ZSM Security: Threat Surface and Best Practices

While worms and their propagation have been a major security threat over the past years, causing major financial losses and down times for many enterprises connected to the Internet, we will argue in this paper that valuable lessons can be learned from them and that network management, which is the activity supposed to prevent them, can actually benefit from their use. We focus on five lessons learned from current malware that can benefit to the network management community. For each topic, we analyse how it is been addressed in standard management frameworks, we identify their limits and describe how current malware already provides efficient solutions to these limits. We illustrate our claim through a case study on a realistic application of worm based network management, which is currently developed in our group.

Closed loops are key enablers for automation that have been successfully used in many industries for long, and more recently for computing and networking applications. The Zero-touch network and service management (ZSM) framework introduced standardized components that allow the creation, execution, and governance of multiple closed loops, enabling zero-touch management of end-to-end services across different management domains. However, the coordinated and optimal instantiation and operation of multiple closed loops is an open question that is left for implementation by the ZSM specifications. In this paper, we propose a methodology that uses intents as a way of communicating requirements to be considered by autonomous management domains to coordinate hierarchies of closed loops. The intent-driven methodology facilitates hierarchical and peer interactions for delegation and escalation of intents. Furthermore, it extends the existing management capabilities of the ZSM framework and facilitates conflict-free integration of closed loops by setting optimal (and non-conflicting) goals that each closed loop in the hierarchy needs to account for. We show an example of the application of the proposed methodology in a network slicing assurance use case. The new capabilities introduced in this paper can be considered as an extension of the ZSM framework to be used in scenarios where multiple intent-driven closed loops exist.

In this work, we investigate an online service management problem in vehicular edge computing networks. To satisfy the varying service demands of mobile vehicles, a service management framework is required to make decisions on the service lifecycle to maintain good network performance. We describe the service lifecycle consists of creating an instance of a given service (scale-out), moving an instance to a different edge node (migration), and/or termination of an underutilized instance (scale-in). In this paper, we propose an efficient online algorithm to perform service management in each time slot, where performance quality in the current time slot, the service demand in future time slots, and the minimal observed delay by vehicles and the minimal migration delay are considered while making the decisions on service lifecycle. Here, the future service demand is computed from a gated recurrent unit (GRU)based prediction model, and the network performance quality is estimated using a deep reinforcement learning (DRL) model which has the ability to interact with the vehicular environment in real-time. The choice of optimal edge location to deploy a service instance at different times is based on our proposed optimization formulations. Simulation experiments using real-world vehicle trajectories are carried out to evaluate the performance of our proposed demand-prediction based online service management (DOSM) framework against different state-of-the-art solutions using several performance metrics.

The deregulation of the global telecommunication industry has seen a change in the business and operational environment in which services are deployed and managed. The requirements have intensified to provide a management framework for telecommunication networks and services across multiple technology domains and using multiple management technologies. This paper describes an integrated TMN service management architecture that provides an environment for different service management functions and different management domains to be integrated. To further substantiate this architecture, a system was built to demonstrate the integration concepts. The research and development work reported in this paper focuses on the following two aspects of integration: first the integration between TMN network and service management functions; and next the integration between different service management functions. A proof of concept system was developed to demonstrate such integration. It consists of the following components: Generic service ordering and provisioning; connection management based on a generic network model concept; and service management based upon service level agreement management and customer service management concepts. This paper reports this work and the experiences gained from this research.

