BGP (Border Gateway Protocol)

The exterior gateway routing protocol used on the internet to exchange IP routing information between autonomous systems. BGP is vulnerable to misconfigurations and BGP hijacking attacks.

Categories: Threats and AttacksProtocols and StandardsInternet and Routing

BGP in context

Telecom threats range from opportunistic SMS phishing and SIM swap to nation-state grade location tracking and lawful-interception abuse. The common thread is that most attacks exploit the inherited trust model of legacy signaling. SS7 and Diameter were designed for a closed operator community that no longer exists.

Telecom security is written into standards from 3GPP, GSMA, ETSI, IETF and ITU-T. Understanding which body owns which specification, and how the specs interlock (for example 3GPP TS 33.501 with GSMA FS.34 for 5G SBA security), is essential for both design and audit work.

To place BGP in the wider telecom-security picture, review ASN, OSPF, BGP Hijacking, WEP, TCP/IP and CSIRT.

Related terms

Related topic hubs

  • Diameter Attacks S6a IDR/PUR/CLR abuse, subscriber tracking, LTE signaling attacks.

More from the TelcoSec Glossary

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