Research on Timestamp-based Port Hopping in Software Defined Network

Abstract

Port hopping is a typical technology in moving target defense which constantly changes communication port number to confuse potential attackers and protect target hosts. In port hopping technology, time synchronization is the key problem to be solved since time synchronization can ensure communication port matching and avoid data loss in port hopping process. However, in software defined network (SDN), since its architecture differs from traditional network, port hopping technology hasn’t been fully applied in it. Based on timestamp synchronization, this paper creates a port hopping model in software defined network according to its centralized control, data plane and control plane separation as well as programmable features. In timestampbased port hopping model, we design a three-party port synchronization mode by utilizing SDN controller and solve the problems in time synchronization such as clock drift and handoff. Our theoretical analysis and experimental results show that this proposed timestamp-based port hopping method can effectively resist DoS attack without adding load on SDN controller in software defined network.