Ubiquigeneous networking : A distributed networking application over mobile embedded devices

The objective of this work is to develop a chat application between systems embedding the ColdFire processor utilizing Mobile IPv6 and TCP protocols in order to demonstrate that TCP connections are maintained while a device roams between two Ethernet 802.3 networks and that a peer node can be located even though it is not attached to its home network. Furthermore, it will be demonstrated that mobility is transparent to upper layers and the benefits this fact brings up.Es revisado por: http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/9519Facultad de Informátic

Another Look at TLS Ecosystems in Networked Devices vs. Web Servers

High-speed IPv4 scanners, such as ZMap, now enable rapid and timely collection of TLS certificates and other security-sensitive parameters. Such large datasets led to the development of the Censys search interface, facilitating comprehensive analysis of TLS deployments in the wild. Several recent studies analyzed TLS certificates as deployed in web servers. Beyond public web servers, TLS is deployed in many other Internet-connected devices, at home and enterprise environments, cyber physical systems, and at network backbones. In Apr. 2017, we reported the results of a preliminary analysis based on measurement data of TLS deployments in such devices (e.g., routers, modems, NAS, printers, SCADA, and IoT devices in general) collected in Oct. 2016 using Censys. We also compared certificates and TLS connection parameters from a security perspective, as found in common devices against top Alexa sites. Censys has evolved since then and its data volume has increased with the addition of several new device types. In this paper, we perform a similar but more comprehensive measurement study to assess TLS vulnerabilities in devices, and compare our current results with our 2016 findings, showing how such systems have evolved in the last one and half year. Indeed, there are noticeable improvements in the TLS ecosystem for devices, especially in terms of adoption of TLS itself (from 29.4% in 2016 to 73.7% in 2018) and stronger cryptographic primitives. However, we also note the continuity of significant weaknesses in devices for which immediate remediation is warranted (e.g., the use of known private keys, SSLv3, MD5-RSA, and RC4). We have also contacted the top manufacturers of vulnerable devices to convey our findings. Most of them blamed users for not updating their devices with latest firmware images that apparently would mitigate the reported findings

On the Edge of Secure Connectivity via Software-Defined Networking

Securing communication in computer networks has been an essential feature ever since the Internet, as we know it today, was started. One of the best known and most common methods for secure communication is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) solution, mainly operating with an IP security (IPsec) protocol suite originally published in 1995 (RFC1825). It is clear that the Internet, and networks in general, have changed dramatically since then. In particular, the onset of the Cloud and the Internet-of-Things (IoT) have placed new demands on secure networking. Even though the IPsec suite has been updated over the years, it is starting to reach the limits of its capabilities in its present form. Recent advances in networking have thrown up Software-Defined Networking (SDN), which decouples the control and data planes, and thus centralizes the network control. SDN provides arbitrary network topologies and elastic packet forwarding that have enabled useful innovations at the network level. This thesis studies SDN-powered VPN networking and explains the benefits of this combination. Even though the main context is the Cloud, the approaches described here are also valid for non-Cloud operation and are thus suitable for a variety of other use cases for both SMEs and large corporations. In addition to IPsec, open source TLS-based VPN (e.g. OpenVPN) solutions are often used to establish secure tunnels. Research shows that a full-mesh VPN network between multiple sites can be provided using OpenVPN and it can be utilized by SDN to create a seamless, resilient layer-2 overlay for multiple purposes, including the Cloud. However, such a VPN tunnel suffers from resiliency problems and cannot meet the increasing availability requirements. The network setup proposed here is similar to Software-Defined WAN (SD-WAN) solutions and is extremely useful for applications with strict requirements for resiliency and security, even if best-effort ISP is used. IPsec is still preferred over OpenVPN for some use cases, especially by smaller enterprises. Therefore, this research also examines the possibilities for high availability, load balancing, and faster operational speeds for IPsec. We present a novel approach involving the separation of the Internet Key Exchange (IKE) and the Encapsulation Security Payload (ESP) in SDN fashion to operate from separate devices. This allows central management for the IKE while several separate ESP devices can concentrate on the heavy processing. Initially, our research relied on software solutions for ESP processing. Despite the ingenuity of the architectural concept, and although it provided high availability and good load balancing, there was no anti-replay protection. Since anti-replay protection is vital for secure communication, another approach was required. It thus became clear that the ideal solution for such large IPsec tunneling would be to have a pool of fast ESP devices, but to confine the IKE operation to a single centralized device. This would obviate the need for load balancing but still allow high availability via the device pool. The focus of this research thus turned to the study of pure hardware solutions on an FPGA, and their feasibility and production readiness for application in the Cloud context. Our research shows that FPGA works fluently in an SDN network as a standalone IPsec accelerator for ESP packets. The proposed architecture has 10 Gbps throughput, yet the latency is less than 10 µs, meaning that this architecture is especially efficient for data center use and offers increased performance and latency requirements. The high demands of the network packet processing can be met using several different approaches, so this approach is not just limited to the topics presented in this thesis. Global network traffic is growing all the time, so the development of more efficient methods and devices is inevitable. The increasing number of IoT devices will result in a lot of network traffic utilising the Cloud infrastructures in the near future. Based on the latest research, once SDN and hardware acceleration have become fully integrated into the Cloud, the future for secure networking looks promising. SDN technology will open up a wide range of new possibilities for data forwarding, while hardware acceleration will satisfy the increased performance requirements. Although it still remains to be seen whether SDN can answer all the requirements for performance, high availability and resiliency, this thesis shows that it is a very competent technology, even though we have explored only a minor fraction of its capabilities

A taxonomy of cyber-physical threats and impact in the smart home

In the past, home automation was a small market for technology enthusiasts. Interconnectivity between devices was down to the owner’s technical skills and creativity, while security was non-existent or primitive, because cyber threats were also largely non-existent or primitive. This is not the case any more. The adoption of Internet of Things technologies, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and an increasingly wide range of sensing and actuation capabilities has led to smart homes that are more practical, but also genuinely attractive targets for cyber attacks. Here, we classify applicable cyber threats according to a novel taxonomy, focusing not only on the attack vectors that can be used, but also the potential impact on the systems and ultimately on the occupants and their domestic life. Utilising the taxonomy, we classify twenty five different smart home attacks, providing further examples of legitimate, yet vulnerable smart home configurations which can lead to second-order attack vectors. We then review existing smart home defence mechanisms and discuss open research problems