ITU (International Telecommunication Union)

ITU 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.

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.

To place ITU in the wider telecom-security picture, review IETF, SIP, TM Forum, 1G, IAP and Lawful Interception: each entry cross-references back to this page so you can walk the topic in either direction.

Related terms

• IETF
• SIP
• TM Forum
• 1G
• IAP
• Lawful Interception
• Lawful Interception Architecture
• mTLS

Related topic hubs

• Signaling Firewall Unified SS7/Diameter/GTP/SMS signaling firewall framework.
• SS7 Security SS7/MAP/CAP/SCCP attacks and defenses across 2G/3G interconnect.
• SS7 Firewall GSMA FS.11 category 1/2/3 SS7 message screening at the STP edge.
• SS7 Penetration Testing Interconnect pentest methodology for SS7 signaling.

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.