Anamalamudi, Sangi, Alkatheiri, Bin Muhaya, and Liu
150
7.4 5G‐WiFi Security Challenges
State‐of‐the‐art security protocols are designed to protect the application data that
is being transmitted with single networking technology, and for specific protocol
stacks (TCP/IP). This case of designing security protocols is valid for the standard
packet switched networks, such as wired technologies (IEEE 802.3) and wireless
technologies (IEEE 802.11). However, with the increased demand of network access
in wired and wireless technology, a new design of hybrid access technologies through
interoperability is being proposed by different Internet standardization organizations. For example, to overcome the shortage of natural available spectrum, Federal
Communication Commission (FCC) has come up with a new kind of opportunistic
spectrum access through “Software Defined Radio (SDR)” and “Cognitive Radio
Network” technologies. At a same time, Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and
other standardization organizations have proposed to design an IP‐based protocol
stack for constrained networks that should efficiently utilize the available resources
(bandwidth, node transmit power, buffers) for Thing‐to‐Thing connectivity. In
addition, Network Function Virtualization (NFV) is providing software‐based
Network Functions to provide the interoperability with different network vendors.
The objective of 5G networks is to combine the functionalities of software‐defined
radio (SDR), network function virtualization (NFV) and Internet of Things‐protocol
suit to provide Internet connectivity through high‐speed LTE‐based radio access
technology. With the deployment of 5G networks, the objective of network connectivity is to provide everywhere, anywhere, anything (Internet of Things) through
interoperability of existing packet switched networks (Ethernet, WiFi, LiFi) and
circuit switched networks (GSM, UMTS, LTE, etc.). Hence, it is important to plan,
design and deploy the security protocols (authentication, confidentiality and integrity) that should protect the data during switching of the packets from one network
technology to another through interoperability at any layer of the protocol stack
(see Section 7.2 for interoperability at different protocol layers in the TCP/IP
protocol suite).
Non‐cryptography‐based security provisioning methods through terminals or
users can provide the fingerprint unique to a specific device. Thus, authentication
procedures without complex hardware and additional computation costs are required
for non‐cryptography based security techniques. When the requirement is based on
digital based cryptographic authentication, there will be high risks to the communication network once the security key is spoofed and compromised. Implementation
of digital‐based cryptographic provisioning or non‐cryptographic based security
provisioning is application dependent. For applications such as Internet surfing,
gaming, non‐critical applications and quick single attribute verification, a low security requirement is sufficient, which reduces the entire network complexity and
enhances the performance of the 5G network. However, there are applications where
improved authentication reliability is required to fulfill high‐security requirements.
For example, applications like banking or online shopping should be considered
as critical secure‐context‐ information (SCI). A new 5G management structure
through Software Defined Networking (SDN) is proposed to bring intelligence and
programmability to 5G heterogeneous networks for efficient security management.
150
7.4 5G‐WiFi Security Challenges
State‐of‐the‐art security protocols are designed to protect the application data that
is being transmitted with single networking technology, and for specific protocol
stacks (TCP/IP). This case of designing security protocols is valid for the standard
packet switched networks, such as wired technologies (IEEE 802.3) and wireless
technologies (IEEE 802.11). However, with the increased demand of network access
in wired and wireless technology, a new design of hybrid access technologies through
interoperability is being proposed by different Internet standardization organizations. For example, to overcome the shortage of natural available spectrum, Federal
Communication Commission (FCC) has come up with a new kind of opportunistic
spectrum access through “Software Defined Radio (SDR)” and “Cognitive Radio
Network” technologies. At a same time, Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and
other standardization organizations have proposed to design an IP‐based protocol
stack for constrained networks that should efficiently utilize the available resources
(bandwidth, node transmit power, buffers) for Thing‐to‐Thing connectivity. In
addition, Network Function Virtualization (NFV) is providing software‐based
Network Functions to provide the interoperability with different network vendors.
The objective of 5G networks is to combine the functionalities of software‐defined
radio (SDR), network function virtualization (NFV) and Internet of Things‐protocol
suit to provide Internet connectivity through high‐speed LTE‐based radio access
technology. With the deployment of 5G networks, the objective of network connectivity is to provide everywhere, anywhere, anything (Internet of Things) through
interoperability of existing packet switched networks (Ethernet, WiFi, LiFi) and
circuit switched networks (GSM, UMTS, LTE, etc.). Hence, it is important to plan,
design and deploy the security protocols (authentication, confidentiality and integrity) that should protect the data during switching of the packets from one network
technology to another through interoperability at any layer of the protocol stack
(see Section 7.2 for interoperability at different protocol layers in the TCP/IP
protocol suite).
Non‐cryptography‐based security provisioning methods through terminals or
users can provide the fingerprint unique to a specific device. Thus, authentication
procedures without complex hardware and additional computation costs are required
for non‐cryptography based security techniques. When the requirement is based on
digital based cryptographic authentication, there will be high risks to the communication network once the security key is spoofed and compromised. Implementation
of digital‐based cryptographic provisioning or non‐cryptographic based security
provisioning is application dependent. For applications such as Internet surfing,
gaming, non‐critical applications and quick single attribute verification, a low security requirement is sufficient, which reduces the entire network complexity and
enhances the performance of the 5G network. However, there are applications where
improved authentication reliability is required to fulfill high‐security requirements.
For example, applications like banking or online shopping should be considered
as critical secure‐context‐ information (SCI). A new 5G management structure
through Software Defined Networking (SDN) is proposed to bring intelligence and
programmability to 5G heterogeneous networks for efficient security management.