As cooperative information systems (CIS) grow to cover large-scaled CIS that involves many cooperative sub-systems distributed geographically, management technologies that support them gain in importance. This paper focuses on the underlying technologies that are key to the success of cooperative information system, i.e., service management and network management, which are in the form of middleware, to assure inter-domain cooperation within a big CIS in a flexible, automated and secure way. This flexibility and automation is guaranteed by the use of Policy-based Network Management integrated with Mobile Agent Technology. Extending the mobile agent supporting environment, Grasshopper, to support more secure facilities, largely enhances the security. As a case study, IP Virtual Private Network tunnel between two geographically separated domains within a large-scaled CIS is set up and configured automatically and securely using the service and network management middleware, which shows that service and network management enhanced CIS can operate with more flexibility, automation, security and in a larger information system.KeywordsMobile AgentNetwork ManagementInternet Engineer Task ForcePolicy Decision PointSecure Socket LayerThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

A typical management application in today's enterprise network involves remote cooperation of a number of skilled people within and across organisations. Hence there is a need to consider the role of human resources and their interactions in a network operation and management process. However, most of the present day management solutions concentrate on the management of network equipment/devices. In view of the critical nature of many networked applications, it is important to provide effective and reliable management from the perspective of an enterprise. This paper reports our study of human cooperation in a network management environment in a large telecom organisation. This resulted in our proposed cooperative management framework for enterprise networks, which is presented.

There are many driving forces which have compelled telecommunication operators and vendors to seek new solutions in telecommunications management. Increased competition has led to an increased focus on how traditional operators can do their business better through the use of integrated service and network management systems. Moreover, there is a need to integrate legacy applications and new applications, all of which could be written in different languages, perhaps running on different platforms, and almost certainly distributed over a network. CORBA has been recognised as a key technology solution. Based on the case studies performed for the ACTS project PROSPECT, this paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of TMN (Telecommunications Management Network) and CORBA regarding network and service management, and proposes a phased approach for TMN-CORBA co-existence in the telecommunications management arena based on the Management Systems Framework of the Network Management Forum. Moreover, it presents some initial ideas concerning required basic management functionality that serve as a background for the CORBA/TMN gateway functionality to be implemented within the PROSPECT trial network.

This document presents a new approach to Internet network management without changing the basic rules of the interface and encapsulation mechanisms of standard management transport protocols. The Internet network services management framework (INSMF) tries to overcome the most important limitations of the Internet network management framework (INMF) by adding a new extension-model to it, using a network service management distributed architecture that provides services management functions with any desired level of functionality. The specification of a generic domain name service (DNS) management service is presented, as a way to illustrate the capabilities and potential of the proposed framework.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly become a critical technology for businesses seeking to improve efficiency and profitability. One area where AI is proving particularly impactful is in service operations management, where it is used to create AI-powered service operations (AIServiceOps) that deliver highvalue services to customers. AIServiceOps involve the use of AI to automate and optimize various business processes, such as customer service, sales, marketing, and supply chain management. The rapid development of Artificial Intelligence has prompted many changes in the field of Information Technology (IT) Service Operations. IT Service Operations are driven by AI, i.e., AIServiceOps. AI has empowered new vitality and addressed many challenges in IT Service Operations. However, there is a literature gap on the Business Value Impact of Artificial intelligence (AI) Powered IT Service Operations. It can help IT build optimized business resilience by creating value in complex and ever-changing environments as product organizations move faster than IT can handle. So, this research paper examines how AIServiceOps creates business value and sustainability, basically how AIServiceOps makes the IT staff liberation from a low-level, repetitive workout and traditional IT practices for a continuously optimized process. One of the research objectives is to compare Traditional IT Service Operations with AIServiceOPs. This paper provides the basis for how enterprises can evaluate AIServiceOps and consider it a digital transformation tool. The paper presents a case study of a company that implemented AI-powered service operations (AIServiceOps) and analyzes the resulting business outcomes. The study shows that AIServiceOps can significantly improve service delivery, reduce response times, and increase customer satisfaction. Furthermore, it demonstrates how AIServiceOps can deliver substantial cost savings, such as reducing labor costs and minimizing downtime.

