AKMA Anchor Function Public Key Encryption for 5G Privacy
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Solution Overview
Problem
In 5G wireless communication systems, the use of Authentication and Key Management for Applications (AKMA) can lead to privacy issues due to the potential monitoring of AKMA Key Identifiers (A-KID) by malicious application servers, which can reveal information about the user equipment (UE) and its communication with specific application functions, compromising user privacy.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves encrypting the combination of AKMA temporary identifiers (A-TID) and application function identifiers (AF_ID) using the public key of the AKMA anchor function, ensuring secure communication by validating the public key's validity time and discarding expired keys, thereby protecting the A-KID during transmission between the UE and the application server.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If AKMA Key Identifiers (A-KID) are transmitted in plain text for authentication and key management, then the authentication process is simple and fast, but privacy is compromised as malicious application servers can monitor and reveal user communication information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an AKMA anchor function as an intermediary entity that manages the encryption and decryption of A-KID. The anchor function receives the A-KID from the UE, encrypts it using a public key before transmission to the application server, and decrypts it after reception. This intermediary mechanism enables secure transmission without requiring the application server to handle the raw A-KID, thus preventing privacy violations while maintaining authentication functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical transmission of plain text A-KID with a cryptographic encryption mechanism. Instead of directly transmitting the A-KID through the network, the system uses public key encryption to transform the A-KID into an encrypted form that can only be decrypted by the authorized anchor function. This substitution of transmission mechanism with encryption preserves authentication reliability while eliminating the privacy risk of plain text transmission.
2Reliability
If public keys are validated for effectiveness, then security is improved by preventing use of expired keys, but system complexity increases due to validation time and key management overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary validation of public key effectiveness before using them for encryption. The anchor function checks whether the received public key is still valid (not expired) before proceeding with the encryption of A-KID. This preliminary action ensures that only effective keys are used for security operations, preventing the use of expired or compromised keys while maintaining a manageable key validation process.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure relates to a fifth generation (5G) or sixth generation (6G) communication system for supporting a higher data transmission rate. A method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a communication system is provided. The method includes receiving, from an access and mobility management function (AMF), a non-access stratum (NAS) security mode command message including information on a public key of an authentication and key management for applications (AKMA) anchor function (AAnF), encrypting, based on the public key, a combination of an AKMA temporary identifier (A-TID) and an application function identifier (AF_ID) of an application function (AF), and transmitting, to the AF, an application session establishment request including information on the encrypted combination of the A-TID and the AF_ID.