Systematizing Decentralization and Privacy: Lessons from 15 Years of Research and Deployments

Decentralized systems are a subset of distributed systems where multiple authorities control different components and no authority is fully trusted by all. This implies that any component in a decentralized system is potentially adversarial. We revise fifteen years of research on decentralization and privacy, and provide an overview of key systems, as well as key insights for designers of future systems. We show that decentralized designs can enhance privacy, integrity, and availability but also require careful trade-offs in terms of system complexity, properties provided, and degree of decentralization. These trade-offs need to be understood and navigated by designers. We argue that a combination of insights from cryptography, distributed systems, and mechanism design, aligned with the development of adequate incentives, are necessary to build scalable and successful privacy-preserving decentralized systems

Overlay virtualized wireless sensor networks for application in industrial internet of things : a review

Abstract: In recent times, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are broadly applied in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) in order to enhance the productivity and efficiency of existing and prospective manufacturing industries. In particular, an area of interest that concerns the use of WSNs in IIoT is the concept of sensor network virtualization and overlay networks. Both network virtualization and overlay networks are considered contemporary because they provide the capacity to create services and applications at the edge of existing virtual networks without changing the underlying infrastructure. This capability makes both network virtualization and overlay network services highly beneficial, particularly for the dynamic needs of IIoT based applications such as in smart industry applications, smart city, and smart home applications. Consequently, the study of both WSN virtualization and overlay networks has become highly patronized in the literature, leading to the growth and maturity of the research area. In line with this growth, this paper provides a review of the development made thus far concerning virtualized sensor networks, with emphasis on the application of overlay networks in IIoT. Principally, the process of virtualization in WSN is discussed along with its importance in IIoT applications. Different challenges in WSN are also presented along with possible solutions given by the use of virtualized WSNs. Further details are also presented concerning the use of overlay networks as the next step to supporting virtualization in shared sensor networks. Our discussion closes with an exposition of the existing challenges in the use of virtualized WSN for IIoT applications. In general, because overlay networks will be contributory to the future development and advancement of smart industrial and smart city applications, this review may be considered by researchers as a reference point for those particularly interested in the study of this growing field

LD: Identifying Misbehaving Nodes in MANET

A mobile ad-hoc network is a collection of mobile nodes connected together over a wireless medium without any fixed infrastructure. Unique characteristics of mobile ad-hoc networks such as open peer-to-peer network architecture, shared wireless medium and highly dynamic topology, pose various challenges to the security design. Mobile ad-hoc networks lack central administration or control, making them very vulnerable to attacks or disruption by faulty nodes in the absence of any security mechanisms. Also, the wireless channel in a mobile ad-hoc network is accessible to both legitimate network users and malicious attackers. So, the task of finding good solutions for these challenges plays a critical role in achieving the eventual success of mobile ad-hoc networks. However, the open medium and wide distribution of nodes make MANET vulnerable to malicious attackers. In this case, it is crucial to develop efficient intrusion-detection mechanisms to protect MANET from attacks. Secure routing protocols and mechanisms to detect routing misbehavior in the direct neighborhood exist; however, collusion of misbehaving nodes has not been adequately addressed yet. We present LeakDetector, a mechanism to detect colluding malicious nodes in wireless multihop networks A mobile ad-hoc network is a collection of mobile nodes connected together over a wireless medium without any fixed infrastructure. Unique characteristics of mobile ad-hoc networks such as open peer-to-peer network architecture, shared wireless medium and highly dynamic topology, pose various challenges to the security design. Mobile ad-hoc networks lack central administration or control, making them very vulnerable to attacks or disruption by faulty nodes in the absence of any security mechanisms. Also, the wireless channel in a mobile ad-hoc network is accessible to both legitimate network users and malicious attackers. So, the task of finding good solutions for these challenges plays a critical role in achieving the eventual success of mobile ad-hoc networks. However,the. LeakDetector enables the calculation of the packet-loss ratio for the individual nodes

Proceedings of International Workshop "Global Computing: Programming Environments, Languages, Security and Analysis of Systems"

According to the IST/ FET proactive initiative on GLOBAL COMPUTING, the goal is to obtain techniques (models, frameworks, methods, algorithms) for constructing systems that are flexible, dependable, secure, robust and efficient. The dominant concerns are not those of representing and manipulating data efficiently but rather those of handling the co-ordination and interaction, security, reliability, robustness, failure modes, and control of risk of the entities in the system and the overall design, description and performance of the system itself. Completely different paradigms of computer science may have to be developed to tackle these issues effectively. The research should concentrate on systems having the following characteristics: • The systems are composed of autonomous computational entities where activity is not centrally controlled, either because global control is impossible or impractical, or because the entities are created or controlled by different owners. • The computational entities are mobile, due to the movement of the physical platforms or by movement of the entity from one platform to another. • The configuration varies over time. For instance, the system is open to the introduction of new computational entities and likewise their deletion. The behaviour of the entities may vary over time. • The systems operate with incomplete information about the environment. For instance, information becomes rapidly out of date and mobility requires information about the environment to be discovered. The ultimate goal of the research action is to provide a solid scientific foundation for the design of such systems, and to lay the groundwork for achieving effective principles for building and analysing such systems. This workshop covers the aspects related to languages and programming environments as well as analysis of systems and resources involving 9 projects (AGILE , DART, DEGAS , MIKADO, MRG, MYTHS, PEPITO, PROFUNDIS, SECURE) out of the 13 founded under the initiative. After an year from the start of the projects, the goal of the workshop is to fix the state of the art on the topics covered by the two clusters related to programming environments and analysis of systems as well as to devise strategies and new ideas to profitably continue the research effort towards the overall objective of the initiative. We acknowledge the Dipartimento di Informatica and Tlc of the University of Trento, the Comune di Rovereto, the project DEGAS for partially funding the event and the Events and Meetings Office of the University of Trento for the valuable collaboration

Network virtualization as an integrated solution for emergency communication

In this paper the Virtual Private Ad Hoc Networking (VPAN) platform is introduced as an integrated networking solution for many applications that require secure transparent continuous connectivity using heterogeneous devices and network technologies. This is done by creating a virtual logical self-organizing network on top of existing network technologies reducing complexity and maintaining session continuity right from the start. One of the most interesting applications relies in the field of emergency communication with its specific needs which will be discussed in this paper and matched in detail against the architecture and features of the VPAN platform. The concept and dynamics are demonstrated and evaluated with measurements done on real hardware

Localized probabilistic and dominating set based algorithm for efficient information dissemination in ad hoc networks

International audienceAd hoc networks are autonomous dynamic networks composed of mobile devices like personal digital assistants (PDA) for instance. In such mobile networks, lack of infrastructure leads to non trivial information discovery and dissemination. A scheme in which a unique object centralizes information is not efficient for many reasons. In this paper, we propose a probabilistic algorithm to satisfactorily distribute an information token among nodes forming the network by using localized datas. Then, in order to limit the number of memorizing nodes, we propose to make memorize nodes belonging to a dominating se