Virtual Distinguished Lecture | Security in SDN/NFV & 5G Networks Opportunities & Challenges by Professor Ashutosh Dutta, PhD, IEEE Fellow
Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) are the key pillars of future networks, including 5G and beyond that promise to support emerging applications such as enhanced mobile broadband, ultra-low latency, massive sensing type applications while providing the resiliency in the network. Service providers and other vertical industries (e.g., Connected Cars, IOT, eHealth) can leverage SDN/NFV to provide flexible and cost-effective service without compromising the end user quality of service (QoS). While NFV and SDN open up the door for flexible networks and rapid service creation, these also offer both security opportunities while also introducing additional challenges and complexities, in some cases.
With the rapid proliferation of 4G and 5G networks, operators have now started the trial deployment of network function virtualization, especially with the introduction of various virtualized network elements in the access and core networks. While several standardisation bodies (e.g., ETSI, 3GPP, NGMN, ATIS, IEEE) have started looking into the many security issues introduced by SDN/NFV, additional work is needed with larger security community including vendors, operators, universities, and regulators.
This talk will address evolution of cellular technologies towards 5G but will largely focus on various security challenges and opportunities introduced by SDN/NFV and 5G networks such as Hypervisor, Virtual Network Functions (VNFs), SDN controller, orchestrator, network slicing, cloud RAN, edge cloud, and security function virtualisation. This talk will introduce a threat taxonomy for 5G security from an end-to-end system perspective, potential threats introduced by these enablers, and associated mitigation techniques. At the same time, some of the opportunities introduced by these pillars will also be discussed. This talk will also highlight some of the ongoing activities within various standards communities and will illustrate a few deployment use case scenarios for security including threat taxonomy for both operator and enterprise networks.
About the Speaker
Professor Ashutosh Dutta is currently senior scientist and 5G Chief Strategist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL). He is also a JHU/APL Sabbatical Fellow and adjunct faculty at The Johns Hopkins University. Ashutosh also serves as the chair for Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of Engineering for Professional Program at Johns Hopkins University. His career, spanning more than 30 years, includes Director of Technology Security and Lead Member of Technical Staff at AT&T, CTO of Wireless for NIKSUN, Inc., Senior Scientist and Project Manager in Telcordia Research, Director of the Central Research Facility at Columbia University, adjunct faculty at NJIT, and Computer Engineer with TATA Motors. He has more than 100 conference, journal publications, and standards specifications, three book chapters, and 31 issued patents. Ashutosh is co-author of the book, titled, “Mobility Protocols and Handover Optimization: Design, Evaluation and Application” published by IEEE and John & Wiley.
As a Technical Leader in 5G and security, Ashutosh has been serving as the founding Co-Chair for the IEEE Future Networks Initiative that focuses on 5G standardisation, education, publications, testbed, and roadmap activities. Ashutosh serves as IEEE Communications Society’s Distinguished Lecturer for 2017-2020 and as an ACM Distinguished Speaker (2020-2022) Ashutosh has served as the general Co-Chair for the premier IEEE 5G World Forums and has organized 70 5G World Summits around the world.
Ashutosh served as the chair for IEEE Princeton / Central Jersey Section, Industry Relation Chair for Region 1 and MGA, Pre-University Coordinator for IEEE MGA and vice chair of Education Society Chapter of PCJS. He co-founded the IEEE STEM conference (ISEC) and helped to implement EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) projects in several high schools. Ashutosh has served as the general Co-Chair for the IEEE STEM conference for the last 10 years. Ashutosh served as the Director of Industry Outreach for IEEE Communications Society from 2014-2019. He was recipient of the prestigious 2009 IEEE MGA Leadership award and 2010 IEEE-USA professional leadership award. Ashutosh currently serves as Member-At-Large for IEEE Communications Society for 2020-2022.
Ashutosh obtained his BS in Electrical Engineering from NIT Rourkela, India; MS in Computer Science from NJIT; and PhD in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, New York under the supervision of Prof. Henning Schulzrinne. Ashutosh is a Fellow of IEEE and senior member of ACM.
