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Software-Defined-Networking (SDN) has been recently arising as a new technology in the IT industry. It is a network architecture that hopes to provide better solutions to most of the constraints in contemporary networks. SDN is a centralized control architecture for networking in which the control plane is separated from the data plane, the network services are abstracted from the underlying forwarding devices, and the network’s intelligence is centralized in a software-based directly-programmed device called a controller. These features of SDN provide more flexible, programmable and innovative network’s architecture. However, they may pose new vulnerabilities and may lead to new security problems. In this paper, we propose the application-aware firewall mechanism for SDN, which can be implemented as an extension to the network’s controller. In order to provide more control and visibility in applications running over the network, the system is able to detect network applications that may at some point affect network’s performance, and it is capable to dynamically enforce constraint rules on applications. The firewall architecture is designed as four cooperating modules: the Main Module, the Filtering Module, the Application Identification Module, and the Security-Enforcement Module. The proposed mechanism checks the network traffic at the network, transport, and application levels, and installs appropriate security instructions down into the network. The proposed solution features were implemented and tested using a Python-based POX controller, and the network topology was built using Mininet emulation tool.

MEC technology provides a distributed computing environment in 5G mobile networks for application and service hosting. It allows customers with different requirements and professional competencies to use the services offered by external suppliers. We consider a service access control framework on 5G MEC networks that is efficient, flexible, and user-friendly. Its central element is the MEC Enabler, which handles AAA requests for stakeholders accessing services hosted on the edge servers. The JSON Web Token (JWT) open standard is a suitable tool for the MEC Enabler to manage access control credentials and transfer them securely between parties. In this paper, in the context of access control, we propose the token reference pattern called JSON MEC Access Token (JMAT) and analyze the effectiveness of its available protection methods in compliance with the standard requirements of MEC-hosted services in 5G networks.

The currently developed 5G networks using MEC technology (5G MEC) allow for the harmonious cooperation of many areas of the economy (called the vertical industries) within an integrated information network. Providing the necessary security in such a complex configuration of business partners requires the design of consistent and effective security architecture. In this paper, we present a new concept of an access control architecture for the 5G MEC network in line with the 5G network model and MEC architecture proposed by international standardization organizations. We give an overview of the high-level security architecture of 5G MEC networks, which provides security solutions for the network’s components and establishes secure access to all cooperating entities. Next, we introduce the MEC Enabler, a new network’s module, which manages security credentials required to access resources of MEC-hosted services. We consider a series of several use cases with increasing demands on network data resources and computing power. Finally, we present a sample protocol diagram for gaining access to resources (authentication in a service using MEC technology) in our access control architecture.

Electronic card payments are getting more and more popular, mainly because of their simplicity, convenience, processing time and high level of security. The fact that a single payment card is issued for a particular cardholder makes it possible to link a card to various services. In this paper, we investigated a usage of a payment card in the loyalty program that incorporates our Contextual Risk Management System (CRMS) to assure a novel intangible reward: Shorter transaction processing time. In the beginning, we emphasize the importance of soft benefits in modern loyalty programs and recall the risk management algorithms and the reputation system that has been used in the CRMS. Then, using an extensive dataset of 2.5 million payment transaction traces (collected within a year from 68 terminals) we estimate potential benefits for merchants and cardholders and try to predict an effect of this system for the future. We also discuss the impact of this system on the real and user-perceived security level.

As the amount of information, critical services, and interconnected computers and “things” in the cyberspace is steadily increasing, the number, sophistication, and impact of cyberattacks are becoming more and more significant. In the last decades, governmental and non-governmental organisations have become aware of this problem. However, the existing cybersecurity workforce has not been sufficient for satisfying the increasing demand for qualified cybersecurity professionals, and the shortfall will increase in the next years. Meanwhile, to address the increasing demand for cybersecurity professionals, academic institutions have been establishing cybersecurity programs, particularly, cybersecurity master programs. This paper aims at analysing which cybersecurity topics are covered by existing cybersecurity master programs of top universities and how these topics are distributed through courses. It starts by reviewing the evolution and maturation of the cybersecurity discipline, focusing on the ACM efforts, which include the early addition of the Information Assurance and Security Knowledge Areas to the computer science curricula and, more recently, the development of curricular recommendations to support the definition of post-secondary cybersecurity programs. These latest guidelines are used to analyse and review 21 cybersecurity master programs, focusing on the contents of their courses, structure, admission requirements, duration, requirements for completion, and evolution.

With the increasing role of numerous Internet services, more and more private data must be protected. One of the mechanisms which is used to ensure data security is user authentication. A reliable authentication mechanism is a foundation of security of a remote service but, on the other hand, it is also a source of user frustration because of fear of losing access in case of three failures. A remedy to this problem could be contextual secure authentication. Such a protocol should provide multi-level authentication mechanism which increases user satisfaction without decreasing a protection level. In this paper we propose a risk analysis procedure of a new authentication management model using contextual data and oriented on user experience. We describe an approach to risk assessment of the mechanism, which supports a process of choosing the proper multi-step authentication procedure. On this basis, it is possible to provide a security solution which keeps balance between user satisfaction (related to QoE) and the obtained Level of Security (related to QoP).

In this paper, the randomness of binary sequences generated from elliptic curves over a finite field of characteristic 2 is studied. A scheme of construction based on the Chaos-Driven Elliptic Curve Pseudo-random Number Generator (C-D ECPRNG) is proposed. The generators based of this scheme are verified by using tests from the NIST Statistical Test Suite to analyze their statistical properties. An elliptic curve used in the numerical example is defined over F 2 8. The investigations which made for the generated series of two output sequences of the lengths of 210 and 220 bits shown that 14 generators working according to our general scheme exhibit good randomness properties. Next, the binary sequences generated by these 14 schemes were used for encrypting a 256×256 grayscale Lena image as an application example and the security analysis of the ciphered images was carried out.

Authenticating users connecting to online services, social networks or m-banking became an indispensable element of our everyday life. Reliable authentication is a foundation of security of Internet services but, on the other hand, also a source of users' frustration due to possible account blocking in case of three fails. In this paper we propose a model of authentication service management which helps in keeping a balance between the authentication security level and positive users' perception of this procedure. The proposed procedure allows a user more than three attempts of authentication by switching after two failures to a more secure authentication protocol keeping a balance between QoP and QoE measures. Finally, the procedure determines an optimal path of authentication using a decision tree algorithm.

In this paper, we present a systematic overview of existing isolation techniques in nodes and networks, especially in the Radio Access Network and the Core Network (RAN and CN) to give a background to standardized methods of calculating an isolation level leading to secure End-to-End (E2E) slices’ isolation. We present specific isolation technologies used in layers of 5G RAN and CN. For RAN and CN slices we propose several isolation properties and parameters to enable qualitative and quantitative characterization of the isolation. Finally, we present our approach that makes it possible to establish the common level of isolation for an E2E slice in the 5G network. To illustrate how such an isolation model works in practice, we give numerical examples of calculating an isolation level for simple network slices.