ENDBOX: scalable middlebox functions using client-side trusted execution
File(s)dsn18-endbox.pdf (623.68 KB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
Many organisations enhance the performance, security, and functionality of their managed networks by deploying middleboxes centrally as part of their core network. While this simplifies maintenance, it also increases cost because middlebox hardware must scale with the number of clients. A promising alternative is to outsource middlebox functions to the clients themselves, thus leveraging their CPU resources. Such an approach, however, raises security challenges for critical middlebox functions such as firewalls and intrusion detection systems. We describe EndBox, a system that securely executes middlebox functions on client machines at the network edge. Its design combines a virtual private network (VPN) with middlebox functions that are hardware-protected by a trusted execution environment (TEE), as offered by Intel's Software Guard Extensions (SGX). By maintaining VPN connection endpoints inside SGX enclaves, EndBox ensures that all client traffic, including encrypted communication, is processed by the middlebox. Despite its decentralised model, EndBox's middlebox functions remain maintainable: they are centrally controlled and can be updated efficiently. We demonstrate EndBox with two scenarios involving (i) a large company; and (ii) an Internet service provider that both need to protect their network and connected clients. We evaluate EndBox by comparing it to centralised deployments of common middlebox functions, such as load balancing, intrusion detection, firewalling, and DDoS prevention. We show that EndBox achieves up to 3.8x higher throughput and scales linearly with the number of clients.
Date Issued
2018-07-23
Date Acceptance
2018-06-01
Citation
2018 48th Annual IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks (DSN), 2018, pp.386-397
ISSN
1530-0889
Publisher
IEEE
Start Page
386
End Page
397
Journal / Book Title
2018 48th Annual IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks (DSN)
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2018 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.
Identifier
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000485508200035&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=a2bf6146997ec60c407a63945d4e92bb
Source
48th Annual IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks Workshops (DSN-W)
Subjects
Computer Science
Computer Science, Theory & Methods
Engineering
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Science & Technology
Technology
Publication Status
Published
Start Date
2018-06-25
Finish Date
2018-06-28
Coverage Spatial
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg