Eder J. Scheid, Manuel Keller, Muriel Figueredo Franco, Burkhard Stiller
Current projects applying blockchain technology to enhance the trust of NFV environments do not consider the VNF repository. However, the blockchain’s properties can enhance trust by allowing to verify a VNF package’s integrity without relying (a) on a Trusted Third Party (TTP) for remote attestation or (b) a secure database. This paper presents BUNKER , a Blockchain-based trUsted VNF packagE Repository, intended to be integrated with traditional database-based package verification environments, acting as a trusted repository containing VNF package information. Moreover, BUNKER allows users to acquire VNFs without the need of a TTP using an Ethereum Smart Contract (SC). The SC automatically transfers license fees to the vendor once a VNF is acquired, and sends the VNF package’s link to the buyer before verifying its integrity.
A Potential solution for solving forensic is the use of blockchain in software-defined networking (SDN). The blockchain is a distributed peer-to-peer network that can be utilized on SDN-based Internet of Things (IoT) environments for security provisioning. Hence, to meet some challenges in digital forensics such as data integrity, evidence deletion or alteration, blockchain is used. However, some problems such as poor attack detection and slow processing existed in previous works. To address these issues, an efficient forensics architecture is proposed in SDN-IoT that establishes the Chain of Custody (CoC) in blockchain technology. The proposed SDN-based IoT architecture is initiated with flow table rules on switches for the three different traffics Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP). In this work, overloaded switches migrate the packets to nearby switches to balance the packet flow. The packets disobeying flow rules will be discarded by switches. The blockchain-based distributed controller in this forensic architecture is designed to use the Linear Homomorphic Signature (LHS) algorithm for validating users. Each controller is fed with a classifier that uses the Neuro Multi-fuzzy to classify malicious packets based on packet features. The logs of events are used and stored on the blockchain in the proposed SDN-IoT architecture. We evaluated the performance of our forensic architecture and compared it to the existing model using various performance measures. Our evaluation results demonstrate performance improvement by reducing delay, response time and processing time, increasing throughput, accuracy, and security parameters.
Jordi Paillissé, Jordi Subira, Albert López, Alberto Rodríguez-Natal · 7 authors
The specification and enforcement of network-wide policies in a single administrative domain is common in today's networks and considered as already resolved. However, this is not the case for multi-administrative domains, e.g. among different enterprises. In such situation, new problems arise that challenge classical solutions such as PKIs, which suffer from scalability and granularity concerns. In this paper, we present an extension to Group-Based Policy -- a widely used network policy language -- for the aforementioned scenario. To do so, we take advantage of a permissioned blockchain implementation (Hyperledger Fabric) to distribute access control policies in a secure and auditable manner, preserving at the same time the independence of each organization. Network administrators specify polices that are rendered into blockchain transactions. A LISP control plane (RFC 6830) allows routers performing the access control to query the blockchain for authorizations. We have implemented an end-to-end experimental prototype and evaluated it in terms of scalability and network latency.
Jan 1, 2019·Proceedings of the VIth International Workshop 'Critical Infrastructures: Contingency Management, Intelligent, Agent-Based, Cloud Computing and Cyber Security' (IWCI 2019)
Konstantin Mironov, Sergey Trishin, Amir Makhmutov, Vadim Kartak · 5 authors
In this article we consider tasks related to ensuring the integrity and availability of information in the Internet of Things (IoT) sphere. Such systems include sensors and similar devices, which are the sources of data, access points, which transmit data from sensors to the Internet and servers, which store received data and grant access to users. When storing data on a server and providing access to it, it is necessary to ensure its integrity and availability to users. To this end, it is proposed to apply a distributed ledger technology (DLT). One of the applications of DLT for data protection is energetics. Here we consider a system for processing and storing data on the production and consumption of electricity in a decentralized power grid. A review of currently existing projects related to the use of distributed ledger technologies in the energy sector is carried out. An important obstacle to the use of DLT in the IoT is the contradiction between, on the one hand, high memory computational requirements of the DLT, and, on the other hand, limited resources of IoT nodes. Further research directions are proposed that are associated with overcoming this obstacle in applying distributed ledger technologies in the energetics.
