Experimental Demonstration of DDoS Mitigation over a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) Network Using Software Defined Networking (SDN)

Hugues-Salas, E.; Ntavou, Foteini; Ou, Yanni; Kennard, Jake; White, Catherine; Gkounis, Dimitris; Nikolovgenis, Konstantinos; Kanellos, George T.; Erven, Chris; Lord, Andrew; Nejabati, Reza; Simeonidou, Dimitra

doi:10.1364/ofc.2018.m2a.6

Cited by 18 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…In addition, to the best of the authors' knowledge, attacks over quantum channels have not been investigated in SDM (MCF) and in this work, the experimental demonstration has been used to verify the impact and to probe the mitigation technique using SDN and real-time monitoring. This work details the concept of a SDN-based network control application suitable for mitigating a channel attack in a QKD network and extends the results of [22] with further investigations of the impact of the optical fiber length in SSMF, the effect of wavelength-tuning the attacker and the result of crosstalk in MCFs and intercore MCF switching after adjacent-core attack. Characterization of the MCF is shown as well as fundamental descriptions of the encryption operation with respect to key material.…”

Section: Monitoring and Physical Layer Attack Mitigation In Sdn-contrmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…path computation algorithm) for optimum QKD performance. In particular, in [22] it has been demonstrated that the combination of QKD and SDN can provide continuous realtime monitoring of quantum parameters, such as quantum bit error rate (QBER) and secret key rate (SKR), and flexible configuration of optical paths to ensure the uninterrupted distribution of quantum keys in a network prone to physical-layer attacks or with randomly appearing physical impairments.…”

Section: Monitoring and Physical Layer Attack Mitigation In Sdn-contrmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, while DOS attacks can occur bi-directionally in QKD systems, in the present communication the attacks are undertaken in the direction to the QKD Alice unit. Detailed characterization of the attacks over the QKD Bob unit were undertaken in [22] and comparison of the simpler SMF case reveals negligible differences in the DOS behavior. In both types of attackers, a tunable distributed feedback (DFB) laser source is used and its spectrum is limited by a bandpass filtering and attenuation function in a wavelength-selective switch (Finisar WaveShaper® 16000A).…”

Section: Physical-layer Attackersmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Monitoring and Physical-Layer Attack Mitigation in SDN-Controlled Quantum Key Distribution Networks

Hugues-Salas

Ntavou

Gkounis

et al. 2019

J. Opt. Commun. Netw.

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Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) has been identified as a secure method for providing symmetric keys between two parties based on the fundamental laws of quantum physics, making impossible for a third party to copy the quantum states exchanged without being detected by the sender (Alice) and receiver (BoB) and without altering the original states. However, when QKD is applied in a deployed optical network, physical layer intrusions may occur in the optical links by injecting harmful signals directly into the optical fibre. This can have a detrimental effect on the key distribution and eventually lead to its disruption. On the other hand, network architectures with software defined networking (SDN) benefit from a homogeneous and unified control plane that can seamlessly control a QKD enabled optical network end-to-end. There is no need for a separate QKD control, a separate control for each segment of an optical network and an orchestrator to coordinate between these parts. Furthermore, SDN allows customised and application tailored control and algorithm provisioning, such as QKD aware optical path computation, to be deployed in the network, independent of the underlying infrastructure. Therefore, in this manuscript, we investigate the integration of the application, SDN and QKD infrastructure layers and confirm capability for flexible supervision and uninterrupted key service provisioning in the event of link level attacks. An experimental demonstrator is used, for the first time, to verify the architecture proposed, considering realtime monitoring of quantum parameters and fiberoptic link intruders to emulate real-world conditions. Furthermore, attacks on a standard single-mode fiber (via a 3dB coupler) and a multicore fiber (via an adjacent core) are undertaken to explore different connectivity between QKD units. Results show an additional attacker identification and switching time of less than 60ms for the link cases investigated, being negligible compared to the total (re)initialization time of 14 minutes of the QKD units.

