Station (SS) shifts between wimax Base Stations. (D Johnston, J Walker, 2004)
An attacker can easily write to a radio frequency channel with the help of properly configured Radio Frequency transmitter to build new frame, capture, change, and retransmit frames from authorized station. The design is required to ensure a data authenticity technology. It is also likely to resend a valid, already sent frame unchanged. In case of long distance transmission, radio interference and distance may possibly allow an attacker to alter and selectively forward frames, in a situation where two authorized stations are not able to contact directly with each other. For that reason, the design is required to detect replayed frames during transmission. (David Johnston, Jesse Walker, 2004)

0 Black Hat Threats to WiMAX Technology

Black Hat Threats to WiMAX Technology

Another threat to WiMax is black hat hackers, they are commonly known as awful people in our world with the negative thinking about cracking into the network or the computer system for their own financial benefit or mental satisfaction. They are also known as crackers or Black Hats. The essential thing to understand is not all the hackers are terrible as some people are doing penetration of a network or computer system in the limits of ethical standards to understand the vulnerabilities in their system or their clients system, also called white hat hackers. There are still the possibility that the WiMAX network can be a victim of black hats like WiFi and other wireless technologies.

0 Identity Theft threat to WiMAX Technology

Threat of Identity Theft In WiMAX

Another major threat to WiMax is Identity Theft; this method includes reprogramming of a device with the hardware address of another device. The address can be stolen over the air by interrupting management messages. A rogue Base Station (BS) is an attacker station which act as a genuine Base Station (BS). It confuses a set of Subscriber Stations or Mobile Stations when attempting to get service through what they believe being a genuine Base Station (BS). It is complicated in WiMax networks because of time division multiple access (TDMA) model. In this case, the attacker must transmit while the real Base Station (BS) is transmitting, with more signal strength and place the real Base Station (BS)’s signal in the background, additionally attacker has to capture the identity and wait until a time slot of genuine Base Station (BS) starts transmitting the data.

0 Key Management Problem in WiMAX Technology

Key Management Problem In WiMAX Technology

Key Management is another problem is WiMax technology, which uses Traffic Encryption Key (TEK) sequence space; it uses sequence number to make different messages. The protocol identifies each Traffic Encryption Key (TEK) with a 2 bit sequence number, enclosing the sequence number from 3 to 0 on every fourth re-key as a problem of replay attack; if replay works, Subscriber Station (SS) could not be able to detect this issue. (D Johnston, J Walker, 2004)

0 Mutual Authentication Problem In Wimax Technology

Mutual Authentication Problem in Wimax

There are two types of certificate are categorize by WiMax standard: one is for Subscriber Station (SS) certificates and the other is for manufacturer certificates but there is no provision for Base Station (BS) certificates. A manufacturer certificate identifies the manufacturer of a WiMaxdevice. It can be a self signed certificate or subjected to any third party. A Subscriber certificate identifies a particular Subscriber Station and enclosed its MAC address in the subject field. Manufacturers normally create and sign Subscriber Station certificates.

Generally the Base Station (BS) uses the manufacturer certificate’s public key to validate theSubscriber Station (SS) certificate, and therefore identify the device as genuine. This design assumes that the Subscriber Station (SS) keeps the private key related to its public key in a sealed storage, preventing attackers from easily compromise it. The major drawback of theWiMax security design is the lack of a Base Station (BS) certificate. The only approach to defend the client against forgery or replay attack is to offer a scheme for mutual authentication. In 802.16e, EAP can be verified with specific authentication methods such as X.509 certificate.(D Johnston, J Walker, 2004)