Evolution towards Smart and Software-Defined Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a mesh network of interconnected objects with unique identifiers that can transmit data and communicate with one another without the need for human intervention. The IoT has brought the future closer to us. It has opened up new and vast domains for connecting not only people, but also all kinds of simple objects and phenomena all around us. With billions of heterogeneous devices connected to the Internet, the network architecture must evolve to accommodate the expected increase in data generation while also improving the security and efficiency of connectivity. Traditional IoT architectures are primitive and incapable of extending functionality and productivity to the IoT infrastructure’s desired levels. Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and virtualization are two promising technologies for cost-effectively handling the scale and versatility required for IoT. In this paper, we discussed traditional IoT networks and the need for SDN and Network Function Virtualization (NFV), followed by an analysis of SDN and NFV solutions for implementing IoT in various ways

Forensic Analysis of Blackhole Attack in Wireless Sensor Networks/Internet of Things

The internet of things (IoT) is prone to various types of denial of service (DoS) attacks due to their resource-constrained nature. Extensive research efforts have been dedicated to securing these systems, but various vulnerabilities remain. Notably, it is challenging to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of mobile ad hoc networks due to limited connectivity and dynamic topology. As critical infrastructure including smart grids, industrial control, and intelligent transportation systems is reliant on WSNs and IoT, research efforts that forensically investigate and analyze the cybercrimes in IoT and WSNs are imperative. When a security failure occurs, the causes, vulnerabilities, and facts behind the failure need to be revealed and examined to improve the security of these systems. This research forensically investigates the performance of the ad hoc IoT networks using the ad hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV) routing protocol under the blackhole attack, which is a type of denial of service attack detrimental to IoT networks. This work also examines the traffic patterns in the network and nodes to assess the attack damage and conducts vulnerability analysis of the protocol to carry out digital forensic (DF) investigations. It further reconstructs the networks under different modes and parameters to verify the analysis and provide suggestions to design roubust routing protocols