454 research outputs found
Enhancing pharmaceutical packaging through a technology ecosystem to facilitate the reuse of medicines and reduce medicinal waste
The idea of reusing dispensed medicines is appealing to the general public provided its benefits are illustrated, its risks minimized, and the logistics resolved. For example, medicine reuse could help reduce medicinal waste, protect the environment and improve public health. However, the associated technologies and legislation facilitating medicine reuse are generally not available. The availability of suitable technologies could arguably help shape stakeholdersā beliefs and in turn, uptake of a future medicine reuse scheme by tackling the risks and facilitating the practicalities. A literature survey is undertaken to lay down the groundwork for implementing technologies on and around pharmaceutical packaging in order to meet stakeholdersā previously expressed misgivings about medicine reuse (āstakeholder requirementsā), and propose a novel ecosystem for, in effect, reusing returned medicines. Methods: A structured literature search examining the application of existing technologies on pharmaceutical packaging to enable medicine reuse was conducted and presented as a narrative review. Results: Reviewed technologies are classified according to different stakeholdersā requirements, and a novel ecosystem from a technology perspective is suggested as a solution to reusing medicines. Conclusion: Active sensing technologies applying to pharmaceutical packaging using printed electronics enlist medicines to be part of the Internet of Things network. Validating the quality and safety of returned medicines through this network seems to be the most effective way for reusing medicines and the correct application of technologies may be the key enabler
Applications for RFID in pharmaceutical industry
Security and safety are two important features desired in pharmaceutical supply chain and achieving the same is a challenging task. The need to secure and authenticate pharmaceutical products has increased tremendously with the emerging counterfeit product market. The motivation to introduce counterfeit pharmaceutical products in the supply chain could be to gain rapid economic benefits or affecting the reputation of strong brand in the pharmaceutical industry. RFID technology can be used to deter counterfeiting attempts. It can also be used in various other domains in the pharmaceutical industry. The main aim of this paper is to outline all the applications of RFID in the pharmaceutical industry. After explaining the main applications, we discuss how information hiding techniques could be used with RFID to offer efficient expiry date management, pharmaceutical tamper detection, and fraud detection and prevention
Recovering and restoring tampered RFID data using steganographic principles
Security is one major issue with RFID technology. Mainstream research in RFID security addresses the following security properties i.e. anonymity, confidentiality and authenticity, however it does not cater for integrity. In this paper we consider the fourth security property i.e. integrity. We try to solve the issue of data recovery after RFID data has been tampered. To address this issue, we present a novel steganographic solution, which embeds a secret pattern in the serial number partition of the RFID tag. This secret pattern is the data that we assume would most likely be the candidate for tampering, for example the manufacturer?s and products details stored on the RFID tag. The main motivation for an attacker to tamper this data would be economic benefits like low logistics cost, or quicker custom clearance, and this can only be achieved by changing product details or manufacturer details on the RFID tag. The novelty of this scheme lies in the fact that we have applied steganographic principles to RFID tags; in comparison, most of the existing steganographic solutions are limited to images, or audio, or video applications. We term this scheme ResTamp because it is restores tampered data. This paper provides a detailed theoretical foundation for the ResTamp algorithm
Tampering in RFID: A Survey on Risks and Defenses
RFID is a well-known pervasive technology, which provides promising opportunities
for the implementation of new services and for the improvement of traditional
ones. However, pervasive environments require strong efforts on all the aspects
of information security. Notably, RFID passive tags are exposed to attacks, since strict
limitations affect the security techniques for this technology. A critical threat for RFIDbased
information systems is represented by data tampering, which corresponds to the
malicious alteration of data recorded in the tag memory. The aim of this paper is to describe
the characteristics and the effects of data tampering in RFID-based information
systems, and to survey the approaches proposed by the research community to protect
against it. The most important recent studies on privacy and security for RFID-based
systems are examined, and the protection given against tampering is evaluated. This
paper provides readers with an exhaustive overview on risks and defenses against data
tampering, highlighting RFID weak spots and open issues
A HOLISTIC APPROACH FOR SECURITY REQUIREMENT SPECIFICATION FOR LOW-COST, DISTRIBUTED UBIQUITOUS SYSTEMS
The class of low-cost, distributed ubiquitous systems represents a computing mode where a system has small, inexpensive networked processing devices, distributed at all scales throughout business activities and everyday life. The unique features of such a class of ubiquitous systems make the security analysis different from that for the centralized computing paradigms. This paper presents a holistic approach for security requirement analysis for low cost, distributed ubiquitous systems. Rigorous security analysis needs both quantitative and qualitative approaches to produce the holistic view and the robust data regarding the security features that a system must have in order to meet usersā security expectations. Our framework can assist system administrators to specify key security properties for a low-cost, distributed ubiquitous system and to define the specific security requirements for such a system. We applied Bayesian network and stochastic process algebra to incorporate probabilistic analysis to the framework
Supply Chain Tracing and Anti-Counterfeiting with Distributed Ledger Technology
In recent times, there has been a rampant proliferation of counterfeit products that has left a trail of devastation in the manufacturing sectors. The repercussions of this extend to companies, impacting their brand reputation, revenue streams and overall profitability. Industries like agriculture, banking, electronics, and high-value deliveries uses the emergence of blockchain technology as a powerful tool to discern between authentic and counterfeit items. Its potential as a means to curtail the influx of fake products in the market is substantial. Blockchain technology, at its core, operates as a decentralized and distributed digital ledger system, meticulously recording transactions within interconnected blocks across multiple databases. The inherent security of this technology ensures the immutability of these blocks, rendering them invulnerable to alteration or hacking. By leveraging blockchain technology, consumers can independently verify the authenticity of a product, eliminating the need for reliance on third-party intermediaries. Incorporating recent technological advancements, the utilization of Quick Response (QR) codes offers a robust approach to combat the proliferation of counterfeit goods. The integration of blockchain technology with QR codes serves as a means to uphold the integrity of products. This innovative system securely stores product details and unique codes in the form of blocks, where QR codes play a pivotal role in collecting and matching these unique codes with entries in the blockchain database. If the QR code matches with entries in the database, the user receives a confirmation of the product's authenticity; otherwise, an alert is triggered, signaling the presence of a counterfeit product
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