Modelling an IoT testbed in context with the security vulnerabilities of South Africa

Internet of Things (IoT) is envisaged as a transformative approach that provides any service over the Internet by enabling communications through the interconnection of heterogeneous devices. The potential threats and possible attacks against IoT devices have grown drastically and the cybercrime statistics from the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) shows that South Africans lose in excess of R2.2 billion due to the security vulnerabilities annually. Unfortunately, the security requirements are not yet well addressed as it is still in its infant stage. Therefore, before there is a widespread adoption of IoT, there needs to be stringent security and reliability in the IoT space. The proposed research aims to close this gap through the implementation of a user-centric and automated IoT testbed in context with a setting that is close to the real-world South African environment to address the specific IoT vulnerabilities in the country. Because of the limited amount of work performed so far in this field of study, this research will not only contribute in filling the missing gap in the area of IoT security vulnerabilities, but will also contribute towards a better understanding of the subject matter and uptake of the IoT technology.

I. Introduction

The research studies from Gartner in 2016 have shown that IoT is at the peak of its inflated expectations and the devices to partake in IoT are expected to be 26 billion by 2020 [1]. Gartner is the world's leading Information Technology research and advisory company and facilitates a comprehensive collection of analysis and advice for the users and vendors of the Information Technology. Cisco's IoT group further predicts that there will be more than 50 billion connected IoT devices by the end of 2020 [2]. South Africa (SA) has already embraced IoT technologies; from utility service providers using connected smart meters in Johannesburg to track energy usage to healthcare service providers to track the health of outpatients [3]. The mining sector is using this new connected technology and is using sensors to detect methane and rock movement. The retail sector in the country is also starting to adapt IoT through the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags [4]. RFID tagging is an identification system that uses small radio frequency identification devices for identification and tracking purposes. Research shows that SA is the most cyber-attacked country in the African continent and ranks third in the world in terms of cyber-attack victims [5]. A typical attack on SA cyber assets averages 9 Gigabits per second (Gbps) and lasts approximately 17 minutes [5]. IoT is one technology that is penetrating the world so fast [6]. However, the SA cyber society seems to be slowly coming up to this reality. There are so many areas to be explored in IoT, which will add significant value to individuals, businesses, and government. Accompanying the IoT innovation are challenges that are peculiar to the SA environment.