Open Network Architecture (ONA) is a regulatory framework imposed by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) on communications carriers (the long distance telephone carriers such as AT& and the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs)) which requires the carriers to provide competing service providers with access to basic communications services on an equal cost basis.
Because ONA involves access to communications networks by many external service providers who lie outside the administrative purview of the network owners, security concerns arise regarding such issues as authentication of the service user, control of the user's access to network facilities, and the delimitation of the scope of access to other networks granted to the user.
The aim of this paper is to assess whether the FCC's ONA requirement for nondiscriminatory access introduces additional security concerns into the Public Switched Network (PSN). Assuring the availability of National Security/Emergency Preparedness (NS/EP) telecommunications requires protection of the PSN. The targeted audience for this report includes general telecommunications managers and technical professionals in the telecommunications industry. The main body of the report was written for general telecommunications managers. Sections containing more technical information are located in the Appendix.
This paper is broken down as follows:
provides a description of ONA, the intent
behind it, and the current state of play;
addresses NS/EP telecommunications security
concerns, outlines assets to be protected, and describes
security threats, potential impacts on NS/EP telecommunications, and
sources of threats;
describes NS/EP telecommunications
security concerns raised by the FCC's
ONA requirement;
presents a summary of NS/EP telecommunications
security concerns raised by the FCC's ONA requirement;
through
contain more detailed
information pertaining to ONA.