Security services and public key infrastructure for ATM networks

The paper addresses the design of security services for ATM networks. First various options for the placement of security services within the ATM protocol stack are outlined. Then a security layer between the AAL and ATM layer is considered. The proposed security layer provides confidentiality, integrity and data origin authentication in the user plane. The paper then presents an authentication scheme and a key establishment protocol. This protocol is integrated with the existing ATM signaling protocol, as part of the call setup procedures. The authors also consider the design of protocols between ATM nodes and Certification Authority for initializing retrieving and distributing public key certificates. The developed security design can be transparently integrated into the B-ISDN Protocol Reference Model without violating the existing standards.