A security services platform for Software Defined Networks

Abstract

Software Defined Networking (SDN) is a paradigm shift that changes the working principals of IP networks by separating the control logic from routers and switches, and logically centralizing it within a controller. While having a centralized controller as a single point of failure creates an added vulnerability from a network security viewpoint, it also creates an opportunity to offer a whole range of novel security services such as Moving Target Defense (MTD) strategies, many of which are painstakingly difficult or almost impossible without SDN. The traditional security services such as Onion Routing and VPN can be offered with much richer options by exploiting the advantages attained by SDN. This paper primarily focuses on a centralized security services platform of the controller that generates a dynamic behavior for selected data flows.