Securing the mobile edge through named data networking

The continuous growth in the number and capabilities of connected Internet of Things (IoT) and consumer devices, coupled with the increasing diversification of services running over the Internet, calls for the adoption of cutting-edge technologies to exchange, store, and process the big amount of generated data. Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) and Information-centric Networking (ICN) are candidate enabling technologies to cope with the raised issues in terms of scalability, low-latency, availability, reliability, and security. This paper proposes a protocol for secure and privacy-friendly service provisioning at the mobile edge, which also provides a fast way to build trust between consumers (mobile/IoT devices) and providers (middle tier servers and other mobile devices). The solution builds upon ICN pillars, in particular upon the Named Data Networking (NDN) paradigm. The security properties of the designed protocol are discussed and its behavior practically shown in a reference use case.