Security Management Framework for the Internet of Things

The increase in the design and development of wireless communication technologies offers multiple opportunities for the management and control of cyber-physical systems with connections between smart and autonomous devices, which provide the delivery of simplified data through the use of cloud computing. Given this relationship with the Internet of Things (IoT), it established the concept of pervasive computing that allows any object to communicate with services, sensors, people, and objects without human intervention. However, the rapid growth of connectivity with smart applications through autonomous systems connected to the internet has allowed the exposure of numerous vulnerabilities in IoT systems by malicious users. This dissertation developed a novel ontology-based cybersecurity framework to improve security in IoT systems using an ontological analysis to adapt appropriate security services addressed to threats. The composition of this proposal explores two approaches: (1) design time, which offers a dynamic method to build security services through the application of a methodology directed to models considering existing business processes; and (2) execution time, which involves monitoring the IoT environment, classifying vulnerabilities and threats, and acting in the environment, ensuring the correct adaptation of existing services. The validation approach was used to demonstrate the feasibility of implementing the proposed cybersecurity framework. It implies the evaluation of the ontology to offer a qualitative evaluation based on the analysis of several criteria and also a proof of concept implemented and tested using specific industrial scenarios. This dissertation has been verified by adopting a methodology that follows the acceptance in the research community through technical validation in the application of the concept in an industrial setting.O aumento no projeto e desenvolvimento de tecnologias de comunicação sem fio oferece múltiplas oportunidades para a gestão e controle de sistemas ciber-físicos com conexões entre dispositivos inteligentes e autônomos, os quais proporcionam a entrega de dados simplificados através do uso da computação em nuvem. Diante dessa relação com a Internet das Coisas (IoT) estabeleceu-se o conceito de computação pervasiva que permite que qualquer objeto possa comunicar com os serviços, sensores, pessoas e objetos sem intervenção humana. Entretanto, o rápido crescimento da conectividade com as aplicações inteligentes através de sistemas autônomos conectados com a internet permitiu a exposição de inúmeras vulnerabilidades dos sistemas IoT para usuários maliciosos. Esta dissertação desenvolveu um novo framework de cibersegurança baseada em ontologia para melhorar a segurança em sistemas IoT usando uma análise ontológica para a adaptação de serviços de segurança apropriados endereçados para as ameaças. A composição dessa proposta explora duas abordagens: (1) tempo de projeto, o qual oferece um método dinâmico para construir serviços de segurança através da aplicação de uma metodologia dirigida a modelos, considerando processos empresariais existentes; e (2) tempo de execução, o qual envolve o monitoramento do ambiente IoT, a classificação de vulnerabilidades e ameaças, e a atuação no ambiente garantindo a correta adaptação dos serviços existentes. Duas abordagens de validação foram utilizadas para demonstrar a viabilidade da implementação do framework de cibersegurança proposto. Isto implica na avaliação da ontologia para oferecer uma avaliação qualitativa baseada na análise de diversos critérios e também uma prova de conceito implementada e testada usando cenários específicos. Esta dissertação foi validada adotando uma metodologia que segue a validação na comunidade científica através da validação técnica na aplicação do nosso conceito em um cenário industrial

6G Vision: Towards Future Collaborative Cognitive Communication (3C) Systems

6G networks are expected to have a breakthrough by enabling the emergence of collaborative cognitive communication services over heterogeneous environments for industry 5.0 applications. These applications are required to adapt human-centric approach to make the most of human intuition and intelligence in Industry 4.0 automation.It calls for a transdisciplinarity research domain to investigate innovative systems with overlapping realms of Psychology, Sociology, Communication networks, Artificial Intelligence , Natural Language Processing and Collaborative Computing. The author at the Cognitive Systems Research Centre, London South Bank University has coined the expression “3C Systems" to refer to such artifacts which stands for "Collaborative Cognitive Communication Systems”. In this paper, an innovative framework for 3C Systems is proposed that is able to analyze and predict both the human as well as machine behaviors. It proactively diagnoses issues and recommends solutions without requiring any human intervention. The proposed concept of 3C Systems would potentially contribute towards 6G standardization. The automation and orchestration aspects of this research have variety of applications stretched across city infrastructures, retail, business, tourism, health, law, education and travel. A thorough insight to a broad view of 6G vision has been presented towards envisioned 3C Systems, while covering its enabling technologies. The experimental results for the proof of concept implementation has been presented. Results affirm the technical capabilities of the concept, to contribute to several industry 5.0 applications including, but not limited to holographic communication, self-driving vehicles, context-aware infrastructure and personalized interfaces

