MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching)

Multiprotocol Label Switching (RFC 3031) forwards packets based on short fixed-length labels assigned at network ingress, abstracting the underlying transport. It is widely used in operator backbones and enterprise WANs to deliver traffic engineering, deterministic paths, and service constructs such as MPLS L3VPN and Pseudowire. MPLS itself does not encrypt traffic; sensitive flows still need IPsec or MACsec on top.

Categories: Radio Access NetworkSecurity ControlsProtocols and Standards

MPLS 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.

Security controls span signaling firewalls (SS7/Diameter/GTP screening), transport encryption (IPsec, TLS, PRINS), identity and access on OSS/BSS, and monitoring at both packet and log level. Controls are audited against GSMA FS.11/FS.19/FS.20/FS.36.

To place MPLS in the wider telecom-security picture, review SRv6, 6G, DOCSIS, HTTP, SMPP and SSH: each entry cross-references back to this page so you can walk the topic in either direction.

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