GSM: Improvement of Authentication and Encryption Algorithms?

GSM is the name of a standardization group established in 1982 to create a common European mobile telephone standard that would formulate specifications for a pan-European mobile cellular radio system operating at 900 MHz. It is estimated that many countries outside of Europe will join the GSM partnership. Cellular is one of the fastest growing and most demanding telecommunications applications. Throughout the evolution of cellular telecommunications, various systems have been developed without the benefit of standardized specifications. This presented many problems directly related to compatibility, especially with the development of digital radio technology. The GSM standard is intended to address these problems. The GSM has experienced gradual improvements that leaded to several versions such as GSM1800, HSCSD (High Speed Circuit Switched Data), EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution), and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service). The GSM improvements are continued to 3G systems such as UMTS. It is believed that the GSM has many inherent security flaws and some of its security flaws are addressed in the upper generations such as UMTS. However, many operators especially in the developing countries are still using the traditional GSM network that succumbs to several security flaws.