Semantic-Aware Security Orchestration in SDN/NFV-Enabled IoT Systems

Abstract

<jats:p>IoT systems can be leveraged by Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technologies, thereby strengthening their overall flexibility, security and resilience. In this sense, adaptive and policy-based security frameworks for SDN/NFV-aware IoT systems can provide a remarkable added value for self-protection and self-healing, by orchestrating and enforcing dynamically security policies and associated Virtual Network Functions (VNF) or Virtual network Security Functions (VSF) according to the actual context. However, this security orchestration is subject to multiple possible inconsistencies between the policies to enforce, the already enforced management policies and the evolving status of the managed IoT system. In this regard, this paper presents a semantic-aware, zero-touch and policy-driven security orchestration framework for autonomic and conflict-less security orchestration in SDN/NFV-aware IoT scenarios while ensuring optimal allocation and Service Function Chaining (SFC) of VSF. The framework relies on Semantic technologies and considers the security policies and the evolving IoT system model to dynamically and formally detect any semantic conflict during the orchestration. In addition, our optimized SFC algorithm maximizes the QoS, security aspects and resources usage during VSF allocation. The orchestration security framework has been implemented and validated showing its feasibility and performance to detect the conflicts and optimally enforce the VSFs.</jats:p>

Review and analysis of recent advances in intelligent network softwarization for the Internet of Things

“…In [46], the authors introduce a security orchestration framework that is both semanticaware and policy-driven. This framework is designed for orchestrating security measures autonomously in softwarized IoT networks, with a specific focus on ensuring conflict-free security orchestration while optimizing the allocation of security VNFs.…”

Reconciling Efficiency and Security of the Internet of Things: A Recursive InterNetwork Architecture (RINA) Approach

“…• Flexibility in Security Policy Implementation: By allowing new functionalities to be developed as policies, RINA offers a high degree of flexibility in implementing and updating security measures. This can be especially beneficial in the rapidly evolving landscape of IoT security, where new threats and vulnerabilities often emerge [44]. • Reduction of Functional Redundancies: The ability to plug in policies into existing mechanisms can help reduce functional redundancies in protocols.…”

The role of security orchestrator in network slicing for future networks

“…A semantic aware, zero-touch and policy-driven security orchestration framework in SDN/NFV aware IoT scenarios for automatic and conflict-less security orchestration is proposed in [18]. The proposed framework ensures the optimal allocation and the service function chaining (SFC)s [19] of the virtual security functions (VSFs).…”

“…When considering the E2E latency of a particular network slice, it depends on two parameters: service delay and propagation delay [18]. Service delay considers the processing time of the data sent by a source VNF at the destination VNF.…”