Encryption

Encryption is the cryptographic transformation of plaintext into ciphertext such that only holders of the key can recover the original. It comes in symmetric (AES, ChaCha20, the air-interface ciphers EEA/NEA) and asymmetric (RSA, ECC) forms, and underpins every modern telecom security control: TLS, IPsec, mTLS in 5G SBA, SUCI in 5G identity protection, and disk and database encryption at rest.

Categories: Radio Access NetworkCore NetworkIdentity and Subscriber

Encryption in context

The radio access network is where mobile devices attach to the operator's infrastructure. Attacks in this layer include IMSI catching, rogue base stations and downgrade attacks; defenses rest on mutual authentication, integrity-protected signaling and Open RAN supply-chain hygiene.

The mobile core carries subscriber sessions, mobility and policy. In 4G it is the EPC (MME, HSS, S/PGW); in 5G it is the Service-Based Architecture with AMF, SMF, UPF, AUSF, UDM and the NRF.

To place Encryption in the wider telecom-security picture, review Confidentiality, FDD, MNO, TMSI, UPF and VRAN — each entry cross-references back to this page so you can walk the topic in either direction.

Related terms

More from the TelcoSec Glossary

Browse the full TelcoSec Glossary, the Ultimate Guide to Mobile Network Security, or the P1 Arsenal of telecom-security tools.