Internet Security Overview

Question

Assignment Description: The purpose of this assignment is to develop research and analytical skills. In this assignment, students will firstly learn how to develop knowledge based on the current state of the art emerging knowledge domains. They will critically analyse three of the current or future security issues in this area and their countermeasures.

Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of ‘‘things’’. The term ‘‘thing’’ here can constitute any smart device ranging from home appliances, telecommunication, sensor devices used in vehicles/ agricultural sector/homeland security to health monitoring devices inside of (or connected with) a human body. In fact, any device that has the ability to collect and transfer data across the network can be a part of an IoT system. With the introduction of smart cities, smart homes, smart office, and smart devices, the Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging area of incredible potential of growth. However, most of these IoT devices are at risk of being hacked and compromised. Internet of Things (IoT) still have many security issues that need to be solved (i.e, RFID tag security, cyber security, wireless security, network transmission security and privacy protection etc). In this assignment, student will work on the security issues and its countermeasures in the area of IoT.

This assignment includes two parts.

1. Literature review of Internet of Things (IoT): Your review should be supported by at least three (3) academic (journal/conference) papers chosen from the current state of the art. The paper should not be older than four years.

Your discussion should include:

Introduction to IoT

Characteristics of IoT compared to the traditional network (please include the variety of devices that are used in IoT).

Discuss three areas of applications for IoT.

2. Analyse critically, three current or future security issues in IoT and its countermeasures: In this section you will

Explain and analyse critically three security issues in IoT.

Explain the countermeasures/mitigation techniques and tools used for each of the security issues mentioned in section i.

This section must be supported by at least three (3) references (good quality conference or journal paper such as IEEE/ACM/Springer).

Answer

Literature review of Internet of Things (IoT):

Introduction of Internet of Things: Internet of Things is the term which represents a generalized concept for referring to the ability of different network devices for sensing and collecting data from all over the world along with sharing data over the Internet [1]. It is over the platform of Internet where the utilization and processing of the obtained data is conducted for different interesting purposes. The Internet of Things consists of different interaction of smart machines and establishing communication with the machines, environments, infrastructures, and objects.

Internet of Things have become the most common way of communication which has made innovative way of connecting people with each other. The essential concept of Internet of Things has been revolving around for two decades and has been attracting industries and researchers due to its highly estimated implications on the development of the regular society and lives. These concepts of Internet of Things have become very useful in the scenario of real-time service and applications [2]. The Internet of Things has become a technological revolution which has gained the status of representing the future of communications and computing. Moreover, the development of the Internet of Things is depended upon the dynamic innovation of technology in varying number of vital fields, from nanotechnology to wireless sensors.

Characteristic of Internet of Things as compared to traditional network:

In accordance to the literature review “Privacy of the Internet of Things: A Systematic Literature Review (Extended Discussion), the most discussed characteristic of Internet of Things are denoted to sensor technology and RFID [1]. There has been elaboration regarding the use of Internet of Things in automation of homes and smart cities. There has been further elaboration of the use and application of Internet of Things in the sectors of health care, automotive industry, and wearable manufacturing. It has been found through the literature study that the key concerns for the customer of such service include the security of the services. In accordance to the research paper “A review paper in “IOT” & It’s Smart Applications” by Vandana Sharma and Ravi Tiwari, there has been reference made to the application of technologies which are not feasible or possible over the traditional network [10]. The literature states that there are three kinds of technologies that can facilitate Internet of Things which basically is not possible in the case of traditional network. The first technology that is stated in the literature review is the near field communication along with Radio Frequency Identification. After the launching of RFID as a dominating technology, it was NFC which captured the market which has made gaining access to public transportation very convenient [3]. Secondly, the use of optical tags and quick response codes are facilitated by Internet of Things as it facilitates tagging at lower cost as compared to the traditional networks. Due to the innovation of Internet of Things, the cameras of phones are able to decode the QR codes by making use of techniques regarding image processing.

In regards to the practical application, the campaigns related to QWR advertisements provide less burnout. This is so as the users require having a different application for reading all the codes in the QR format. Thirdly, the characteristic of Internet of Things would include the operability at low energy and Bluetooth [4]. This characteristic of Internet of Things is considered as the latest among all and is stated to be parents in all the latest smart phones. in regards to Internet of Things , the tags that are based on low energy and Bluetooth can happen to send signal regarding their presence when the device is at a power budget.

This facilities the using of the devices for around a year on a battery that is lithium coin cell. In the research paper of “Internet of Things (IOT): A Literature Review” by Somayya Madakam , Siddharth Tripathy and R. Ramaswammy, Internet of Things has integrated the characteristic of internet protocols , Electronic Product code , Barcode, Wireless Fidelity , Actuators, Artificial Intelligence, Wireless Sensor Networks and ZigBee which are basically not presented in the traditional network [9].

Discussion of area of application of Internet of Things: Internets of Things have various applications in the lives of humans which is making many things easier, more convenient, smart and safer. There are a wide variety of applications of Internet of Things such as in homes, energy, transportation, smart environment and smart cities. The applications of Internet of Things are discussed below:

Smart cities: It has been observed that many important and major cities have been supported by the projects which are considered as smart by the frameworks. These cities include New York, Seoul, Shanghai, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Dubai and Singapore. Smart cities might be considered as the cities having smart life or life of future, and it is possible by the integration of Internet of Things in the developmental frameworks of cities. The demand of the smart cities need careful planning in all the stages, with the assistance from the citizens, governments for implementing the applications of Internet of Things in all the aspects [5]. There has been development of the cities after the integration of Internet of Things. These applications and improvements are observed in the sector of public transportation, infrastructure, minimization of traffic congestion along with maintaining the health and safety of the s public. There have been enhanced monitoring systems of weather in cities.