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Section: Monitoring and Physical Layer Attack Mitigation In Sdn-contrmentioning

confidence: 70%

Section: Monitoring and Physical Layer Attack Mitigation In Sdn-contrmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Physical-layer Attackersmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Monitoring and Physical-Layer Attack Mitigation in SDN-Controlled Quantum Key Distribution Networks

Hugues-Salas

Ntavou

Gkounis

et al. 2019

J. Opt. Commun. Netw.

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“…A simple and traditional one is to switch back to classical key distribution, which however loses unconditional security. Most research groups [21]- [24] focus on reselecting different quantum channels for two distant partners during DoS attacks. For instance, Hugues-Salas et al [21] experimentally demonstrate the effectiveness of simply selecting an alternative path for a QKD-enabled optical network under DoS attacks.…”

Section: Transactions On Ieeementioning

confidence: 99%

Programmable Quantum Networked Microgrids

Tang

Zhang

Krawec

et al. 2020

IEEE Trans. Quantum Eng.

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Quantum key distribution (QKD) provides a potent solution to securely distribute keys for two parties. However, QKD itself is vulnerable to denial of service (DoS) attacks. A flexible and resilient QKD-enabled networked microgrids (NMs) architecture is needed but does not yet exist. In this article, we present a programmable quantum NMs (PQNMs) architecture. It is a novel framework that integrates both QKD and software-defined networking (SDN) techniques capable of enabling scalable, programmable, quantum-engineered, and ultra-resilient NMs. Equipped with a software-defined adaptive post-processing approach, a two-level key pool sharing strategy and an SDN-enabled event-triggered communication scheme, these PQNMs mitigate the impact of DoS attacks through programmable post-processing and secure key sharing among QKD links, a capability unattainable using existing technologies. Through comprehensive evaluations, we validate the benefits of PQNMs and demonstrate the efficacy of the presented strategies under various circumstances. Extensive results provide insightful resources for building QKD-enabled NMs in practice.INDEX TERMS Networked microgrids, quantum key distribution, software-defined networking.

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“…In 2018, to effectively alleviate the problem of in-band noise in the QKD network, Ou et al used machine learning-based approach to estimate physical performances of quantum channel for the successful key generation and transmission [23]. In the same year, Hugues-Salas et al demonstrated that QKD resources can be successfully allocated through SDN control under DDoS attacks [24]. The results indicate that the application of SDN technology is conducive to alleviate the impact of DDoS attack on QKD networks.…”

Section: Experimental Verification Of the Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum-Key-Distribution (QKD) Networks Enabled by Software-Defined Networks (SDN)

2019

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As an important support for quantum communication, quantum key distribution (QKD) networks have achieved a relatively mature level of development, and they face higher requirements for multi-user end-to-end networking capabilities. Thus, QKD networks need an effective management plane to control and coordinate with the QKD resources. As a promising technology, software defined networking (SDN) can separate the control and management of QKD networks from the actual forwarding of the quantum keys. This paper systematically introduces QKD networks enabled by SDN, by elaborating on its overall architecture, related interfaces, and protocols. Then, three-use cases are provided as important paradigms with their corresponding schemes and simulation performances.

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Experimental Demonstration of DDoS Mitigation over a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) Network Using Software Defined Networking (SDN)

Abstract: We experimentally demonstrate, for the first time, DDoS mitigation of QKD-based networks utilizing a software defined network application. Successful quantum-secured link allocation is achieved after a DDoS attack based on real-time monitoring of quantum parameters.

Cited by 18 publications

References 7 publications

Monitoring and Physical-Layer Attack Mitigation in SDN-Controlled Quantum Key Distribution Networks

Monitoring and Physical-Layer Attack Mitigation in SDN-Controlled Quantum Key Distribution Networks

Programmable Quantum Networked Microgrids

Quantum-Key-Distribution (QKD) Networks Enabled by Software-Defined Networks (SDN)

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