Context Aware Family Dynamics based Internet of Things Access Control Towards Better Child Safety

Today, children are increasingly connected to the Internet and consume content and services through various means. It has been a challenge for less tech-savvy parents to protect children from harmful content and services. Internet of Things (IoT) has made the situation much worse as IoT devices allow children to connect to the Internet in novel ways (e.g., connected refrigerators, TVs, and so on). In this paper, we propose mySafeHome, an approach which utilises family dynamics to provide a more natural, and intuitive access control mechanism to protect children from harmful content and services in the context of IoT. In mySafeHome, access control dynamically adapts based on the physical distance between family members. For example, a particular type of content can only be consumed, through TV, by children if the parents are in the same room (or hearing distance). mySafeHome allows parents to assess a given content by themselves. Our approach also aims to create granular levels of access control (e.g., block / limit certain content, features, services, on certain devices when the parents are not in the vicinity). We developed a prototype using OpenHAB and several smart home devices to demonstrate the proposed approach. We believe that our approach also facilitates the creation of better relationships between family members. A demo can be viewed here: http://safehome.technology/demo

Context aware family dynamics based Internet of Things access control towards better child safety

Today, children are increasingly connected to the Internet and consume content and services through various means. It has been a challenge for less tech-savvy parents to protect children from harmful content and services. Internet of Things (IoT) has made the situation much worse as IoT devices allow children to connect to the Internet in novel ways (eg, connected refrigerators, TVs, and so on). In this paper, we propose mySafeHome, an approach which utilises family dynamics to provide a more natural, and intuitive access control mechanism to protect children from harmful content and services in the context of IoT. In mySafeHome, access control dynamically adapts based on the physical distance between family members. For example, a particular type of content can only be consumed, through TV, by children if the parents are in the same room (or hearing distance). mySafeHome allows parents to assess a given content by themselves. Our approach also aims to create granular levels of access control (eg, block/limit certain content, features, services, on certain devices when the parents are not in the vicinity). We developed a prototype using OpenHAB and several smart home devices to demonstrate the proposed approach. We believe that our approach also facilitates the creation of better relationships between family members. A demo can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/ODZ7vXoRlN

AnoML-IoT: An End to End Re-configurable Multi-protocol Anomaly Detection Pipeline for Internet of Things

The rapid development in ubiquitous computing has enabled the use of microcontrollers as edge devices. These devices are used to develop truly distributed IoT-based mechanisms where machine learning (ML) models are utilized. However, integrating ML models to edge devices requires an understanding of various software tools such as programming languages and domain-specific knowledge. Anomaly detection is one of the domains where a high level of expertise is required to achieve promising results. In this work, we present AnoML which is an end-to-end data science pipeline that allows the integration of multiple wireless communication protocols, anomaly detection algorithms, deployment to the edge, fog, and cloud platforms with minimal user interaction. We facilitate the development of IoT anomaly detection mechanisms by reducing the barriers that are formed due to the heterogeneity of an IoT environment. The proposed pipeline supports four main phases: (i) data ingestion, (ii) model training, (iii) model deployment, (iv) inference and maintaining. We evaluate the pipeline with two anomaly detection datasets while comparing the efficiency of several machine learning algorithms within different nodes. We also provide the source code (https://gitlab.com/IOTGarage/anoml-iot-analytics) of the developed tools which are the main components of the pipeline.Comment: Elsevier Internet of Things, Volume 16, 100437, December 202

AnoML-IoT: an end to end re-configurable multi-protocol anomaly detection pipeline for Internet of Things

