1,317 research outputs found
Know Your Enemy: Stealth Configuration-Information Gathering in SDN
Software Defined Networking (SDN) is a network architecture that aims at
providing high flexibility through the separation of the network logic from the
forwarding functions. The industry has already widely adopted SDN and
researchers thoroughly analyzed its vulnerabilities, proposing solutions to
improve its security. However, we believe important security aspects of SDN are
still left uninvestigated. In this paper, we raise the concern of the
possibility for an attacker to obtain knowledge about an SDN network. In
particular, we introduce a novel attack, named Know Your Enemy (KYE), by means
of which an attacker can gather vital information about the configuration of
the network. This information ranges from the configuration of security tools,
such as attack detection thresholds for network scanning, to general network
policies like QoS and network virtualization. Additionally, we show that an
attacker can perform a KYE attack in a stealthy fashion, i.e., without the risk
of being detected. We underline that the vulnerability exploited by the KYE
attack is proper of SDN and is not present in legacy networks. To address the
KYE attack, we also propose an active defense countermeasure based on network
flows obfuscation, which considerably increases the complexity for a successful
attack. Our solution offers provable security guarantees that can be tailored
to the needs of the specific network under consideratio
Will SDN be part of 5G?
For many, this is no longer a valid question and the case is considered
settled with SDN/NFV (Software Defined Networking/Network Function
Virtualization) providing the inevitable innovation enablers solving many
outstanding management issues regarding 5G. However, given the monumental task
of softwarization of radio access network (RAN) while 5G is just around the
corner and some companies have started unveiling their 5G equipment already,
the concern is very realistic that we may only see some point solutions
involving SDN technology instead of a fully SDN-enabled RAN. This survey paper
identifies all important obstacles in the way and looks at the state of the art
of the relevant solutions. This survey is different from the previous surveys
on SDN-based RAN as it focuses on the salient problems and discusses solutions
proposed within and outside SDN literature. Our main focus is on fronthaul,
backward compatibility, supposedly disruptive nature of SDN deployment,
business cases and monetization of SDN related upgrades, latency of general
purpose processors (GPP), and additional security vulnerabilities,
softwarization brings along to the RAN. We have also provided a summary of the
architectural developments in SDN-based RAN landscape as not all work can be
covered under the focused issues. This paper provides a comprehensive survey on
the state of the art of SDN-based RAN and clearly points out the gaps in the
technology.Comment: 33 pages, 10 figure
Assessing and augmenting SCADA cyber security: a survey of techniques
SCADA systems monitor and control critical infrastructures of national importance such as power generation and distribution, water supply, transportation networks, and manufacturing facilities. The pervasiveness, miniaturisations and declining costs of internet connectivity have transformed these systems from strictly isolated to highly interconnected networks. The connectivity provides immense benefits such as reliability, scalability and remote connectivity, but at the same time exposes an otherwise isolated and secure system, to global cyber security threats. This inevitable transformation to highly connected systems thus necessitates effective security safeguards to be in place as any compromise or downtime of SCADA systems can have severe economic, safety and security ramifications. One way to ensure vital asset protection is to adopt a viewpoint similar to an attacker to determine weaknesses and loopholes in defences. Such mind sets help to identify and fix potential breaches before their exploitation. This paper surveys tools and techniques to uncover SCADA system vulnerabilities. A comprehensive review of the selected approaches is provided along with their applicability
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