Adnan Akhunzada
University of Malaya, Malaysia, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Department Member
Mr. Adnan Akhunzada is currently working as an Assistant Professor and In-charge BS Software Engineering (SE) and Telecommunication Networks (TN) Programme at Comsats Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), Islamabad, Pakistan. He got a great experience of teaching international modules of the University of Bradford, UK. He has published several high impact tier 1 research journal publications, IEEE transactions, IEEE Communication Magazine papers, other reputable magazine papers, book chapter, and national and international conference proceedings. His current research interests include secure design
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simplify network management and enable
innovation through network programmability.
Despite all the hype surrounding SDNs, exploiting
its full potential is demanding. Security is
still the key concern and is an equally striking
challenge that reduces the growth of SDNs.
Moreover, the deployment of novel entities and
the introduction of several architectural components
of SDNs pose new security threats and vulnerabilities.
Besides, the landscape of digital
threats and cyber-attacks is evolving tremendously,
considering SDNs as a potential target to
have even more devastating effects than using
simple networks. Security is not considered as
part of the initial SDN design; therefore, it must
be raised on the agenda. This article discusses
the state-of-the-art security solutions proposed
to secure SDNs. We classify the security solutions
in the literature by presenting a thematic
taxonomy based on SDN layers/interfaces, security
measures, simulation environments, and
security objectives. Moreover, the article points
out the possible attacks and threat vectors targeting
different layers/interfaces of SDNs. The
potential requirements and their key enablers
for securing SDNs are also identified and presented.
Also, the article gives great guidance for
secure and dependable SDNs. Finally, we discuss
open issues and challenges of SDN security that
may be deemed appropriate to be tackled by
researchers and professionals in the future.
predominantly for three reasons: firstly, the attacker is human and, therefore, utilizes motivation,
creativity, and ingenuity. Secondly, the attacker has limitless and authorized access to the target. Thirdly,
all major protections stand up to a determined attacker till a certain period of time. Digital assets range
from business to personal use, from consumer devices to home networks, the public Internet, the cloud,
and the Internet of Things – where traditional computer and network security are inadequate to address
MATE attacks. MATE is fundamentally a hard problem. Much of the extant focus to deal with MATE
attacks is purely technical; though security is more than just a technical issue. The main objective of the
paper is to mitigate the consequences of MATE attacks through the human element of security and
highlight the need for this element to form a part of a holistic security strategy alongside the necessary
techniques and technologies. This paper contributes by taking software protection (SP) research to a new
realm of challenges. Moreover, the paper elaborates the concept of MATE attacks, the different forms,
and the analysis of MATE versus insider threats to present a thematic taxonomy of a MATE attack. The
ensuing paper also highlights the fundamental concept of digital assets, and the core protection
mechanisms and their qualitative comparison against MATE attacks. Finally, we present state-of-the-art
trends and cutting-edge future research directions by taking into account only the human aspects for
young researchers and professionals
engineering process model that is significantly used to enhance
the software team productivity within a development
organization. However, the asynchronize communication among
the developers of a software team shows diverse effects over the
team effort and productivity factors as main goals of the RUP.
Although, the roles, workflow and artifacts are well documented
but there is a need to fill the gap that arises due to the
asynchronize communication among the developers. In Agile
development, pair programming is considered the best practice
for developers to work in pairs and synchronize the
communication. The authors have proposed a novel framework
to experience the pair programming concept among the role’s
communication in three main areas of the RUP such as activities
of workflow, phase integration, and process and control
management. We also advocate a way forward to experience the
pair programming as a practice of the RUP model. We applied
the framework on a team of six final year students, who
developed a Management Information System (MIS) comprises
on four modules (Library, Finance, Payroll and Examdepartment).
