Open Source 5G Security Testbed for Edge Computing

Abstract

Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) is a key 5G enabler for the 5 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">th</sup> Generation of mobile wireless networks. It allows compute and storage resources to be located closer to the end user and source of data generation compared to traditional architectures. MEC offers 5G users optimized network performance to support use cases and applications that require low latency and massive control. It also helps offload backhaul traffic by way of local breakout. Although MEC provides service and application benefits, there are increased security risks. These include risks associated with storing security contexts in the edge servers, visited authentication at the edge servers, and frequent communication involving key exchange between edge servers and the central cloud. This paper highlights an open source 5G security testbed that was developed for the purpose of edge computing security research. It describes experimental details from the open source testbed to validate basic functionality through a proof-of-concept video streaming application. It provides comparative simulation results from the testbed highlighting the ability to control latency, latency distribution, packet loss, packet corruption and quality of service for an edge or central cloud server interface. Background research and current work on the security issues associated with edge computing and relevant mitigation techniques are discussed. The use case for this security research effort focuses on a multiagency active school shooter scenario and how 5G MEC must be secure to be a viable ultra-low latency solution for public safety and first responders.