Security architecture for mobile E-health applications in medication control

The use of Radio Frequency Identification technology (RFID) in medical context enables not only drug identification, but also a rapid and precise identification of patients, physicians, nurses or any other health caregiver. Combining RFID tag identification with structured and secured Internet of Things (IoT) solutions enable ubiquitous and easy access to medical related records, while providing control and security to all interactions. This paper defines a basic security architecture, easily deployable on mobile platforms, which would allow to establish and manage a medication prescription service in mobility context making use of electronic Personal Health Records. This security architecture is aimed to be used with a mobile e-health application (m-health) through a simple and intuitive interface, supported by RFID technology. This architecture, able to support secured and authenticated interactions, will enable an easy deployment of m-health applications. The special case of drug administration and ubiquitous medication control system, along with the corresponding Internet of Things context, is used as a case study. Both security architecture and its protocols, along with a general Ambient Assisted Living secure service for medication control, is then analyzed in the context of the Internet of Things.FEDER Funds through the Programa Operacional Fatores de Competitividade - COMPETE and by National Funds through the FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-022674

Blockchain Oracles

Plokiahelatehnoloogia on osutunud paljude tööstusharude potentsiaalseks lammutajaks ning on saanud eraldiseisvate üksuste jaoks turvalise ja detsentraliseeritud toimimise võimaldajaks. Sellest hoolimata ei ole plokiahelatehnoloogia iseenesest väliste andmeallikatega otseselt seotud. Vajalikke väliseid andmeid vahendatakse oraaklite abil. Selle magistritöö eesmärk on uurida seoseid plokiahela võrkude ja oraaklite vahel ning töötada välja raamistik, mis aitab plokiahela arendajaid ja otsuste langetajaid nende plokiahela projektides millestki juhinduda. Mõnedes olemasolevates oraakliprojektides on kirjeldatud sarnaseid püüdluseid, kuid seni pole nende autorid süstemaatiliste ülevaadeteni jõudnud. Lõputöös esitatud raamistik on välja töötatud olemasolevate oraaklitega seotud plokiahela projektide süstemaatilise kirjanduse ülevaate põhjal. See hõlmab selliseid komponente nagu oraaklite poolt kogutud informatsiooni tüübid, plokiahelavõrgud, millega nad suhtlevad, ning ka oraaklite ja andmeallika vahelise suhtluse krüptimine. Lisaks mängib plokiahela oraakli projektides olulist rolli ka oraaklite otsuste tegemine, mis kajastab teabe edastamist oraaklile, nende andmete kontrollimist ja meetodeid, kuidas oraakleid integreeritakse plokiahela võrkudega. Läbivaatamise tulemused näitavad, et plokiahela oraaklid on keerulised lahendused, mis hõlmavad paljusid komponente ja aspekte. Need võivad olla immateriaalsed või materiaalsed ning edastada andmeid vastavalt veebist või anduriseadmetest. Oraakleid saab kasutada igat tüüpi plokiahela võrkudes ja integreerida erinevates formaatides, sealhulgas nutikates lepinguliidestes, või otse teiste plokiahela-sõlmedega. Neid saab otsustusprotsessides tsentraliseerida või detsentraliseerida ja nad suudavad kasutada andmete õigsuse üle otsustamiseks mitmesuguseid olemasolevaid nõuandemehhanisme või usaldada lihtsalt välist andmepakkujat. Need uurimise tulemused aitavad plokiahela arendajatel demüstifitseerida oraaklite potentsiaalset kasutamist või rakendamist oma plokiahela projektides ning aitavad ületada lõhet plokiahela virtuaalse maailma ja väliste keskkondade vahel.Blockchain technology has emerged as a potential disruptor of multiple industries and became an enabler for separate entities to trans-act in a secure and decentralized manner. Nevertheless, the blockchain technology in itself does not directly interact with the external data sources. External data, that is needed, is transferred by means of oracles. The research goal of this thesis is to explore the relationship between blockchain networks and oracles and develop a framework to help guide blockchain developers and decision makers in their blockchain projects. Few of the existing oracle projects have described similar efforts in their papers, but no systematic review has been made by authors. The framework, presented in the thesis, is developed based on Systematic Literature Review of existing blockchain projects involving oracles. It includes components such as type of information oracles collect, blockchain networks with which they interact as well as encryption of communication between the oracles and the data source. Additionally, oracle decision making, which captures how the information is passed to the oracle, along with the verification of that data and methods of integration of oracles with blockchain networks, play an important role in blockchain oracle projects. The results of the review demonstrate that blockchain oracles are complex solutions involving multiple components and aspects. They can be intangible or tangible and transport data from web or sensor devices respectively. Oracles can be used in all types of blockchain networks and integrated in different formats including custom smart contract interfaces or directly with blockchain nodes. They can be centralized or decentralized in terms of decision making and utilize various existing consensus mechanisms to decide on correctness of the data or simply trust the external data provider. These findings will help the blockchain developers demystify the potential usage or implementation of oracles in their blockchain projects and help bridge the gap between the virtual world of blockchain and the external environments

