Securing GPRS between branches

Securing GPRS between branches

Can you offer me some advice about securing GPRS between branches for the purpose of backup?

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As described by this NetMotion white paper, GPRS networks provide data encryption, but only over a portion of the data path - that is, over the airlink between the mobile device and the carrier's packet data network. GPRS networks use SIM cards to authenticate mobile device access to carrier networks, but are not designed to provide end-to-end authentication between client and server applications.

To secure an application that you might run between two branch offices over GPRS, you can secure the application stream itself or create a secure network layer VPN between two offices (or between a mobile device and a branch office). To secure an application stream by itself, try using TLS or Secure Shell. To create a secure VPN between two sites, you can use IPsec. To learn more about using VPNs over GPRS, here are some white papers: Secure VPN Deployment in GPRS Mobile Networks (PDF); Mobile VPNs for GPRS and UMTS Networks (PDF).

This was first published in February 2003