{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7131623481","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2026.3668537","title":"Moving Target Defense in Software-Defined Networks: A Systematic Review","display_name":"Moving Target Defense in Software-Defined Networks: A Systematic Review","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-01-01","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7131623481","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2026.3668537"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1109/access.2026.3668537","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2026.3668537","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S2485537415","display_name":"IEEE Access","issn_l":"2169-3536","issn":["2169-3536"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319808","host_organization_name":"Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Access","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref","doaj"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"gold","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2026.3668537","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5126919427","display_name":"Larissa Souto","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I12315562","display_name":"Texas Tech University","ror":"https://ror.org/0405mnx93","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I12315562"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Larissa Souto","raw_affiliation_strings":["Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0011-5559","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I12315562"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5114621275","display_name":"Pedro Eisenkraemer","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I12315562","display_name":"Texas Tech University","ror":"https://ror.org/0405mnx93","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I12315562"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Pedro Eisenkraemer","raw_affiliation_strings":["Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1993-9292","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I12315562"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5126947287","display_name":"Rajendra Shrestha","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I12315562","display_name":"Texas Tech University","ror":"https://ror.org/0405mnx93","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I12315562"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Rajendra Shrestha","raw_affiliation_strings":["Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7642-1336","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I12315562"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5126728417","display_name":"Manohar Chamana","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I12315562","display_name":"Texas Tech University","ror":"https://ror.org/0405mnx93","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I12315562"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Manohar Chamana","raw_affiliation_strings":["National Wind Institute, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5368-910X","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"National Wind Institute, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I12315562"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5057476144","display_name":"Olatunji Adeyanju","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1017-1060"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I12315562","display_name":"Texas Tech University","ror":"https://ror.org/0405mnx93","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I12315562"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Olatunji Adeyanju","raw_affiliation_strings":["National Wind Institute, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1017-1060","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"National Wind Institute, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I12315562"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5126870458","display_name":"Stephen Bayne","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I12315562","display_name":"Texas Tech University","ror":"https://ror.org/0405mnx93","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I12315562"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Stephen Bayne","raw_affiliation_strings":["Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7789-1820","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I12315562"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":6,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5126919427"],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I12315562"],"apc_list":{"value":1850,"currency":"USD","value_usd":1850},"apc_paid":{"value":1850,"currency":"USD","value_usd":1850},"fwci":0.0,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.32139094,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":false},"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":"14","issue":null,"first_page":"32252","last_page":"32272"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10714","display_name":"Software-Defined Networks and 5G","score":0.882099986076355,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1705","display_name":"Computer Networks and Communications"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10714","display_name":"Software-Defined Networks and 5G","score":0.882099986076355,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1705","display_name":"Computer Networks and Communications"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10734","display_name":"Information and Cyber Security","score":0.011900000274181366,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10430","display_name":"Software Engineering Techniques and Practices","score":0.008799999952316284,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/scope","display_name":"Scope (computer science)","score":0.6608999967575073},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/software-deployment","display_name":"Software deployment","score":0.6266999840736389},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/resilience","display_name":"Resilience (materials science)","score":0.5221999883651733},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/systematic-review","display_name":"Systematic review","score":0.47189998626708984},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/malware","display_name":"Malware","score":0.45500001311302185},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/resource","display_name":"Resource (disambiguation)","score":0.4117000102996826},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/command-and-control","display_name":"Command and control","score":0.36660000681877136},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/flooding","display_name":"Flooding (psychology)","score":0.3596999943256378}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.7813000082969666},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2778012447","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1034415","display_name":"Scope (computer science)","level":2,"score":0.6608999967575073},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C105339364","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2297740","display_name":"Software deployment","level":2,"score":0.6266999840736389},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779585090","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3457762","display_name":"Resilience (materials science)","level":2,"score":0.5221999883651733},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C38652104","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3510521","display_name":"Computer security","level":1,"score":0.4763000011444092},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C189708586","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1504425","display_name":"Systematic review","level":3,"score":0.47189998626708984},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C541664917","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14001","display_name":"Malware","level":2,"score":0.45500001311302185},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C206345919","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20380951","display_name":"Resource (disambiguation)","level":2,"score":0.4117000102996826},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C506615639","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21662260","display_name":"Command and control","level":2,"score":0.36660000681877136},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C112930515","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4389547","display_name":"Risk analysis (engineering)","level":1,"score":0.3610999882221222},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C186594467","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1429176","display_name":"Flooding (psychology)","level":2,"score":0.3596999943256378},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C195094911","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14167904","display_name":"Process management","level":1,"score":0.3582000136375427},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C58642233","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8269924","display_name":"Taxonomy (biology)","level":2,"score":0.3431999981403351},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2522767166","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2374463","display_name":"Data science","level":1,"score":0.3416000008583069},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C77270119","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1655198","display_name":"Software-defined networking","level":2,"score":0.326200008392334},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2775924081","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q55608371","display_name":"Control (management)","level":2,"score":0.2971999943256378},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780609101","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17156588","display_name":"Resource management (computing)","level":2,"score":0.29120001196861267},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C182590292","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q989632","display_name":"Network security","level":2,"score":0.28949999809265137},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777904410","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7397","display_name":"Software","level":2,"score":0.27489998936653137},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C18762648","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q42213","display_name":"Work (physics)","level":2,"score":0.27000001072883606},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C20136886","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q749647","display_name":"Interoperability","level":2,"score":0.26600000262260437},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C26517878","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q228039","display_name":"Key (lock)","level":2,"score":0.26159998774528503},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C192697461","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4045918","display_name":"OpenFlow","level":3,"score":0.2599000036716461},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2778464652","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q309849","display_name":"Open research","level":2,"score":0.2587999999523163},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C152124472","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1204361","display_name":"Redundancy (engineering)","level":2,"score":0.25690001249313354}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":2,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1109/access.2026.3668537","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2026.3668537","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S2485537415","display_name":"IEEE Access","issn_l":"2169-3536","issn":["2169-3536"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319808","host_organization_name":"Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Access","raw_type":"journal-article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:doaj.org/article:a823ef1cb3e04bc7ba48fb99798272bc","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doaj.org/article/a823ef1cb3e04bc7ba48fb99798272bc","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306401280","display_name":"DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":null,"host_organization_name":null,"host_organization_lineage":[],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by-sa","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-sa","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Access, Vol 14, Pp 32252-32272 (2026)","raw_type":"article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.1109/access.2026.3668537","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2026.3668537","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S2485537415","display_name":"IEEE Access","issn_l":"2169-3536","issn":["2169-3536"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319808","host_organization_name":"Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Access","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/G2668942826","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"DE-CR0000038","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320306084","funder_display_name":"U.S. Department of Energy"}],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320306084","display_name":"U.S. Department of Energy","ror":"https://ror.org/01bj3aw27"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320334194","display_name":"Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response","ror":null}],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":0,"referenced_works":[],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Software-Defined":[0],"Networking":[1],"(SDN)":[2],"offers":[3],"centralized":[4],"control":[5],"and":[6,10,33,87,100,108,126,154,169,178],"programmability,":[7],"enabling":[8],"flexible":[9],"adaptive":[11],"defense":[12],"mechanisms.":[13],"Among":[14],"these,":[15],"Moving":[16],"Target":[17],"Defense":[18],"(MTD)":[19],"has":[20],"gained":[21],"attention":[22],"for":[23,71],"enhancing":[24],"network":[25],"resilience":[26],"through":[27],"dynamic":[28],"reconfiguration.":[29],"However,":[30],"the":[31],"scope":[32],"efficacy":[34],"of":[35,52,95,120,144,164,181],"MTD":[36,53,81,165,182],"techniques":[37],"in":[38,55,167,184],"SDN":[39,56,83,168,186],"remain":[40,111],"fragmented":[41],"across":[42],"studies.":[43],"This":[44],"paper":[45],"presents":[46],"a":[47,161],"systematic":[48],"literature":[49],"review":[50],"(SLR)":[51],"research":[54,166],"from":[57],"2015":[58],"to":[59,79],"2025,":[60],"following":[61],"PRISMA":[62],"guidelines.":[63],"From":[64],"302":[65],"records,":[66],"97":[67],"studies":[68,96,121],"were":[69],"included":[70],"qualitative":[72],"synthesis.":[73],"A":[74],"structured":[75],"taxonomy":[76],"is":[77],"developed":[78],"classify":[80],"strategies,":[82],"controllers,":[84],"evaluation":[85],"environments,":[86],"attack":[88],"scenarios.":[89],"Results":[90],"show":[91],"that":[92],"over":[93],"60%":[94],"target":[97],"DoS/DDoS":[98],"flooding":[99],"reconnaissance":[101],"attacks,":[102],"while":[103],"stealthy":[104],"link-flooding,":[105],"malware":[106],"propagation,":[107],"multi-stage":[109],"threats":[110],"under-explored.":[112],"Performance\u2013security":[113],"trade-offs":[114],"are":[115],"inconsistently":[116],"assessed:":[117],"only":[118],"27%":[119],"evaluate":[122],"latency,":[123],"15%":[124],"throughput,":[125],"fewer":[127],"than":[128],"8%":[129],"consider":[130],"resource":[131],"overhead.":[132],"Most":[133],"experiments":[134],"rely":[135],"on":[136],"simulation":[137],"or":[138,147],"Mininet":[139],"emulation,":[140],"with":[141],"minimal":[142],"adoption":[143],"realistic":[145],"testbeds":[146],"standard":[148],"benchmarks.":[149],"By":[150],"consolidating":[151],"existing":[152],"work":[153],"identifying":[155],"methodological":[156],"gaps,":[157],"this":[158],"SLR":[159],"provides":[160],"comprehensive":[162],"mapping":[163],"highlights":[170],"future":[171],"directions":[172],"toward":[173],"hybrid":[174],"orchestration,":[175],"CPS":[176],"integration,":[177],"practical":[179],"deployment":[180],"mechanisms":[183],"real-world":[185],"environments.":[187]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-05-06T08:25:59.206177","created_date":"2026-02-27T00:00:00"}