IOTASDN: IOTA 2.0 Smart Contracts for Securing Software-Defined Networking Ecosystem

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Network Security
• Distributed Ledger Technology

Background:

• Software-Defined Networking (SDN) offers flexibility but faces security risks due to its centralized nature.
• Existing security measures for SDN often struggle with scalability and efficiency.
• Decentralized solutions are being explored to address these vulnerabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and evaluate a novel security framework for SDN environments using IOTA 2.0 smart contracts.
• To leverage the IOTA Tangle's unique structure for enhanced scalability and efficiency.
• To address critical security concerns including unauthorized access and denial-of-service attacks.

Main Methods:

• Development of three IOTA 2.0 smart contracts: Authority, Access Control, and DoS Detector.
• Utilization of the IOTA Tangle (a DAG) for decentralized data management and transaction processing.
• Simulation of the proposed system using Mininet and the ShimmerEVM IOTA Test Network.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated enhancement of SDN security through the implementation of IOTA 2.0 smart contracts.
• Validation of improved scalability and efficiency compared to traditional SDN security models.
• Successful mitigation of unauthorized access and denial-of-service attacks within the simulated SDN environment.

Conclusions:

• IOTA 2.0 smart contracts offer a robust and decentralized solution for securing SDN environments.
• The proposed framework effectively addresses key security vulnerabilities in SDN architectures.
• This research paves the way for integrating distributed ledger technology in future network management systems.