AAA and Network Security for Mobile Access — Radius, Diameter, EAP, PKI and IP Mobility PDF - Free Download

 

AAA and Network Security for Mobile Access — Radius, Diameter, EAP, PKI and IP Mobility
by
Madjid Nakhjiri and Mahsa Nakhjiri

    The market for mobile computers and communication devices continues to grow, which means that every year there are more and more of them. This is creating numerous opportunities for network providers and operators of all sorts, because many of these devices derive their usefulness from their ability to get access to the Internet. Recently, within the IETF, there has been a surge of interest in creating new protocols and protocol interfaces to better enable operators to take advantage of these opportunities. These new protocols, taken as a whole, bring about a new kind of operator operation known as “AAA services”, thus the title of the book. Madjid, one of the two authors of this book, is known to me as a regular in several IETF working groups, and his work is well represented within this book.

    There is no doubt that AAA services are already of tremendous importance in today’s Internet, given that much of the access control is mediated already by RADIUS servers and associated protocols. Even so, I think that the true value of AAA services is still in the process of emerging, as we transition from laptop computing to wireless mobile communications in the future. As we begin to store more of our credentials on our wireless gadgets, and as the needs for user authentication continue to expand, it seems very natural that today’s AAA practice will adapt to the needs of the new wireless technologies. These needs include higher performance, improved roaming facilities, and interface to a multiplicity of security technologies. Already, my experience is that I have to carry around a bag of strange connectors, security cards, credit cards, and telephone numbers in order to be mobile. It seems that when traveling, leaving any of these behind is much worse than forgetting to pack a toothbrush, soap, or even shirts or socks. After all, I can usually find a place to buy those latter items.

    Within the book, we can see the first glimmerings of how this new wireless mobile world will look to the user desiring to make use of local Internet connectivity. Several recent specifications have been finally approved and are dutifully described in this book. In particular, the ideas of seamless mobility and context transfer provide great hope for the desired user productivity and the experience of well-engineered convenience. Clearly, there is a big gap separating the bare-bones specification and widespread deployment. It is to fill just these gaps that books such as this one are needed. But filling known gaps is only the beginning. Once the basic hurdles are cleared, I am confident that many new applications will soon be imagined and built to use the simplified access models provided by the new AAA services.