Vulnerabilities of signaling system number 7 (SS7) to cyber attacks and how to mitigate against these vulnerabilities.

As the mobile network subscriber base exponentially increases due to some attractive offerings such as anytime anywhere accessibility, seamless roaming, inexpensive handsets with sophisticated applications, and Internet connectivity, the mobile telecommunications network has now become the primary source of communication for not only business and pleasure, but also for the many life and mission critical services. This mass popularisation of telecommunications services has resulted in a heavily loaded Signaling System number 7 (SS7) signaling network which is used in Second and Third Generations (2G and 3G) mobile networks and is needed for call control and services such as caller identity, roaming, and for sending short message servirces. SS7 signaling has enjoyed remarkable popularity for providing acceptable voice quality with negligible connection delays, pos- sibly due to its circuit-switched heritage. However, the traditional SS7 networks are expensive to lease and to expand, hence to cater for the growing signaling demand and to provide the seamless interconnectivity between the SS7 and IP networks a new suite of protocols known as Signaling Transport (SIGTRAN) has been designed to carry SS7 signaling messages over IP. Due to the intersignaling between the circuit-switched and the packet-switched networks, the mo- bile networks have now left the “walled garden”, which is a privileged, closed and isolated ecosystem under the full control of mobile carriers, using proprietary protocols and has minimal security risks due to restricted user access. Potentially, intersignaling can be exploited from the IP side to disrupt the services provided on the circuit-switched side. This study demonstrates the vulnerabilities of SS7 messages to cyber-attacks while being trans- ported over IP networks and proposes some solutions based on securing both the IP transport and SCTP layers of the SIGTRAN protocol stack

An Integrated Framework for Sensing Radio Frequency Spectrum Attacks on Medical Delivery Drones

Drone susceptibility to jamming or spoofing attacks of GPS, RF, Wi-Fi, and operator signals presents a danger to future medical delivery systems. A detection framework capable of sensing attacks on drones could provide the capability for active responses. The identification of interference attacks has applicability in medical delivery, disaster zone relief, and FAA enforcement against illegal jamming activities. A gap exists in the literature for solo or swarm-based drones to identify radio frequency spectrum attacks. Any non-delivery specific function, such as attack sensing, added to a drone involves a weight increase and additional complexity; therefore, the value must exceed the disadvantages. Medical delivery, high-value cargo, and disaster zone applications could present a value proposition which overcomes the additional costs. The paper examines types of attacks against drones and describes a framework for designing an attack detection system with active response capabilities for improving the reliability of delivery and other medical applications.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figures, 5 table

Bio-inspired network security for 5G-enabled IoT applications

Every IPv6-enabled device connected and communicating over the Internet forms the Internet of things (IoT) that is prevalent in society and is used in daily life. This IoT platform will quickly grow to be populated with billions or more objects by making every electrical appliance, car, and even items of furniture smart and connected. The 5th generation (5G) and beyond networks will further boost these IoT systems. The massive utilization of these systems over gigabits per second generates numerous issues. Owing to the huge complexity in large-scale deployment of IoT, data privacy and security are the most prominent challenges, especially for critical applications such as Industry 4.0, e-healthcare, and military. Threat agents persistently strive to find new vulnerabilities and exploit them. Therefore, including promising security measures to support the running systems, not to harm or collapse them, is essential. Nature-inspired algorithms have the capability to provide autonomous and sustainable defense and healing mechanisms. This paper first surveys the 5G network layer security for IoT applications and lists the network layer security vulnerabilities and requirements in wireless sensor networks, IoT, and 5G-enabled IoT. Second, a detailed literature review is conducted with the current network layer security methods and the bio-inspired techniques for IoT applications exchanging data packets over 5G. Finally, the bio-inspired algorithms are analyzed in the context of providing a secure network layer for IoT applications connected over 5G and beyond networks

Introducing the SlowDrop Attack

In network security, Denial of Service (DoS) attacks target network systems with the aim of making them unreachable. Last generation threats are particularly dangerous because they can be carried out with very low resource consumption by the attacker. In this paper we propose SlowDrop, an attack characterized by a legitimate-like behavior and able to target different protocols and server systems. The proposed attack is the first slow DoS threat targeting Microsoft IIS, until now unexploited from other similar attacks. We properly describe the attack, analyzing its ability to target arbitrary systems on different scenarios, by including both wired and wireless connections, and comparing the proposed attack to similar threats. The obtained results show that by executing targeted attacks, SlowDrop is successful both against conventional servers and Microsoft IIS, which is closed source and required us the execution of so called \u201cnetwork level reverse engineering\u201d activities. Due to its ability to successfully target different servers on different scenarios, the attack should be considered an important achievement in the slow DoS field

A survey of IoT security based on a layered architecture of sensing and data analysis

The Internet of Things (IoT) is leading today’s digital transformation. Relying on a combination of technologies, protocols, and devices such as wireless sensors and newly developed wearable and implanted sensors, IoT is changing every aspect of daily life, especially recent applications in digital healthcare. IoT incorporates various kinds of hardware, communication protocols, and services. This IoT diversity can be viewed as a double-edged sword that provides comfort to users but can lead also to a large number of security threats and attacks. In this survey paper, a new compacted and optimized architecture for IoT is proposed based on five layers. Likewise, we propose a new classification of security threats and attacks based on new IoT architecture. The IoT architecture involves a physical perception layer, a network and protocol layer, a transport layer, an application layer, and a data and cloud services layer. First, the physical sensing layer incorporates the basic hardware used by IoT. Second, we highlight the various network and protocol technologies employed by IoT, and review the security threats and solutions. Transport protocols are exhibited and the security threats against them are discussed while providing common solutions. Then, the application layer involves application protocols and lightweight encryption algorithms for IoT. Finally, in the data and cloud services layer, the main important security features of IoT cloud platforms are addressed, involving confidentiality, integrity, authorization, authentication, and encryption protocols. The paper is concluded by presenting the open research issues and future directions towards securing IoT, including the lack of standardized lightweight encryption algorithms, the use of machine-learning algorithms to enhance security and the related challenges, the use of Blockchain to address security challenges in IoT, and the implications of IoT deployment in 5G and beyond

Project BeARCAT : Baselining, Automation and Response for CAV Testbed Cyber Security : Connected Vehicle & Infrastructure Security Assessment

Connected, software-based systems are a driver in advancing the technology of transportation systems. Advanced automated and autonomous vehicles, together with electrification, will help reduce congestion, accidents and emissions. Meanwhile, vehicle manufacturers see advanced technology as enhancing their products in a competitive market. However, as many decades of using home and enterprise computer systems have shown, connectivity allows a system to become a target for criminal intentions. Cyber-based threats to any system are a problem; in transportation, there is the added safety implication of dealing with moving vehicles and the passengers within