Development of an Internet of things system for smart home HVAC monitoring and control

This paper presents the development and test of an Internet of Things (IoT) system applied to the monitoring and control of an HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) system that includes parameters such as temperature, humidity, air quality, human presence and smoke detection. For this purpose, a hybrid wireless network combining Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and IEEE 802.11/Wi-Fi was implemented inside a house. An online database for the synchronization of the HVAC data, which was developed using the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud platform, allows the user to access the data and control the system parameters through the Internet using an Android mobile app. A smart temperature control system was also developed in the BLE/Wi-Fi gateway to keep the room temperature inside a user-defined range. The functionalities and performance of the proposed system were both validated through experimental tests.This work is supported by FCT with the reference project UID/EEA/04436/2019

Towards the Automation of Data Networks

Una amplia variedad de empresas, corporaciones, CSPs y especialistas han enfatizado la dificultad de gestionar redes modernas, que introducen innovaciones tecnológicas de alto impacto, como cloud computing, movilidad, nuevos perfiles de tráfico, NFV, IoT, Big Data, entre otras. La automatización de redes es una metodología en la que los dispositivos de red físicos y virtuales se configuran, aprovisionan, administran y prueban automáticamente mediante software. Grandes empresas, como Cisco, Juniper, Red Hat o VMWare ofrecen soluciones propietarias de automatización de red. Además, recientemente ha habido un aumento en la cantidad de herramientas que asisten en la automatización de redes. Ambos hechos han marcado un cambio en la forma en que los administradores construyen y administran las redes. La mayoría de los grandes operadores de comunicaciones trabajan y tienden, en este sentido, a redes verdaderamente autónomas que, eventualmente, requerirán del uso intensivo de Inteligencia Artificial (IA).  Los avances en la temática muestran que tres segmentos específicos CSPs, Proveedores en la Nube, y las empresas se encuentran en diferentes etapas de madurez de la automatización. Se espera, que progresivamente, esta tendencia alcance, también, a las organizaciones de menor envergadura. Este documento presenta un estudio técnico especializado, detallado y actual sobre el estado del arte en automatización de redes, destacando las tendencias que se observan en los entornos de TI, de las empresas y operadores de comunicaciones, más involucrados en esta tecnología y, finalizando, con una discusión sobre herramientas de automatización.A wide variety of enterprises, corporations, communications service providers (CSPs), and experts have highlighted the difficulty of managing modern networks. These networks exhibit high-impact technological innovations, such as cloud computing, mobility, new traffic profiles, network functions virtualization (NFV), the Internet of things (IoT), Big Data, among others. Network automation is a methodology in which physical and virtual network devices are automatically configured, provisioned, managed, and tested using software. Large enterprises such as Cisco, Juniper, Red Hat, and VMWare offer proprietary solutions for network automation. Additionally, the number of tools assisting in network automation has recently increased. Taken together, these developments have changed the way administrators build and manage networks. In this regard, most large communications operators are now working and moving toward truly autonomous networks that will eventually require an intensive use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Advances in the area show that three specific segments —CSPs, Cloud Providers, and Enterprises— are all at different stages of automation maturity. Over time, network automation is expected to reach smaller organizations as well. This paper presents a specialized, detailed and current technical study on the state of the art in network automation, highlighting the trends observed in information technology (IT) environments, enterprises and communications operators —which are closely involved in this technology—, and concludes with a discussion on automation tools