Subsequently, we compare the efforts and
productivity of the team with another team that also comprises
six students but with-out using the proposed framework. The
efforts and productivity of a software team have been observed
after implementation of the proposed framework. The result
shows little variation in effort and productivity of both the teams,
however; it may be prolific when applied to large-scale
development processes.
the technology of choice to realize Service-Oriented Computing
(SOC), a significant computing paradigm. The accomplishment
of customer’s satisfaction and trust is thought-provoking for web
service providers. Subsequently, the attainment of non-functional
requirements (aka QoS measures) is still a critical research
challenge in realizing the Web Service Composition (WSC). The
reason behind this research is to design a formal procedure for a
service broker to present the worst scenario for users nonfunctional
besides functional requirements. We formally address
the workflow-based abstract level description of web services
coordination through a formal framework of a service broker by
composing the functional and non-functional requirements. The
-
calculus. However, the semantic analysis of the framework is
carried out by considering a case study of the Travel Agent (TA)
system. Finally, we present the end-result analysis of QoS
measures such as the probability of success, price and average
service time by implementing the formal framework.
managed next-generationnetworks.AllthehypesurroundingtheSDNsispredominantlybecauseofits
centralized managementfunctionality,theseparationofthecontrolplanefromthedataforwarding
plane, andenablinginnovationthroughnetworkprogrammability.Despitethepromisingarchitectureof
SDNs, securitywasnotconsideredaspartoftheinitialdesign.Moreover,securityconcernsarepoten-
tially augmentedconsideringthelogicalcentralizationofnetworkintelligence.Furthermore,thesecurity
and dependabilityoftheSDNhaslargelybeenaneglectedtopicandremainsanopenissue.Thepaper
presents abroadoverviewofthesecurityimplicationsofeachSDNlayer/interface.Thispapercontributes
further bydevisingacontemporarylayered/interfacetaxonomyofthereportedsecurityvulnerabilities,
attacks, andchallengesofSDN.Wealsohighlightandanalyzethepossiblethreatsoneachlayer/interface
of SDNtohelpdesignsecureSDNs.Moreover,theensuingpapercontributesbypresentingthestate-of-
the-art SDNssecuritysolutions.Thecategorizationofsolutionsisfollowedbyacriticalanalysisand
discussion todeviseacomprehensivethematictaxonomy.Weadvocatetheproductionofsecureand
dependable SDNsbypresentingpotentialrequirementsandkeyenablers.Finally,inanefforttoantici-
pate secureanddependableSDNs,wepresenttheongoingopensecurityissues,challengesandfutureresearchdirections.
simplify network management and enable
innovation through network programmability.
Despite all the hype surrounding SDNs, exploiting
its full potential is demanding. Security is
still the key concern and is an equally striking
challenge that reduces the growth of SDNs.
Moreover, the deployment of novel entities and
the introduction of several architectural components
of SDNs pose new security threats and vulnerabilities.
Besides, the landscape of digital
threats and cyber-attacks is evolving tremendously,
considering SDNs as a potential target to
have even more devastating effects than using
simple networks. Security is not considered as
part of the initial SDN design; therefore, it must
be raised on the agenda. This article discusses
the state-of-the-art security solutions proposed
to secure SDNs. We classify the security solutions
in the literature by presenting a thematic
taxonomy based on SDN layers/interfaces, security
measures, simulation environments, and
security objectives. Moreover, the article points
out the possible attacks and threat vectors targeting
different layers/interfaces of SDNs. The
potential requirements and their key enablers
for securing SDNs are also identified and presented.
Also, the article gives great guidance for
secure and dependable SDNs. Finally, we discuss
open issues and challenges of SDN security that
may be deemed appropriate to be tackled by
researchers and professionals in the future.
