Security implications of implementing active network infrastructures using agent technology

Active networks (AN) are a rapid evolving area of research and in parallel an area of great industry interest. However, for this technology to make the step out of the labs and penetrate the market, the security problems have to be tackled e€ectively. This paper demonstrates why and how agent technology research, can and should be applied to active networks, in order to ful®ll the new security challenges this infrastructure poses. First, we identify the key elements of AN, analyze the nature of active code, specify the role of agents in active networks and present a multi-execution environment active network architecture. Then, we target the security threats for active code and execution environment, and state the basic as well as the extended security requirements. Subsequently, we try to see how we can apply the security solutions and research done for agents to the context of active networks in order to satisfy their requirements.