Software-defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization
(NFV) are envisioned to massively change network management by enabling
a more flexible management of complex networks. While the aim of SDN is
to split the control and data plane and to introduce open interfaces
between these layers, NFV abstracts network functions from dedicated
hardware to virtual machines running on commodity hardware.
Consequently, applying SDN/NFV is claimed to have a high business
advantage in terms of cost savings and additional revenue sources for
network operators, new opportunities for solution providers, and opening
new business models.

However, major performance challenges arise when realizing SDN/NFV given
the overheads imposed by software and virtualization stacks. At the same
time, e.g., the outsourcing of network control or the relocation of
network functions to cloud services create new challenges on data
privacy and network security.

This special issue of the Computer Networks Journal solicits original,
high-quality papers that present, analyze and discuss solutions to
improve the security and privacy in SDN/NFV, mechanisms to achieve high
packet processing performances in virtualized environments, as well as
performance benchmarking aspects and standards. Related topics, such as
new security mechanisms enabled by SDN/NFV (e.g. mitigation of DDoS
attacks), validation, verification and certification of network
functions, design of energy efficient NFV networks, new algorithms
controlling the function placement, as well as new services offerings
enabled by SDN/NFV (e.g. to improve the end-user experience),
techno-economic aspects (e.g. new pricing and business models), and
others are also within the scope of the special issue.


*Submission Format and Guidelines*

Submissions should be clearly organized, written in excellent English
and must describe original, complete research not published or currently
under review by other journals or conferences. Substantially enhanced
and extended versions of quality papers presented at conferences or
workshops may be submitted with the differences to the previous version
clearly described. All submissions will be peer reviewed. The guest
editors reserve the right to reject submissions that are clearly out of
scope or well below the expected quality for this special journal issue
without further review.

Authors must prepare and format their submissions according to the
"Guide for Authors" found at
http://www.elsevier.com/locate/comnet and submit them online at
http://ees.elsevier.com/comnet/ , choosing the "Security in SDN and NFV"
as article type. Submissions must be in single-column format,
single-spaced, use a font size of at least 11 points, and should not
exceed 25 pages including all figures and references.


*Important Dates*
Manuscript due: July 31, 2017 (extended)
Acceptance notification: Sept 30, 2017
Final paper revisions due: Oct 31, 2017
Publication date: Winter 2017


Guest Editors
David Hausheer (Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany)
Oliver Hohlfeld (RWTH Aachen, Germany)
Stefan Schmid (Aalborg University & TU Berlin, Denmark and Germany)
Guofei Gu (Texas A&M University, U.S.A.)