Analysis of Attacks in Authentication Protocol IEEE 802.16e

Abstract

Security support in wireless systems is a vital necessity to protect users and network in some applications. Since wireless media are available to all, attackers can easily reach the network and network will be more vulnerable for users and service providers of the network. This article discusses on the analysis of PKM (Privacy Key Management) protocols and its second version (PKMv2) which has been proposed after publication of IEEE 802.16e. This protocol is vulnerable against some attacks. In this article, standard security sub layer (IEEE 802.16) is first studied and then, WiMAX authentication protocol is explained. Finally, possible attacks to PKM Protocol in IEEE 802.16 will be studied. Also, solutions presented against relevant attacks are explained. Analysis of security mechanisms in authentication protocol and comparing between them is the main objective of this paper. In fact, this paper can be used as guidelines for the future research activities and security of WiMAX.