TopoFuzzer — A Network Topology Fuzzer for Moving Target Defense in the Telco Cloud

Telecommunication networks are shifting to multi-cloud environments. This trend is expected to shape the standardization and implementation of future networks. Thus, the protection of virtualized services has become more critical. One of the promising methods to secure virtual resources in that setting is Moving Target Defense (MTD). This paper presents the Network Topology Fuzzer (TopoFuzzer) module, enabling different MTD operations that change the topology of a 5G network. An emphasis is given to live re-instantiations and live migrations of running services and, consequently, security gains against Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs). This work utilizes a 5G testbed to evaluate the TopoFuzzer module and MTD operations on Virtual Network Functions (VNFs).

I. Introduction

In telecommunication networks, the management and orchestration of virtualized network resources is already a broad and fundamental research topic [1]. Following the Network Function Virtualization (NFV) architecture [2], telecommunication networks deploy network services (NSs) and virtual network functions (VNFs) in cloud infrastructures as a set of virtual machines (VMs) or container runtimes. This architectural paradigm is also expected to be a fundamental part of future networks like 6G.