GSM Security
Analyst
Analyst
How GSM networks are built, signalled and secured. Five courses take you from GSM and the SIM through the protocol-level architecture and signalling analysis to authorised security assessment, detection and mitigation.
- 5 courses
- 67.5 hours, self-paced online
- Advanced level
// PATH OVERVIEW
What this learning path covers
This path follows GSM from how it works to how it is attacked and defended. It starts with the GSM network and the SIM that authenticates every subscriber, goes down to the protocols and procedures on each interface, teaches you to observe and read GSM signalling in a controlled lab, and ends with the security of the whole system: the attack surfaces, how an authorised assessment is run, and the detection and mitigation an operator deploys.
Prerequisites
- Telecom Fundamentals
- PSTN Fundamentals
- ADSL Fundamentals
Credential
No certification of its own
// COURSES IN THIS PATH
- 01 · GSM-101Professional
GSM Fundamentals
How the first digital mobile network works: cells and frequency reuse, the radio interface, the network that keeps every phone reachable, and the procedures that set up calls and messages. You will learn how GSM radio, network elements and signalling work together so that a phone can be found, reached and kept connected as it moves.
Intermediate13.5 hours - 02 · SIM-101Professional
SIM Cards Fundamentals
How the subscriber identity module works as a smart card and as a platform, from its chip, contacts and file system to the subscription it carries. You will learn how a phone talks to the card, what the card stores and computes, how operators manage it after sale and how the eUICC receives profiles by remote provisioning.
Intermediate13.5 hours - 03 · GSM-201Professional
GSM Architecture
How a GSM network is engineered beneath the block diagram: the interfaces and their protocol stacks, the signalling that crosses them, and the procedures each network element runs. A message-level follow-on from GSM Fundamentals for engineers who need to read traces, specifications and operator designs.
Intermediate13.5 hours - 04 · GSM-310Professional
GSM Signalling Analysis with gr-gsm
How to observe and read GSM signalling with the open-source gr-gsm toolkit, for engineers and defenders working under authorisation. It teaches the tool, the control channels and the GSMTAP traces it produces, then lands every skill on surveying a band, spotting a false base station and reporting what you found. Everything runs in your own controlled lab or on supplied captures.
Intermediate13.5 hours - 05 · GSM-301Professional
GSM Security
How GSM is attacked and defended, for telecom security professionals working under authorisation. An offensive-minded course that stays within a strict ceiling: it explains attack mechanisms, named tooling and published research, and authorised-assessment methodology, then lands every topic on detection and mitigation.
Advanced13.5 hours
// WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
- Explain how a GSM network finds, reaches and keeps a moving phone connected
- Describe how the SIM works as a smart card and authenticates the subscriber
- Read the GSM reference architecture as a protocol map and follow its procedures at message level across the Um, Abis, A and core interfaces
- Trace roaming, MAP signalling over SS7 and the GPRS packet domain
- Explain the air interface, authentication, ciphering, identity and signalling attack surfaces as mechanisms
- Run a GSM security assessment lawfully against a controlled range
- Design detection, monitoring and incident response for GSM threats in a mobile operator
What completing the path earns
Completing every lesson in the path earns the GSM Security Authority achievement. The GSM Fundamentals and SIM Cards Fundamentals final exams also count towards the TelcoSec Telecom Foundations certification.
The path achievement needs every lesson of all five courses completed, including each final exam: 75 questions drawn from a bank of 150, with 70% needed to pass. Attempts are unlimited, with a 7-day wait between attempts. There is no certification for this path.
Access and pricing
All 5 courses are included in the Professional plan. Courses are taken on the TelcoSec platform after signing in.