Integrity

Integrity is the property that data has not been altered without authorisation. In telecom it is delivered by message authentication codes (HMAC, GMAC, EIA/NIA on the air interface, ICV on IPsec packets), by digital signatures (X.509, JWT), and by integrity-protected signalling such as SEPP PRINS on the 5G N32 interface. Loss of integrity undermines every other security property.

Categories: SignalingRoaming and InterconnectSecurity Controls

Integrity in context

Signaling protocols carry the control-plane messages that set up calls, register subscribers and route SMS. SS7, Diameter, GTP-C and SIP are the four dominant families, and interconnect exposure of any of them is treated by GSMA as top-tier telecom risk.

Roaming and interconnect are where two operators exchange signaling and user-plane traffic. Trust boundaries here are the primary attack surface for location tracking, SMS interception and fraud, which is why GSMA now mandates SEPP with PRINS on 5G interconnect.

To place Integrity in the wider telecom-security picture, review Detection Engineering, Diameter Interconnect Security, Ingress, Mitigation, Monitoring and N32 Interface (5G) — each entry cross-references back to this page so you can walk the topic in either direction.

Related terms

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