As SDN technology is becoming popular in the field of computer networks management, the need for evolvable SDN-based network management systems arises. SDN facilitates introducing abstractions to the network through programmability and control separation. In this paper, we propose an abstraction in the SDN management layer through adopting a concept of separation of network concerns. We present a management framework, termed NWManager, that provides an abstraction to the network administrator through policies based on network management functions, like behaviour analysis and monitoring, quality of service preservation and security. And based on network concerns as follows, application, communication, resources concern and common concern representing the area of intersection between basic concerns. NWManager provides various network management functions in one system. Our conducted network simulation scenario by mininet demonstrates that this abstraction and separation of concerns in management layer facilitates and enhances the management of the network. As well, it extends the network control parameters provided to the network administrator.

The global trend of Future Internet related experimentally driven research has gained a strong momentum. In this context sustainability and the best use of developed infrastructures are highly critical. While many facilities have reached a level of maturity that allows them to be opened up to a wider use, mainly the academic sectors have been targeted. The Fanning out Testbeds-as-a-Service for the EIT ICT1 (FanTaaStic) project explores best practices, has performed a gap analysis, investigates applicable business models and works out a concept for the operation of a self-sustainable commercial testbed service offering. For defining the operational model, an analysis of available tools and frameworks from past and current Future Internet testbed projects is being carried out, based on a standard framework that defines the required processes and applications for the carrier grade operation of telecommunication infrastructures and provisioning of services. The business model is defined as a gradually growing service offering, based on categories of a framework for IT Service Management in federated e-infrastructures. The applicability of both, the developed business and operational model for such a sustainable federation will initially be implemented and evaluated in 2014.

A framework and associated metrics and measures that can be used to measure the performance of IT service management with an accompanying contingency theory of IT service management.

Rapid growing demand for mobile data traffic challenges capacities and service provision in the next-generation (5G) cellular networks. Real measurement data from operating cellular networks indicates that the traffic models and scenarios disobey our traditional assumptions (i.e., expressing bursty nature). As a result, current network architectures and service management may cause experience deterioration of subscribers in future networks. In this article, we propose three approaches to alleviate the influence of various traffic bursts: baseband resource pool on a cloud platform as wireless infrastructure to enhance the capacity and flexibility of networks, cloud core networks to provide dynamic extension and service flow control abilities, and software-defined bearer networks to simplify service delivery instructed by core networks. Different from conventional stovepipe-like cloud computing network architectures, our proposed architecture interconnects and shares information between entities, breaking through horizontal device barriers and vertical layers. These cloud-based approaches not only avoid the potentially negative impact of bursts, but also provide a software-controlled end-to-end service management framework for future cellular networks. In addition, by taking advantage of open interfaces of cloud-based network elements, service control algorithms and network APIs could also be implemented to realize smart and soft 5G cellular networks.

With the advance of artificial intelligence (AI), the concept of interactive AI (IAI) has been introduced, which can interactively understand and respond not only to human user input but also to dynamic system and network conditions. In this article, we explore an integration and enhancement of IAI in networking.We first comprehensively review recent developments and future perspectives of AI and then introduce the technology and components of IAI. We then explore the integration of IAI into next-generation networks, focusing on how implicit and explicit interactions can enhance network functionality, improve user experience, and promote efficient network management. Subsequently, we propose an IAI-enabled network management and optimization framework, which consists of environment, perception, action, and brain units. We also design a pluggable large language model (LLM) module and retrieval augmented generation (RAG) module to build the knowledge base and contextual memory for decision-making in the brain unit. We demonstrate through case studies that our IAI framework can effectively perform optimization problem design. Finally, we discuss potential research directions for IAI-based networks.

A network management system can be divided into the management function and management intelligence logically according to the coordination concept. We represent a cooperative network management (CNM) framework using a reactive intelligent agent. The agent includes two types of objects. The event manager agent communication object (ACO) and business object repository compose the management function. Management intelligence is embodied in an engine which analyzes the received events from the event manager and messages from the ACO, then decide to invoke the business object's method based on action rules. The CNM framework is comprised of a management console, cooperative intelligent agents and access adapters. Using this framework, the administrator can decompose the management task into several subtasks and delegate these subtasks to cooperative intelligent agents. The management framework enables the administrator to modify the intelligent agent's subtask without interrupting the system's running.