Security issues with the IP multimedia subsystem (IMS)

The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is the basis for a significant new architecture for mobile applications incorporating voice, video and data services. The IMS is an overlay network on top of IP that uses SIP as the primary signaling mechanism. The IMS presents several new security challenges for both network providers and network users. This paper provides an overview of the IMS architecture and the security challenges that it raises. It is intended as the basis for developing a new set of research objectives around IMS security.