Okwuibe, Liyanage, Ahmad, and Ylianttila
388
monitoring and recording of unauthorized users attempting to access the system.
Several access control models have been identified, ranging from traditional Mandatory
Access Control (MAC), to Discretionary Access Control (DAC) and Role Based Access
Control (RBAC)[36].
These access control models are mainly based on user identity, where a unique identifier is applied to each user, and upon successful authentication, users are granted
access to corresponding resources. In the cloud environment, there is a need for a
flexible access control mechanism to support various kinds of domains and policies.
Access control goes beyond controlling access to resources and the system itself;
it also includes the management of users, files and other resources. Typical access
control system consists of functions such as authentication, authorization and
accountability. In [37], the authors discuss the loopholes in the above access control
methods and why they may not be suitable for the cloud computing environment. The
MAC model does not guarantee complete secrecy of information, since it does not
support the separation of duties and privileges, moreover it does not always support
dynamic activation of access rights for certain tasks. The DAC model, which tends to
be more flexible, lacks adequate mechanisms for managing improper rights, hence less
risk‐aware, and this makes it unsuitable for the access control level require in cloud
computing. RBAC seems more advantageous in many cases; however, it also lacks
adequate dynamism to its access control methods, for instance, it lacks the ability to
classify information according to sensitivity levels, which will be a major requirement
in the cloud environment, given that certain information is less sensitive than others.
RBAC also lacks delegation mechanisms needed in organizations for situations where
certain staff members are absent.
16.5 Security Challenges in 5G MEC
The MEC network environment comprises multiples diverse technologies, including
wireless networking, distributed computing, and the virtualization of networking
equipment and computing servers all interoperating in an open ecosystem where service providers can deploy their applications. The heterogeneity and diversity of the
MEC environment opens up a series of avenues for malicious attacks and privacy
issues that could constitute a major threat to the entire MEC system. By extending IT
services and cloud computing capabilities to the edge of mobile networks, the MEC
platform tends to have a limited size of hosts at the mobile edge, which cannot enjoy
the same level of protection as conventional large data centers, hence the need
for more robust security measures to mitigate these security challenges on such
network edges.
In addition, the MEC system is still in its infancy, hence the security concerns are
mainly in the context of a cloud‐enabled IoT environment. Security technologies are
geared towards the MEC nodes, for example, MEC server and other IoT nodes. Threats
such as man‐in‐the‐middle (MitM) and malicious mode problems have been identified
[2,38]. In [38], the authors present a broad threat description model for the MEC system; this section discusses the threat landscape of the MEC system and why security is
one of the greatest challenges of the MEC system. In Section 16.7, we suggest workable
mitigation techniques that could be used to avert these security challenges.
388
monitoring and recording of unauthorized users attempting to access the system.
Several access control models have been identified, ranging from traditional Mandatory
Access Control (MAC), to Discretionary Access Control (DAC) and Role Based Access
Control (RBAC)[36].
These access control models are mainly based on user identity, where a unique identifier is applied to each user, and upon successful authentication, users are granted
access to corresponding resources. In the cloud environment, there is a need for a
flexible access control mechanism to support various kinds of domains and policies.
Access control goes beyond controlling access to resources and the system itself;
it also includes the management of users, files and other resources. Typical access
control system consists of functions such as authentication, authorization and
accountability. In [37], the authors discuss the loopholes in the above access control
methods and why they may not be suitable for the cloud computing environment. The
MAC model does not guarantee complete secrecy of information, since it does not
support the separation of duties and privileges, moreover it does not always support
dynamic activation of access rights for certain tasks. The DAC model, which tends to
be more flexible, lacks adequate mechanisms for managing improper rights, hence less
risk‐aware, and this makes it unsuitable for the access control level require in cloud
computing. RBAC seems more advantageous in many cases; however, it also lacks
adequate dynamism to its access control methods, for instance, it lacks the ability to
classify information according to sensitivity levels, which will be a major requirement
in the cloud environment, given that certain information is less sensitive than others.
RBAC also lacks delegation mechanisms needed in organizations for situations where
certain staff members are absent.
16.5 Security Challenges in 5G MEC
The MEC network environment comprises multiples diverse technologies, including
wireless networking, distributed computing, and the virtualization of networking
equipment and computing servers all interoperating in an open ecosystem where service providers can deploy their applications. The heterogeneity and diversity of the
MEC environment opens up a series of avenues for malicious attacks and privacy
issues that could constitute a major threat to the entire MEC system. By extending IT
services and cloud computing capabilities to the edge of mobile networks, the MEC
platform tends to have a limited size of hosts at the mobile edge, which cannot enjoy
the same level of protection as conventional large data centers, hence the need
for more robust security measures to mitigate these security challenges on such
network edges.
In addition, the MEC system is still in its infancy, hence the security concerns are
mainly in the context of a cloud‐enabled IoT environment. Security technologies are
geared towards the MEC nodes, for example, MEC server and other IoT nodes. Threats
such as man‐in‐the‐middle (MitM) and malicious mode problems have been identified
[2,38]. In [38], the authors present a broad threat description model for the MEC system; this section discusses the threat landscape of the MEC system and why security is
one of the greatest challenges of the MEC system. In Section 16.7, we suggest workable
mitigation techniques that could be used to avert these security challenges.