Secure Decentralized Blockchain Based Web Application for Medical Records

The online storage and sharing of electronic health records has undergone a paradigm shift in recent years. The introduction of a centralized cloud computing concept to streamline records transfer between patients and healthcare providers has been an easy task. As a result, the availability of electronically stored health records with minimal operational costs is made possible, but the primary concern is related to the privacy and security of records. How can we securely exchange medical documents online while maintaining strong security standards? This research suggests a framework that fuses online federated learning with blockchain technology. In particular, we develop a reliable access control system using smart contracts to provide secure Health records sharing between various patients and healthcare professionals. Over a web 3.0-based website, we demonstrate a blockchain implementation prototype in a real-world data-sharing scenario. Our suggestion offers a practical defense against potential dangers for trustworthy data exchanges of sensitive health information. Moreover, compared to existing models, this approach provides the highest level of protection for sharing medical records

BYOD: Risk considerations in a South African organisation

In recent times, while numerous organisations have difficulty keeping abreast with the frequent year-on-year technology changes, their employees on the other hand, continue to bring their personal devices to work to more readily access organisational data. This concept is known as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). Studies have demonstrated that the introduction of BYOD commonly has a positive effect on both organisation and employees: increased optimism, job satisfaction and productivity are some of the perceived positive effects. Furthermore, BYOD can improve employees’ opportunities for mobile working and assist with the work flexibility they seek. This phenomenon, however, is still not well understood. In the South African context, this refers particularly to an inadequate understanding of risks associated with the introduction of BYOD into organisations. Some of the risks associated with this phenomenon are, for instance, related to information security, legislation and privacy issues. Hence, the intention of this research was to investigate, determine and assess BYOD risk considerations in a South African organisation. Using the available literature on this subject and an interpretative exploratory case study approach, this research explored various facets of BYOD-related risks (e.g. implementational, technological, legislation, regulation and privacy risks, human aspects and organisational concerns) as well as the impact these risks may have on both employees and an organisation. The organisation under investigation – from this point onward referred to as “Organisation A” – is a South African based information technology (IT) security consulting and service management organisation, which has seen increased expansion in its business and thus an increase in the number of its employees utilising their personal devices at the workplace. Even so, Organisation A was uncertain regarding possible risks that might hinder benefits of BYOD. Hence, this researcher defined the main research question as “What are the risks of introducing the BYOD in the South African organisation and what is an effective approach to address identified risks?”. The main objective was to identify and describe BYOD-related risks and to propose an appropriate model for addressing these risks. To answer the main research question, this researcher reviewed the applicable literature on the BYOD, including the limited South African literature pertaining to the subject. The review elicited the most common BYOD-related risks but also some models, frameworks and standards that may be applied for addressing these risks. Based on these revelations, an applicable BYOD risk management model was created and proposed. The literature review findings were subsequently tested in the empirical setting (in Organisation A) by conducting comprehensive interviews with research participants. This research adopted a qualitative approach in general and a case study methodology in particular. The collected data were analysed using the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), which aided in providing a comprehensive understanding of the interviewees’ responses regarding the BYOD risks. The interviewees were selected based on a purposeful (pre-defined) sampling. The results of this interpretative research suggest that the interviewees’ responses are closely aligned with the information on BYOD risks collected from the pertinent literature. The results show that successful introduction and usage of BYOD in the studied organisation requires the implementation of mixed risk management measures: technological (e.g. mobile device management and its additional components), non-technological (e.g. IT or BYOD security policies), the usage of general risk management frameworks (e.g. ISO 27001), the development of an organisational security culture and skilling of the human factor (e.g. employee awareness, training and education, for example). Additionally, it was found that participation of employees in the development of BYOD policies is an essential and effective tactic for transforming a fragile BYOD risk link (i.e. employees) into a strong risk prevention mechanism. Furthermore, this research also revealed that in the South African context, it is important that an organisation’s BYOD security policies are sound, preferably meeting the POPI Act requirements and thereby avoiding legislation risks. The contribution of this research is twofold: first academic, and second, practical. The academic contribution is realised by adding to the body of knowledge on the BYOD risks – most particularly in terms of understanding potential risks when introducing BYOD in the South African context. The practical contribution manifests through the provision of detailed risk considerations and mitigation guidelines for organisations wishing to introduce BYOD practices or considering ways to improve their current BYOD risk management strategy. It is acknowledged that this research has some limitations, particularly in regard to the limited generalisation of the findings due to the limited sample provided by only one organisation. Although the results are not necessarily applicable to other South African organisations, these limitations did not impact the relevance and validity of this research

Security Evaluation of Cyber-Physical Systems in Society- Critical Internet of Things

In this paper, we present evaluation of security awareness of developers and users of cyber-physical systems. Our study includes interviews, workshops, surveys and one practical evaluation. We conducted 15 interviews and conducted survey with 55 respondents coming primarily from industry. Furthermore, we performed practical evaluation of current state of practice for a society-critical application, a commercial vehicle, and reconfirmed our findings discussing an attack vector for an off-line societycritical facility. More work is necessary to increase usage of security strategies, available methods, processes and standards. The security information, currently often insufficient, should be provided in the user manuals of products and services to protect system users. We confirmed it lately when we conducted an additional survey of users, with users feeling as left out in their quest for own security and privacy. Finally, hardware-related security questions begin to come up on the agenda, with a general increase of interest and awareness of hardware contribution to the overall cyber-physical security. At the end of this paper we discuss possible countermeasures for dealing with threats in infrastructures, highlighting the role of authorities in this quest

Security-Informed Safety: Supporting Stakeholders with Codes of Practice

Codes of practice provide principles and guidance on how organizations can incorporate security considerations into their safety engineering lifecycle and become more security minded

Why We Cannot (Yet) Ensure the Cybersecurity of Safety-Critical Systems

There is a growing threat to the cyber-security of safety-critical systems. The introduction of Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) software, including Linux, specialist VOIP applications and Satellite Based Augmentation Systems across the aviation, maritime, rail and power-generation infrastructures has created common, vulnerabilities. In consequence, more people now possess the technical skills required to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in safety-critical systems. Arguably for the first time there is the potential for cross-modal attacks leading to future ‘cyber storms’. This situation is compounded by the failure of public-private partnerships to establish the cyber-security of safety critical applications. The fiscal crisis has prevented governments from attracting and retaining competent regulators at the intersection of safety and cyber-security. In particular, we argue that superficial similarities between safety and security have led to security policies that cannot be implemented in safety-critical systems. Existing office-based security standards, such as the ISO27k series, cannot easily be integrated with standards such as IEC61508 or ISO26262. Hybrid standards such as IEC 62443 lack credible validation. There is an urgent need to move beyond high-level policies and address the more detailed engineering challenges that threaten the cyber-security of safety-critical systems. In particular, we consider the ways in which cyber-security concerns undermine traditional forms of safety engineering, for example by invalidating conventional forms of risk assessment. We also summarise the ways in which safety concerns frustrate the deployment of conventional mechanisms for cyber-security, including intrusion detection systems