Pre-Shared Key Transport Layer Security Protocol with Generic Bootstrapping Architecture Support

Abstract

The mobile phone has evolved from a voice-only device into a multi-media computer. Comparing with the personal computer, it is capable of providing better solutions to security issues due to the existing infrastructure of cellular network. Generic Bootstrapping Architecture (GBA) is a mechanism that enables the symmetric key authentication by employing the Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) in network access domain of cellular network. It installs a pair of symmetric keys on both communication entities. The symmetric key pair is calculated from a secret key which is unique to each subscriber and only accessible by the SIM card of the subscriber and the HLR database of the operator.

Pre-Shared Key-TLS (PSK-TLS) is a transport layer protocol which establishes TLS connection based on a pre-shared key stored in the TLS client and server. It is more suitable for power-constrained device like mobile phone since it does not need public key operation. As GBA installs the symmetric key pair on communication entities, combining GBA with PSK-TLS is a good solution for mobile network security. This solution has been promoted to be widely used in application domain of mobile network for the protection of services. Symbian OS as the world-leading mobile operating system must support it especially for the business reason.