Smart buildings and home: The application of Internet of Things can be observed from the use of technology of Wi-Fi in the automation of home which has been feasible because of the networked feature of deployed electronics [6]. These applications have been implemented on the electronic devices such as mobile devices, televisions which are nowadays being supported by Wi-Fi. It can be observed that Wi-Fi has been becoming a very crucial part of the Internet Protocol network of the smart homes. This is also more feasible due to use of tablets, smartphones, etc.

Smart Grid and Smart Energy : The application of Internet of Things can also be observed in the aspect of smart energy along with the smart grid. A smart grid is associated with the information, development and control of having smart management of energy. A smart grid integrates the technologies of communication and information to the networks of electricity that is enabled in real time. There is establishment of a bi-0way communication between the consumers and suppliers which assist in creating a dynamic interaction on the flow of energy that will assist in delivering the electricity more sustainably and efficiently [7]. The main elements id the communication and information technologies will encompass the monitoring and sensing technologies for the flow of power. With the integration of Internet of Things , the infrastructure of digital communications is also feasible which is oriented for transmission of data across a wider grid .there has been inclusion of smart meters within the display of homes for relaying information regarding the usage of energy. With the incorporation of Internet of Things ,there has been increase eon the control, coordination and automation systems for aggregating and processing different data along with facilitating creation of highly responsive and interactive electricity.

Critical analysis

Three security issues in Internet of Things: The Internet of Things is projected to various issues by unpredictable, fragmented, and deployment of different kinds of devices such as devices that are low in power with low potentials versus more potent devices. This comprises a feasible challenge for achieving the interoperability in the Internet of Things. Moreover, the current competitive market has been counteracting various issues regarding the integration of wireless, low powered domains. The first issues that the Internet of Things is counteracting are regarding Integration. While it is important for providing the user with wide variety of choices regarding technologies, there has to be maintenance of certainty [8]. This denotes to the fact that Internet of Things needs standards for enabling horizontal platforms which are operable, communicable and programmable across all devices, in spite of the model, manufacturer, design or applications in the industry.

These security issues can occur in the following cases:

Security issues in smart homes: The service sofa smart homes are vulnerable to various cyber-attacks as majority of the providers of service ignore the security aspects at the initial stages. Leakage of informational and distributed denial of services is the possible challenges that users can face including trespassing [9]. Concern of security: Issues regarding the security in regards to the industrial, entrepreneurial, personal and consumer based platforms is high. The data stored through Internet of Things is vulnerable regarding loss of confidentiality as the data and information are transferred through internet. Data privacy and insurance concerns: Certain manufacturers of smart television happen to collect information and data that are regarding their customers for analyzing the view habits. This may lead to be a cause of privacy loss during transmission. Moreover, the insurance companies that install the Internet of Things devices in the vehicles for collecting data regarding status of driving and health are also subjected to threats of data loss.

Countermeasures/mitigation techniques and tools for every security measure: For the first kind of security issues, the Internet of Things system has to be made highly encrypted right from the time of installing at homes in order to prevent any kid of intrusion of data and privacy.

For the second kind of security issues regarding entrepreneurial, personal and consumer-based platforms, there has to be structuring high layered security protocol that has to be followed. There can be inclusion of highly protected access system which will only be passed on to the authorities and individuals who have permission for access [11].

For the third kind of security issues regarding data privacy and insurance concerns, the insurance companies and manufacturing of electronic devices need to adopt strict security systems that would be integrated with the mart technology of Data privacy and insurance concerns. This will assist in enhancing the security systems.

Conclusion

There has been an illustration of various literatures regarding Internet of Things that has assisted in gaining in-depth analysis of the subject. There has been increased and prominent focus on gaining a review of literature that has been mentioned in relevant research paper about Internet of Things. T further, the paper elaborates the description of the issues application and issues that are counteracted with the integration of Internet of Things within various systems. Moreover, the resolutions to such issues have been highlighted in the paper.

References

[1] Aleisa, Noura, and Karen Renaud. "Privacy of the Internet of Things: A Systematic Literature Review (Extended Discussion)." arXiv preprint arXiv:1611.03340. 2016.

[2] Anderson, Emma Louise, Eloisa Steen, and Vasileios Stavropoulos. "Internet use and Problematic Internet Use: A systematic review of longitudinal research trends in adolescence and emergent adulthood." International Journal of Adolescence and Youth 22.4 2017: 430-454.

[3] Al-Fuqaha, Ala, et al. "Internet of things: A survey on enabling technologies, protocols, and applications." IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials 17.4 2015: 2347-2376.

[4] Bandyopadhyay, Debasis, and Jaydip Sen. "Internet of things: Applications and challenges in technology and standardization." Wireless Personal Communications 58.1 2011: 49-69.

[5] Da Xu, Li, Wu He, and Shancang Li. "Internet of things in industries: A survey." IEEE Transactions on industrial informatics 10.4 2014: 2233-2243.

[6] Edmunds, Angela, and Anne Morris. "The problem of information overload in business organisations: a review of the literature." International journal of information management 20.1 2000: 17-28.

[7] Greengard, Samuel. The internet of things. MIT Press, 2015.

[8] Li, Shancang, and Li Da Xu. Securing the internet of things. Syngress, 2017.

[9] Madakam, Somayya, R. Ramaswamy, and Siddharth Tripathi. "Internet of Things (IoT): A literature review." Journal of Computer and Communications 3.05 2015: 164.

[10] Sharma, Vandana, and Ravi Tiwari. "A review paper on IOT & It’s Smart Applications." International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Research (IJSETR) 5.2. 2016.

[11] Sundmaeker, Harald, et al. "Vision and challenges for realising the Internet of Things." Cluster of European Research Projects on the Internet of Things, European Commision 3.3 2010: 34-36.