On the security of WLAN access points integrated in 4G/LTE architectures

In this paper, an investigation of the security of the WLAN access points is conducted with a special focus on their integration into 4G LTE-Advanced networks. Indeed, the points of access will be physically accessible to the customers or the workers from enterprises and, thus, corruption is possible and will affect or compromise the underlying LAN architecture. For that reason, the paper will focus, through a threat analysis, on the possible attacks and manipulation that a corrupted base station could execute. The paper presents the foundation to counteract these threats.