A Secure Multi-Tier Mobile Edge Computing Model for Data Processing Offloading Based on Degree of Trust

Abstract

Current mobile devices need to run applications with high computational demands and critical response times. The mobile edge computing (MEC) paradigm was developed to improve the performance of these devices. This new computation architecture allows for the mobile devices to execute applications on fog nodes at the network edge; this process is called data processing offloading. This article presents a security model for the externalization of application execution in multi-tier MEC environments. The principal novelty of this study is that the model is able to modify the required security level in each tier of the distributed architecture as a function of the degree of trust associated with that tier. The basic idea is that a higher degree of trust requires a lower level of security, and vice versa. A formal framework is introduced that represents the general environment of application execution in distributed MEC architectures. An architecture is proposed that allows for deployment of the model in production environments and is implemented for evaluation purposes. The results show that the security model can be applied in multi-tier MEC architectures and that the model produces a minimal overhead, especially for computationally intensive applications.

Multilayer Architecture Model for Mobile Cloud Computing Paradigm

“…Usually, cloudlets are deployed inside the organizations that use it [9,10]. The main advantages provided by cloudlets are twofold: in the first place, to reduce service disruptions and delays caused by the network to remote servers and secondly to ensure a high level of security of the data since it does not need to be sent through Internet [11]. Therefore, cloudlets are computing platforms similar to cloud servers but prepared and scaled according to the specific requirements of the organization.…”

“…Necessary data to be moved for computing the task t i in the platform p j of the layer k (11) notations and expression used in this paper are provided in Tables 3 and 4. First, we consider a granularity unit for offloading the application task.…”

Trust management in a blockchain based fog computing platform with trustless smart oracles

“…Evidence-based trust model can be any model that proves trust relationship among entities based on public-key, address, identity or any similar evidence that the entity can generate for itself or other users. For instance, Mora-Gimeno et al [44] present a security model for data processing that combines applications to multi-tier mobile edge architectures with ability to adjust the security levels of each tier (i.e. each tier requires authentication).…”

Review of the Complexity of Managing Big Data of the Internet of Things

“…Secure Multi-Tier Mobile Edge Computing Model [49] Formal framework to handle the security level of edge computing environments.…”

“…Edge computing has a promising future since it decentralises the computing power along the network and produces clear benefits when it comes to response time and reliability [34]. The research lines in this field aim at reaching a smooth engagement with the IoT ecosystem, mainly by reducing the management complexity of dispersed edge resources and developing mechanisms to maintain the security perimeter for the data and applications [49].…”