Zakaria Abou El Houda, Abdelhakim Hafid, Lyes Khoukhi
With the exponential growth in the number of insecure devices, the impact of Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks is growing rapidly. Existing DDoS mitigation schemes are facing obstacles due to low flexibility, lack of resources, and high cost. The new emerging technologies, such as blockchain, introduce new opportunities for low-cost, efficient and flexible DDoS attacks mitigation across multiple domains. In this paper, we propose a blockchain-based approach, called Cochain-SC, which combines two levels of mitigation, intra-domain and inter-domain DDoS mitigation. For intra-domain, we propose an effective DDoS mitigation method in the context of software defined networks (SDN); it consists of three schemes: (1) Intra Entropy-based scheme (I-ES) to measure, using sFlow, the randomness of data inside the domain; (2) Intra Bayes-based scheme (I-BS) to classify, based on entropy values, illegitimate flows; and (3) Intra-domain Mitigation (I-DM) scheme to effectively mitigate illegitimate flows inside the domain. For inter-domain, we propose a collaborative DDoS mitigation scheme based on blockchain; it uses the concept of smart contracts (i.e., Ethereum's smart contracts) to facilitate the collaboration among SDN-based domains (i.e., Autonomous System: AS) to mitigate DDoS attacks. For this aim, we design a novel and secure scheme that allows multiple SDN-based domains to securely collaborate and transfer attack information in a decentralized manner. Combining intra- and inter-domain DDoS mitigation, Cochain-SC allows an efficient mitigation along the path of an ongoing attack and an effective mitigation near the origin of the attack. This allows reducing the enormous cost of forwarding packets, across multiple domains, which consist mostly of useless amplified attack traffic. To the best of our knowledge, Cochain-SC is the first scheme that proposes to deal with both intra-domain and inter-domain DDoS attacks mitigation combining SDN, blockchain and smart contract. The implementation of Cochain-SC is deployed on Ethereum official test network Ropsten. Moreover, we conducted extensive experiments to evaluate our proposed approach; the experimental results show that Cochain-SC achieves flexibility, efficiency, security, cost effectiveness, and high accuracy in detecting illegitimate flows, making it a promising approach to mitigate DDoS attacks.
Pedro Marcos, Marco Chiesa, Lucas Fernando Müller, Pradeeban Kathiravelu · 7 authors
Autonomous Systems (ASes) can reach hundreds of networks via Internet eXchange Points (IXPs), allowing improvements in traffic delivery performance and competitiveness. Despite the benefits, any pair of ASes needs first to agree on exchanging traffic. By surveying 100+ network operators, we discovered that most interconnection agreements are established through ad-hoc and lengthy processes heavily influenced by personal relationships and brand image. As such, ASes prefer long-term agreements at the expense of a potential mismatch between actual delivery performance and current traffic dynamics. ASes also miss interconnection opportunities due to trust reasons. To improve wide-area traffic delivery performance, we propose Dynam-IX, a framework that allows operators to build trust cooperatively and implement traffic engineering policies to exploit the rich interconnection opportunities at IXPs quickly. Dynam-IX offers a protocol to automate the interconnection process, an intent abstraction to express interconnection policies, a legal framework to digitally handle contracts, and a distributed tamper-proof ledger to create trust among ASes. We build and evaluate a Dynam-IX prototype and show that an AS can establish tens of agreements per minute with negligible overhead for ASes and IXPs.
Despite growing adoption of cryptocurrencies, making fast payments at scale remains a challenge. Payment channel networks (PCNs) such as the Lightning Network have emerged as a viable scaling solution. However, completing payments on PCNs is challenging: payments must be routed on paths with sufficient funds. As payments flow over a single channel (link) in the same direction, the channel eventually becomes depleted and cannot support further payments in that direction; hence, naive routing schemes like shortest-path routing can deplete key payment channels and paralyze the system. Today's PCNs also route payments atomically, worsening the problem. In this paper, we present Spider, a routing solution that "packetizes" transactions and uses a multi-path transport protocol to achieve high-throughput routing in PCNs. Packetization allows Spider to complete even large transactions on low-capacity payment channels over time, while the multi-path congestion control protocol ensures balanced utilization of channels and fairness across flows. Extensive simulations comparing Spider with state-of-the-art approaches shows that Spider requires less than 25% of the funds to successfully route over 95% of transactions on balanced traffic demands, and offloads 4x more transactions onto the PCN on imbalanced demands.
Maria Apostolaki, Gian Marti, Jan Müller, Laurent Vanbever
Routing attacks remain practically effective in the Internet today as existing countermeasures either fail to provide protection guarantees or are not easily deployable. Blockchain systems are particularly vulnerable to such attacks as they rely on Internet-wide communication to reach consensus. In particular, Bitcoin -the most widely-used cryptocurrency- can be split in half by any AS-level adversary using BGP hijacking. In this paper, we present SABRE, a secure and scalable Bitcoin relay network which relays blocks worldwide through a set of connections that are resilient to routing attacks. SABRE runs alongside the existing peer-to-peer network and is easily deployable. As a critical system, SABRE design is highly resilient and can efficiently handle high bandwidth loads, including Denial of Service attacks. We built SABRE around two key technical insights. First, we leverage fundamental properties of inter-domain routing (BGP) policies to host relay nodes: (i) in locations that are inherently protected against routing attacks; and (ii) on paths that are economically preferred by the majority of Bitcoin clients. These properties are generic and can be used to protect other Blockchain-based systems. Second, we leverage the fact that relaying blocks is communication-heavy, not computation-heavy. This enables us to offload most of the relay operations to programmable network hardware (using the P4 programming language). Thanks to this hardware/software co-design, SABRE nodes operate seamlessly under high load while mitigating the effects of malicious clients. We present a complete implementation of SABRE together with an extensive evaluation. Our results demonstrate that SABRE is effective at securing Bitcoin against routing attacks, even with deployments as small as 6 nodes.
La aparición de las tecnologías Blockchain/Distributed Ledger está significando una revolución en los paradigmas de Internet. En el presente proyecto, se ha aplicado HyperLedger Fabric, una tecnología de Distributed Ledger permisionado y privado, en un escenario entre varias empresas.
