iBurst Security

iBurst uses carrier grade security measures to protect your data over the air interface, and subsequently over the terrestrial network.

iBurst uses 3 separate security protocols for base station authentication, user data encryption and user terminal authentication known as i-hap, i-sec and i-tap.

The i-hap protocol uses public key encryption and the public key of the certificate authority to transmit a digital certificate from the base station to the user terminal to ensure that the user is only accessing authorized base stations. (This prevents network spoofing). The base station signature is generated using a hashing function according to ISO 9796 and public key encryption using RSA-1024 method is used to generate the digital signature.

A shared secret is established between the user terminal and the base station which is used to encrypt all further messages (including user payload data) using a 163 bit symmetric encryption method. The identity of the shared secret is renewed every time a session is established with a base station, and is kept secret by encrypting it using the 163 bit elliptic curve private key of the user terminal.

Only authorized user terminals can access the iburst network. User terminal authenticity is verified by the i-tap protocol using a digital certificate based on 163 bit elliptic curve private key. The base station knows the public key of the user terminal to verify the user terminal's digital signature. The i-tap protocol prevents session theft by an unauthorized user terminal at inter base station hand over.

For more information on network security and iBurst, get the Security Management with iBurst Wireless Technology whitepaper.