predominantly for three reasons: firstly, the attacker is human and, therefore, utilizes motivation,
creativity, and ingenuity. Secondly, the attacker has limitless and authorized access to the target. Thirdly,
all major protections stand up to a determined attacker till a certain period of time. Digital assets range
from business to personal use, from consumer devices to home networks, the public Internet, the cloud,
and the Internet of Things – where traditional computer and network security are inadequate to address
MATE attacks. MATE is fundamentally a hard problem. Much of the extant focus to deal with MATE
attacks is purely technical; though security is more than just a technical issue. The main objective of the
paper is to mitigate the consequences of MATE attacks through the human element of security and
highlight the need for this element to form a part of a holistic security strategy alongside the necessary
techniques and technologies. This paper contributes by taking software protection (SP) research to a new
realm of challenges. Moreover, the paper elaborates the concept of MATE attacks, the different forms,
and the analysis of MATE versus insider threats to present a thematic taxonomy of a MATE attack. The
ensuing paper also highlights the fundamental concept of digital assets, and the core protection
mechanisms and their qualitative comparison against MATE attacks. Finally, we present state-of-the-art
trends and cutting-edge future research directions by taking into account only the human aspects for
young researchers and professionals
engineering process model that is significantly used to enhance
the software team productivity within a development
organization. However, the asynchronize communication among
the developers of a software team shows diverse effects over the
team effort and productivity factors as main goals of the RUP.
Although, the roles, workflow and artifacts are well documented
but there is a need to fill the gap that arises due to the
asynchronize communication among the developers. In Agile
development, pair programming is considered the best practice
for developers to work in pairs and synchronize the
communication. The authors have proposed a novel framework
to experience the pair programming concept among the role’s
communication in three main areas of the RUP such as activities
of workflow, phase integration, and process and control
management. We also advocate a way forward to experience the
pair programming as a practice of the RUP model. We applied
the framework on a team of six final year students, who
developed a Management Information System (MIS) comprises
on four modules (Library, Finance, Payroll and Examdepartment).
Subsequently, we compare the efforts and
productivity of the team with another team that also comprises
six students but with-out using the proposed framework. The
efforts and productivity of a software team have been observed
after implementation of the proposed framework. The result
shows little variation in effort and productivity of both the teams,
however; it may be prolific when applied to large-scale
development processes.
the technology of choice to realize Service-Oriented Computing
(SOC), a significant computing paradigm. The accomplishment
of customer’s satisfaction and trust is thought-provoking for web
service providers. Subsequently, the attainment of non-functional
requirements (aka QoS measures) is still a critical research
challenge in realizing the Web Service Composition (WSC). The
reason behind this research is to design a formal procedure for a
service broker to present the worst scenario for users nonfunctional
besides functional requirements. We formally address
the workflow-based abstract level description of web services
coordination through a formal framework of a service broker by
composing the functional and non-functional requirements. The
-
calculus. However, the semantic analysis of the framework is
carried out by considering a case study of the Travel Agent (TA)
system. Finally, we present the end-result analysis of QoS
measures such as the probability of success, price and average
service time by implementing the formal framework.
managed next-generationnetworks.AllthehypesurroundingtheSDNsispredominantlybecauseofits
centralized managementfunctionality,theseparationofthecontrolplanefromthedataforwarding
plane, andenablinginnovationthroughnetworkprogrammability.Despitethepromisingarchitectureof
SDNs, securitywasnotconsideredaspartoftheinitialdesign.Moreover,securityconcernsarepoten-
tially augmentedconsideringthelogicalcentralizationofnetworkintelligence.Furthermore,thesecurity
and dependabilityoftheSDNhaslargelybeenaneglectedtopicandremainsanopenissue.Thepaper
presents abroadoverviewofthesecurityimplicationsofeachSDNlayer/interface.Thispapercontributes
further bydevisingacontemporarylayered/interfacetaxonomyofthereportedsecurityvulnerabilities,
attacks, andchallengesofSDN.Wealsohighlightandanalyzethepossiblethreatsoneachlayer/interface
of SDNtohelpdesignsecureSDNs.Moreover,theensuingpapercontributesbypresentingthestate-of-
the-art SDNssecuritysolutions.Thecategorizationofsolutionsisfollowedbyacriticalanalysisand
discussion todeviseacomprehensivethematictaxonomy.Weadvocatetheproductionofsecureand
dependable SDNsbypresentingpotentialrequirementsandkeyenablers.Finally,inanefforttoantici-
pate secureanddependableSDNs,wepresenttheongoingopensecurityissues,challengesandfutureresearchdirections.