2 cissp ® Official Study Guide Eighth Edition

Cell Phones 
Cell phone wireless communications consist of using a portable device over a specifi c set of 
radio wave frequencies to interact with the cell phone carrier’s network and either other cell 
phone devices or the internet. The technologies used by cell phone providers are numerous 
and are often confusing. One point of confusion is the use of terms like 2G and 3G. These 
do not refer to technologies specifi cally but instead to the generation of cell phone technol-
ogy. Thus, 1G is the fi rst generation (mostly analog), 2G is the second (mostly digital, as 
are 3G and 4G), and so forth. There are even discussions of 2.5G when systems integrate 
second- and third-generation technologies. Table 11.10 attempts to clarify some of these 
confusing issues (this is only a partial listing of the technologies). 

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Cabling, Wireless, Topology, Communications, and Transmission Media Technology 
505
TA b l e 11.10
Mobile service technologies
Technology
Generation
NMT
1G
AMPS
1G
TACS
1G
GSM
2G
iDEN
2G
TDMA
2G
CDMA
2G
PDC
2G
HSCSD
2.5G
GPRS
2.5G
W-CDMA
3G
TD-CDMA
3G
UWC
3G
EDGE
3G
DECT
3G
UMTS
3G
HSPDA
3.5G
WiMax – IEEE 802.16
4G
XOHM (Brand name of WiMax)
4G
Mobile Broadband – IEEE 802.20
4G
LTE (Long Term Evolution)
4G
4G/IMT-Advanced standards using millimeter
wave bands (28, 38, and 60 GHz)
5G

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506
Chapter 11 
■
Secure Network Architecture and Securing Network Components
Some of the technologies listed in this table are labeled and marketed as 4G while 
not actually meeting the technical requirements to be classified as 4G. The International 
Telecommunications Union-Radio communications sector (ITU-R) defined the require-
ments for 4G in 2008 but in 2010 acquiesced that carriers can call their noncompliant 
technologies 4G as long as they lead to future compliant services. 5G technologies are in 
development, and in 2018 a few test networks have already been deployed.
There are a few key issues to keep in mind with regard to cell phone wireless transmis-
sions. First, not all cell phone traffic is voice; often cell phone systems are used to trans-
mit text and even computer data. Second, communications over a cell phone provider’s 
network, whether voice, text, or data, are not necessarily secure. Third, with specific 
wireless-sniffing equipment, your cell phone transmissions can be intercepted. In fact, your 
provider’s towers can be simulated to conduct man-in-the-middle attacks. Fourth, using 
your cell phone connectivity to access the internet or your office network provides attackers 
with yet another potential avenue of attack, access, and compromise. Many of these devices 
can potentially act as bridges, creating unsecured access into your network.