Securing the Management Plane in Intent-based Cellular Networks

Abstract: IBN is an emerging network management paradigm that allows automated closed-loop control and management of network devices and services. Closed-loop control requires security primitives to avoid intrusive human impact on network policies, posing a serious security challenge. This paper addresses this critical problem by securing the management plane in IBN systems. We propose a novel security framework based on WireGuard that augments the existing standards to secure intent communication between intent stakeholders. The framework guarantees isolation through WireGuard tunnels and provides inherent authentication and access control mechanisms to avoid intrusion in IBN systems. This work contributes to developing secure, efficient, and flexible communication channels within the IBN ecosystem, ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of network intents and operational data. Experimental results show the suitability and superiority of WireGuard compared to OpenVPN.