The rapid development in ubiquitous computing has enabled the use of microcontrollers as edge devices. These devices are used to develop truly distributed IoT-based mechanisms where machine learning (ML) models are utilized. However, integrating ML models to edge devices requires an understanding of various software tools such as programming languages and domain-specific knowledge. Anomaly detection is one of the domains where a high level of expertise is required to achieve promising results. In this work, we present AnoML which is an end-to-end data science pipeline that allows the integration of multiple wireless communication protocols, anomaly detection algorithms, deployment to the edge, fog, and cloud platforms with minimal user interaction. We facilitate the development of IoT anomaly detection mechanisms by reducing the barriers that are formed due to the heterogeneity of an IoT environment. The proposed pipeline supports four main phases: (i) data ingestion, (ii) model training, (iii) model deployment, (iv) inference and maintaining. We evaluate the pipeline with two anomaly detection datasets while comparing the efficiency of several machine learning algorithms within different nodes. We also provide the source code of the developed tools which are the main components of the pipeline

Detecting anomalies within smart buildings using do-it-yourself internet of things

Detecting anomalies at the time of happening is vital in environments like buildings and homes to identify potential cyber-attacks. This paper discussed the various mechanisms to detect anomalies as soon as they occur. We shed light on crucial considerations when building machine learning models. We constructed and gathered data from multiple self-build (DIY) IoT devices with different in-situ sensors and found effective ways to find the point, contextual and combine anomalies. We also discussed several challenges and potential solutions when dealing with sensing devices that produce data at different sampling rates and how we need to pre-process them in machine learning models. This paper also looks at the pros and cons of extracting sub-datasets based on environmental conditions.EPSRC PETRAS (EP/S035362/1) and GCHQ National Resilience Fellowshi

Cyber physical anomaly detection for smart homes: A survey

Twenty-first-century human beings spend more than 90\% of their time in indoor environments. The emergence of cyber systems in the physical world has a plethora of benefits towards optimising resources and improving living standards. However, because of significant vulnerabilities in cyber systems, connected physical spaces are exposed to privacy risks in addition to existing and novel security challenges. To mitigate these risks and challenges, researchers opt for anomaly detection techniques. Particularly in smart home environments, the anomaly detection techniques are either focused on network traffic (cyber phenomena) or environmental (physical phenomena) sensors' data. This paper reviewed anomaly detection techniques presented for smart home environments using cyber data and physical data in the past. We categorise anomalies as known and unknown in smart homes. We also compare publicly available datasets for anomaly detection in smart home environments. In the end, we discuss essential key considerations and provide a decision-making framework towards supporting the implementation of anomaly detection systems for smart homes

Context aware family dynamics based internet of things access control towards better child safety

Today, children are increasingly connected to the Internet and consume content and services through various means. It has been a challenge for less tech-savvy parents to protect children from harmful content and services. Internet of Things (IoT) has made the situation much worse as IoT devices allow children to connect to the Internet in novel ways (e.g., connected refrigerators, TVs, and so on). In this paper, we propose mySafeHome, an approach which utilises family dynamics to provide a more natural, and intuitive access control mechanism to protect children from harmful content and services in the context of IoT. In mySafeHome, access control dynamically adapts based on the physical distance between family members. For example, a particular type of content can only be consumed, through TV, by children if the parents are in the same room (or hearing distance). mySafeHome allows parents to assess a given content by themselves. Our approach also aims to create granular levels of access control (e.g., block / limit certain content, features, services, on certain devices when the parents are not in the vicinity). We developed a prototype using OpenHAB and several smart home devices to demonstrate the proposed approach. We believe that our approach also facilitates the creation of better relationships between family members. A demo can be viewed here:https://youtu.be/ODZ7vXoRlNA

Blockchain applications for Internet of Things - a survey

In recent years, the Internet of Things (IoT) has been shaping our lives through billions of internet based interconnected devices. However, due to the decentralized nature of these devices, security, privacy, trust, and traceability remain major concerns. Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology used across several application domains, with features such as immutability and distribution. This survey describes how blockchains can support IoT based systems. We also identify key challenges in using blockchains in IoT, such as scalability, energy consumption, data privacy and security, integration complexity, and regulatory compliance. A comparative analysis of current blockchain scalability solutions and lightweight encryption algorithms is also presented; providing research gaps that still need to be addressed