AAA (Authentication, Authorization, Accounting) describes a framework for intelligently controlling access to network resources, enforcing policies, and providing the information necessary to bill for services. 

AAA and Network Security for Mobile Access is an invaluable guide to the AAA concepts and framework, including its protocols Diameter and Radius.  The authors give an overview of established and emerging standards for the provision of secure network access for mobile users while providing the basic design concepts and motivations.

AAA and Network Security for Mobile Access:

• Covers trust, i.e., authentication and security key management for fixed and mobile users, and various approaches to trust establishment.
• Discusses public key infrastructures and provides practical tips on certificates management.
• Introduces Diameter, a state-of-the-art AAA protocol designed to meet today’s reliability, security and robustness requirements, and examines Diameter-Mobile IP interactions.
• Explains RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Services) and its latest extensions.
• Details EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol) in-depth, giving a protocol overview, and covering EAP-XXX authentication methods as well as use of EAP in 802 networks.
• Describes IP mobility protocols including IP level mobility management, its security and optimizations, and latest IETF seamless mobility protocols.
• Includes a chapter describing the details of Mobile IP and AAA interaction, illustrating Diameter Mobile IP applications and the process used in CDMA2000.
• Contains a section on security and AAA issues to support roaming, discussing a variety of options for operator co-existence, including an overview of Liberty Alliance.

This text will provide researchers in academia and industry, network security engineers, managers, developers and planners, as well as graduate students, with an accessible explanation of the standards fundamental to secure mobile access.