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Indonesian Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Detecting man-in-the-middle attacks via hybrid quantumclassical protocol in software-defined network

Thakwan Akram Jawad, Awan Nahel Mahmood, Abdulhameed N. Hameed

Published May 17, 2023• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks became one of the most risk attacks on OpenFlow communication channel in software-defined networking, its detection is a very hard task due there is no authentication in OpenFlow protocol. This channel is the most important in the network and is responsible for sending the control commands from the controller to the switches, so once the OpenFlow channel is hacked, the entire network is controlled by the attacker. Therefore, we propose a complementary solution to transport layer security protocol to detect man-in-the-middle attacks based on hybrid quantum-classical protocol. Based on the hybrid protocol, an easy-toimplement authentication between controller and switches depends on quantum and classical security layers. Also, detect eavesdropping on channel depending on quantum parameters. In this paper, we implement a simulation of hybrid protocol using a software-defined networking emulator for monitoring the OpenFlow channel to detect attacks, and the results showed the ease of detecting the eavesdrop and verifying the authentication of the other party with a hybrid method to get a high level of authentication.

DOI
10.11591/ijeecs.v31.i1.pp205-211

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Man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks became one of the most risk attacks on OpenFlow communication channel in software-defined networking, its detection is a very hard task due there is no authentication in OpenFlow protocol. This channel is the most important in the network and is responsible for sending the control commands from the controller to the switches, so once the OpenFlow channel is hacked, the entire network is controlled by the attacker. Therefore, we propose a complementary solution to transport layer security protocol to detect man-in-the-middle attacks based on hybrid quantum-classical protocol. Based on the hybrid protocol, an easy-toimplement authentication between controller and switches depends on quantum and classical security layers. Also, detect eavesdropping on channel depending on quantum parameters. In this paper, we implement a simulation of hybrid protocol using a software-defined networking emulator for monitoring the OpenFlow channel to detect attacks, and the results showed the ease of detecting the eavesdrop and verifying the authentication of the other party with a hybrid method to get a high level of authentication.
Network programming provides new security solutions for traditional networks. However, software-defined networking still suffers from security issues. An important one is the weaknesses related to the OpenFlow channel between network devices and controller, as the network can be attacked via the OpenFlow channel and exploit communications with the control plane. Our work proposes a solution to provide adequate security for OpenFlow messages in software-defined networks by using a hybrid key consisting of classical and quantum key distribution protocols to provide double security depending on the quantum's computational complexity and physical properties. To achieve this goal, the hybrid key is used with transport layer security protocol to provide confidentiality, integrity and quantum authentication to secure software-defined network connections between the control and data planes. We experimentally based on the SDN-testbed to show the workflow of exchanging quantum and classical keys between the control plane and network devices in the data plane, and our results showed the effectiveness of the hybrid key to enhance the security of the transport layer security protocol. Thereby achieving adequate security for controller communications with the data plane against classical and quantum computer attacks by conducting security analysis and clarifying the efficiency of the proposal in terms of the average required time.
Software-defined networking (SDN) has revolutionized the world of technology as networks have become more flexible, dynamic and programmable. The ability to conduct network slicing in 5G networks is one of the most crucial features of SDN implementation. Although network programming provides new security solutions of traditional networks, SDN and network slicing also have security issues, an important one being the weaknesses related to openflow channel between the data plane and controller as the network can be attacked via the openflow channel and exploit communications with the control plane. Our work proposes a solution to provide adequate security for openflow messages through using a hybrid key consisting of classical and quantum key distribution protocols to provide double security depending on the computational complexity and physical properties of quantum. To achieve this goal, the hybrid key used with transport layer security protocol to provide confidentiality, integrity and quantum authentication to secure openflow channel. We experimentally based on the SDN-testbed and network slicing to show the workflow of exchanging quantum and classical keys between the control plane and data plane and our results showed the effectiveness of the hybrid key to enhance the security of the transport layer security protocol. Thereby achieving adequate security for openflow channel against classical and quantum computer attacks.
In today’s age of the Internet of Things (IoT), it is crucial to ensure that devices communicate securely. This study presents a system that uses quantum techniques in Software Defined Networking (SDN) to detect and counteract Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks on devices. Our method incorporates quantum cryptography to enhance the security of SDN controllers, bolstering defense against attacks. By merging sophisticated intrusion detection algorithms with strategies, our framework enhances accuracy and response times compared to other approaches. Through simulations, we have showcased that our system adeptly identifies and thwarts MitM attacks while meeting security standards, offering a solution for safeguarding IoT networks.
Software Defined Networking (SDN) is one of the key networking technologies with broad applications in data centers, cloud computing, and networking. SDN uses isolation of data planes and control planes to offer more efficient control of data communication. Security and reliability of communication between controllers that manage network control information and network switches that route traffic in the data plane, is essential in SDN architecture. The communication between these two layers uses OpenFlow protocol. We propose a quantum-safe solution for providing security and reliability for OpenFlow communication that exploits multiple paths between a switch and a controller. We analyze our solution regarding security and reliability and show its efficiency is comparable to an alternative solution that does not provide quantum-safe security.
Future practical implementation of secure quantum communication technology in a multiuser network environment would require automatic monitoring of the optical link condition and quantum system parameters, along with adjusting them in real time according to protocol restrictions. We demonstrate how software-defined networking (SDN) paradigm can be used for addressing this problem on the example of a subcarrier wave quantum communication system, which is promising for network applications. We propose a novel approach to dynamic quantum network routing and communication security based on SDN OpenFlow protocol. SDN-operated dynamic switching between different data encryption methods, quantum or classic, will enable to organize virtual encoding channels with an ability to set the required Quality of Service level for security/bandwidth. These developments will further increase the feasibility of quantum technologies from the network perspective and contribute to bringing them to industrial scale.
The combination of quantum encryption and internet technology has become an inevitable development trend. To improve the security performance of communication between control layer and forwarding layer in the software defined network (SDN), we propose a security scheme based on quantum encryption technology. The proposed scheme can realize two-way authentication and quantum key distribution between the controller and the switch. The security performance analysis shows that this scheme can effectively prevent eavesdropping attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks and replay attacks. It effectively improves the southbound security of SDN and provides a theoretical basis for the healthy development of SDN.