Igor D. Alvarenga, Gabriel Antonio F. Rebello, Otto Carlos M. B. Duarte
The integration of network function visualization (NFV) and service function chaining (SFC) adds intelligence to the core of the network. The programmability of the network core, however, raises new vulnerabilities and increases the number of victims, since a simple modification in the core can affect multiple network users. Thus, the provision of secure virtual network service functions (VNFs) is mandatory to guarantee a correct chaining of network functions. This paper proposes a blockchain-based architecture for secure management, configuration and migration of VNFs, which ensures: (i) immutability, non-repudiation, and auditability of the configuration update history; (ii) integrity and consistency of stored information; and (iii) the anonymity of VNFs, tenants, and configuration information. Furthermore, the proposed architecture guarantees the secure update and migration of configurations at the core of the network. A prototype of the proposed architecture using the Open Platform for NFV (OPNFV) indicates parameter trade-offs and performance bottlenecks.
The increasing demand for mobile network capacity driven by Internet of Things (IoT) applications results in the need for understanding better the potential and limitations of 5G networks. Vertical application areas like smart mobility, energy networks, industrial IoT applications, and AR/VR enhanced services all pose different requirements on the use of 5G networks. Some applications need low latency, whereas others need high bandwidth or security support. The goal of this paper is to identify the requirements and to understand the limitations for 5G driven applications. We review application areas and list the typical challenges and requirements posed on 5G networks. A main challenge will be to develop a network architecture being able to dynamically adapt to fluctuating traffic patterns and accommodating various technologies such as edge computing, blockchain based distributed ledger, software defined networking, and virtualization. To inspire future research, we reveal open problems and highlight the need for piloting with 5G applications, with tangible steps, to understand the configuration of 5G networks and the use of applications across multiple vertical industries.
Recently, blockchains have been gathering a lot of interest. Many applications can benefit from the advantages of blockchains. Nevertheless, applications with more restricted privacy or participation requirements cannot rely on public blockchains. First, the whole blockchain can be downloaded at any time, thus making the data available to the public. Second, anyone can deploy a node, join the blockchain network and take part in the consensus building process. Private and consortium blockchains promise to combine the advantages of blockchains with stricter requirements on the participating entities. This is also the reason for the comparably small number of nodes that store and extend those blockchains. However, by targeting specific nodes, an attacker can influence how consensuses are reached and possibly even halt the blockchain operation. To provide additional security to the blockchain nodes, ChainGuard utilizes SDN functionalities to filter network traffic, thus implementing a firewall for blockchain applications. ChainGuard communicates with the blockchain nodes it guards to determine which origin of the traffic is legitimate. Packets from illegitimate sources are intercepted and thus cannot have an effect on the blockchain. As is shown with experiments, ChainGuard provides access control functionality and can effectively mitigate flooding attacks from several sources at once.
Abstract The exponential increase of the traffic volume makes Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks a top security threat to service providers. Existing DDoS defense mechanisms lack resources and flexibility to cope with attacks by themselves, and by utilizing other’s companies resources, the burden of the mitigation can be shared. Technologies as blockchain and smart contracts allow distributing attack information across multiple domains, while SDN (Software-Defined Networking) and NFV (Network Function Virtualization) enables to scale defense capabilities on demand for a single network domain. This proposal presents the design of a novel architecture combining these elements and introducing novel opportunities for flexible and efficient DDoS mitigation solutions across multiple domains.
The constant rise of over-the-top video consumption nowadays challenges the current Internet architecture. In this article, we propose a user-centric approach that helps the necessary reshaping of the content delivery ecosystem. We study how blockchain-powered smart contracts and network service chaining can be exploited to support such novel collaboration schemes. Finally, our findings suggest that the proposed solution can complement existing technologies by supporting a wide range of business cases while at the same time significantly reducing costs.
Bruno Rodrigues, Thomas Bocek, Andri Lareida, David Hausheer · 6 authors
Abstract The rapid growth in the number of insecure portable and stationary devices and the exponential increase of traffic volume makes Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks a top security threat to services provisioning. Existing defense mechanisms lack resources and flexibility to cope with attacks by themselves, and by utilizing other’s companies resources, the burden of the mitigation can be shared. Emerging technologies such as blockchain and smart contracts allows for the sharing of attack information in a fully distributed and automated fashion. In this paper, the design of a novel architecture is proposed by combining these technologies introducing new opportunities for flexible and efficient DDoS mitigation solutions across multiple domains. Main advantages are the deployment of an already existing public and distributed infrastructure to advertise white or blacklisted IP addresses, and the usage of such infrastructure as an additional security mechanism to existing DDoS defense systems, without the need to build specialized registries or other distribution mechanisms, which enables the enforcement of rules across multiple domains.
Bitcoin is the first decentralised, peer-to-peer network that allows for the proof and transfer of ownership of virtual currencies without the need for a trusted third party. The purpose of this article is to address how we can capture Bitcoin’s potential benefits for the economy while addressing new regulatory challenges.