## 5 Conclusions and Future Works  
This study proposes a novel hybrid encryption scheme that combines GA-based encryption with RSA and aims to enhance the security in an SDN environment. Using cryptanalysis and empirical tests, the encryption scheme was evaluated for its efficacy. An appreciable contribution of this work lies in the demonstration of a definitive edge over state-of-the-art techniques in SDN security with the provision of a much higher level of security for encryption than classical techniques. The findings of this research utilizing the GA-based hybrid encryption for maintaining confidentiality in SDN revealed significant insights into the practicality and scalability of such systems. The insights established through the rigorous study of encryption strength and network performance matrices revealed a possible trade-off between the network performance and encryption strength. While the strength of the encryption of the proposed method was significantly better \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Mutation Rate** & **Crossover Bits** & **Decryption Accuracy (\%)** & **Total Time (s)** \\ \hline  
\hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 10: Mutation rate and crossover bits’ impact on the cryptography in terms of decryption accuracy and encryption time. and higher than standalone traditional algorithms, making it resistant to cryptanalytic attacks, the impact on network latency and jitter under unbalanced load distribution for packets undergoing encryption posed challenges for real-time applications, such as VOIP, real-time video streaming, and IOT control operations. However, the latency and jitter still remained viable for non-time-critical data transfer applications, where security is prioritized over speed. The computational overhead in the mutation and crossover processes of the GA primarily caused the latency. This computational overhead is a major concern particularly for resource-constrained environments involving IOT devices. However, there are different ways to address this issue. To enhance performance and address scalability issues along with the security needs in the large network involving IOT devices, lightweight GA optimized for low-power devices can be explored [74; 75]. Another way to enhance performance and scalability could involve the distribution of computationally intensive encryption tasks across multiple available resources and SDN controllers [76]. Furthermore, latency and jitter could be reduced to meet the needs of real-time applications through traffic-based load balancing mechanisms in a multi-controller SDN architecture [77] with adaptive encryption strategies, where traffic data classified as sensitive packets are encrypted and non-sensitive traffic data are allowed to pass without encryption. Furthermore, different from most of the existing research that utilizes GA-based encryption and measures [30; 31; 32; 33; 34; 35], this study is unique in integrating GA with RSA within the SDN environment. It considers a broader set of criteria beyond just decryption accuracy, making it a more comprehensive approach for secure transmission. Although there are other data protection methods, such as obfuscated code quality measurement (OCQM) [78], the major difference between OCQM and encryption lies in the implementation. Encryption ensures safe communication through the mathematical transformation of plaintext into ciphertext. Obfuscation methods are intended to conceal data structures so that reverse engineering is difficult. Obfuscation techniques, such as instruction reordering, dead code injection, and variable renaming, have been traditionally implemented in software protection and prevention against malware. The following limitations in this research provide areas for improvement for readers and future research:  
* Network Topology: The network topology in the study is relatively small and, therefore, was easier to manage with the static method to derive a global network view in the controller.