IMS security

The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) provides a powerful session and service architecture creating a platform for next-generation user services. In order to enable these services, a security approach and architecture is required to address the vulnerabilities inherent to Internet Protocol (IP)-based solutions. The security architecture is driven by 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) security standards along with the security model described in International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Recommendation X.805, "Security Architecture for Systems Providing End-to-End Communications." This paper examines threats and vulnerabilities of IMS implementations as well as high-level service provider security requirements, and defines an implementation approach to provide the desired level of security for IMS deployments.