Security upgrade of existing ISDN devices by using reconfigurable logic

Abstract

Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a de facto worldwide standard for wired digital telephony. Since ISDN was developed in 1984 as a public network it does not support modern sophisticated fraud detection systems. Indeed most current installations of ISDN are incapable of supporting encrypted transmission. Securing user information is therefore normally done outside the ISDN communication environment. In this paper we present our experience in using reconfigurable logic for securing existing ISDN devices against intruders in point to point communication.