Biblio

Virtualization and Software-defined Networking (SDN) are emerging technologies that play a major role in cloud computing. Cloud computing provides efficient utilization, high performance, and resource availability on demand. However, virtualization environments are vulnerable to various types of intrusion attacks that involve installing malicious software and denial of services (DoS) attacks. Utilizing SDN technology, makes the idea of SDN-based security applications attractive in the fight against DoS attacks. Network intrusion detection system (IDS) which is used to perform network traffic analysis as a detection system implemented on SDN networks to protect virtualization servers from HTTP DoS attacks. The experimental results show that SDN-based IDS is able to detect and mitigate HTTP DoS attacks effectively.

The Software Defined Network (SDN) provides higher programmable functionality for network configuration and management dynamically. Moreover, SDN introduces a centralized management approach by dividing the network into control and data planes. In this paper, we introduce a deep learning enabled intrusion detection and prevention system (DL-IDPS) to prevent secure shell (SSH) brute-force attacks and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks in SDN. The packet length in SDN switch has been collected as a sequence for deep learning models to identify anomalous and malicious packets. Four deep learning models, including Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and Stacked Auto-encoder (SAE), are implemented and compared for the proposed DL-IDPS. The experimental results show that the proposed MLP based DL-IDPS has the highest accuracy which can achieve nearly 99% and 100% accuracy to prevent SSH Brute-force and DDoS attacks, respectively.

The legacy security defense mechanisms cannot resist where emerging sophisticated threats such as zero-day and malware campaigns have profoundly changed the dimensions of cyber-attacks. Recent studies indicate that cyber threat intelligence plays a crucial role in implementing proactive defense operations. It provides a knowledge-sharing platform that not only increases security awareness and readiness but also enables the collaborative defense to diminish the effectiveness of potential attacks. In this paper, we propose a secure distributed model to facilitate cyber threat intelligence sharing among diverse participants. The proposed model uses blockchain technology to assure tamper-proof record-keeping and smart contracts to guarantee immutable logic. We use an open-source permissioned blockchain platform, Hyperledger Fabric, to implement the blockchain application. We also utilize the flexibility and management capabilities of Software-Defined Networking to be integrated with the proposed sharing platform to enhance defense perspectives against threats in the system. In the end, collaborative DDoS attack mitigation is taken as a case study to demonstrate our approach.

Software defined network (SDN) is an emerging network architecture. Its control logic and forwarding logic are separated. SDN has the characteristics of centralized management, which makes it easier for malicious attackers to use the security vulnerabilities of SDN networks to implement distributed denial Service (DDoS) attack. Information entropy is a kind of lightweight DDoS early detection method. This paper proposes a DDoS attack detection method in SDN networks based on φ-entropy. φ-entropy can adjust related parameters according to network conditions and enlarge feature differences between normal and abnormal traffic, which can make it easier to detect attacks in the early stages of DDoS traffic formation. Firstly, this article demonstrates the basic properties of φ-entropy, mathematically illustrates the feasibility of φ-entropy in DDoS detection, and then we use Mini-net to conduct simulation experiments to compare the detection effects of DDoS with Shannon entropy.

It is expected that the concept of Internet of everything will be realized in 2020 because of the coming of the 5G wireless communication technology. Internet of Things (IoT) services in various fields require different types of network service features, such as mobility, security, bandwidth, latency, reliability and control strategies. In order to solve the complex requirements and provide customized services, a new network architecture is needed. To change the traditional control mode used in the traditional network architecture, the Software Defined Network (SDN) is proposed. First, SDN divides the network into the Control Plane and Data Plane and then delegates the network management authority to the controller of the control layer. This allows centralized control of connections of a large number of devices. Second, SDN can help realizing the network slicing in the aspect of network layer. With the network slicing technology proposed by 5G, it can cut the 5G network out of multiple virtual networks and each virtual network is to support the needs of diverse users. In this work, we design and develop a network slicing framework. The contributions of this article are two folds. First, through SDN technology, we develop to provide the corresponding end-to-end (E2E) network slicing for IoT applications with different requirements. Second, we develop a dynamic network slice resource scheduling and management method based on SDN to meet the services' requirements with time-varying characteristics. This is usually observed in streaming and services with bursty traffic. A prototyping system is completed. The effectiveness of the system is demonstrated by using an electronic fence application as a use case.

Keeping Internet users safe from attacks and other threats is one of the biggest security challenges nowadays. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) [1] is one of the most common attacks. DDoS makes the system stop working by resource overload. Software Define Networking (SDN) [2] has recently emerged as a new networking technology offering an unprecedented programmability that allows network operators to dynamically configure and manage their infrastructures. The flexible processing and centralized management of SDN controller allow flexibly deploying complex security algorithms and mitigation methods. In this paper, we propose a new TCP-SYN flood attack mitigation in SDN networks using machine learning. By using a testbed, we implement the proposed algorithms, evaluate their accuracy and address the trade-off between the accuracy and capacity of the security device. The results show that the algorithms can mitigate TCP-SYN Flood attack over 96.

SDN networks rely mainly on a set of software defined modules, running on generic hardware platforms, and managed by a central SDN controller. The tight coupling and lack of isolation between the controller and the underlying host limit the controller resilience against host-based attacks and failures. That controller is a single point of failure and a target for attackers. ``Linux-containers'' is a successful thin virtualization technique that enables encapsulated, host-isolated execution-environments for running applications. In this paper we present PAFR, a controller sandboxing mechanism based on Linux-containers. PAFR enables controller/host isolation, plug-and-play operation, failure-and-attack-resilient execution, and fast recovery. PAFR employs and manages live remote checkpointing and migration between different hosts to evade failures and attacks. Experiments and simulations show that the frequent employment of PAFR's live-migration minimizes the chance of successful attack/failure with limited to no impact on network performance.

Software Defined Networks (SDNs) is a new networking paradigm that has gained a lot of attention in recent years especially in implementing data center networks and in providing efficient security solutions. The popularity of SDN and its attractive security features suggest that it can be used in the context of smart grid systems to address many of the vulnerabilities and security problems facing such critical infrastructure systems. This paper studies the impact of different cyber attacks that can target smart grid communication network which is implemented as a software defined network on the operation of the smart grid system in general. In particular, we perform different attack scenarios including DDoS attacks, location highjacking and link overloading against SDN networks of different controller types that include POX, Floodlight and RYU. Our experiments were carried out using the mininet simulator. The experiments show that SDN-enabled smartgrid systems are vulnerable to different types of attacks.

In the paper a programmable management framework for SDN networks is presented. The concept is in-line with SDN philosophy - it can be programmed from scratch. The implemented management functions can be case dependent. The concept introduces a new node in the SDN architecture, namely the SDN manager. In compliance with the latest trends in network management the approach allows for embedded management of all network nodes and gradual implementation of management functions providing their code lifecycle management as well as the ability to on-the-fly code update. The described concept is a bottom-up approach, which key element is distributed execution environment (PDEE) that is based on well-established technologies like OSGI and FIPA. The described management idea has strong impact on the evolution of the SDN architecture, because the proposed distributed execution environment is a generic one, therefore it can be used not only for the management, but also for distributing of control or application functions.