Internet of things for medication control: e-health architecture and service implementation

The use of Radio Frequency Identification technology (RFID) in medical context enables drug identification but also a rapid and, of course, precise identification of patients, physicians, nurses or any other health caregiver. Combining RFID tag identification with structured and secure Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, one can establish a ubiquitous and quick access to any type of medical related records, as long as one can control and adequately secure all the Internet mediated interactions. This paper presents an e-Health service architecture, along with the corresponding Internet of Things prototype implementation, that makes use of RFID tags and Electronic Product Codes (EPC) standards, in order to easily establish in a ubiquitous manner a medication control system. The system, presented and tested, has a web interface and allowed for a first evaluation of the e-health proposed service. As the service is mainly focused on elderly Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) solutions, all these technologies - RFID, EPC, Object Naming Service (ONS) and IoT – have been integrated into a suitable system, able to promote better patient/physician, patient/nurse and, generally, any patient/health caregiver, interactions. The whole prototype service, entitled "RFID-based IoT for Medication Control", and its web interface are presented and evaluated.FEDER Funds through the Programa Operacional Fatores de Competitividade – COMPETE and by National Funds through the FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-02267

Survey and Systematization of Secure Device Pairing

Secure Device Pairing (SDP) schemes have been developed to facilitate secure communications among smart devices, both personal mobile devices and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Comparison and assessment of SDP schemes is troublesome, because each scheme makes different assumptions about out-of-band channels and adversary models, and are driven by their particular use-cases. A conceptual model that facilitates meaningful comparison among SDP schemes is missing. We provide such a model. In this article, we survey and analyze a wide range of SDP schemes that are described in the literature, including a number that have been adopted as standards. A system model and consistent terminology for SDP schemes are built on the foundation of this survey, which are then used to classify existing SDP schemes into a taxonomy that, for the first time, enables their meaningful comparison and analysis.The existing SDP schemes are analyzed using this model, revealing common systemic security weaknesses among the surveyed SDP schemes that should become priority areas for future SDP research, such as improving the integration of privacy requirements into the design of SDP schemes. Our results allow SDP scheme designers to create schemes that are more easily comparable with one another, and to assist the prevention of persisting the weaknesses common to the current generation of SDP schemes.Comment: 34 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables, accepted at IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials 2017 (Volume: PP, Issue: 99

An open platform for seamless sensor support in healthcare for the Internet of things

Population aging and increasing pressure on health systems are two issues that demand solutions. Involving and empowering citizens as active managers of their health represents a desirable shift from the current culture mainly focused on treatment of disease, to one also focused on continuous health management and well-being. Current developments in technological areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT), lead to new technological solutions that can aid this shift in the healthcare sector. This study presents the design, development, implementation and evaluation of a platform called Common Recognition and Identification Platform (CRIP), a part of the CareStore project, which aims at supporting caregivers and citizens to manage health routines in a seamless way. Specifically, the CRIP offers sensor-based support for seamless identification of users and health devices. A set of initial requirements was defined with a focus on usability limitations and current sensor technologies. The CRIP was designed and implemented using several technologies that enable seamless integration and interaction of sensors and people, namely Near Field Communication and fingerprint biometrics for identification and authentication, Bluetooth for communication with health devices and web services for wider integration with other platforms. Two CRIP prototypes were implemented and evaluated in laboratory during a period of eight months. The evaluations consisted of identifying users and devices, as well as seamlessly configure and acquire vital data from the last. Also, the entire Carestore platform was deployed in a nursing home where its usability was evaluated with caregivers. The evaluations helped assess that seamless identification of users and seamless configuration and communication with health devices is feasible and can help enable the IoT on healthcare applications. Therefore, the CRIP and similar platforms could be transformed into a valuable enabling technology for secure and reliable IoT deployments on the healthcare sector.This research work was supported under the European Framework Program FP7 Research for the Benefit of SMEs, project FP7-SME-2012-315158-CareStore. The authors would also like to acknowledge the work of all the members of the CareStore team, without whom this work would not be possible

Internet of Things Strategic Research Roadmap

Internet of Things (IoT) is an integrated part of Future Internet including existing and evolving Internet and network developments and could be conceptually defined as a dynamic global network infrastructure with self configuring capabilities based on standard and interoperable communication protocols where physical and virtual “things” have identities, physical attributes, and virtual personalities, use intelligent interfaces, and are seamlessly integrated into the information network