PAST: Protocol-Adaptable Security Tool for Heterogeneous IoT Ecosystems

PAST is a self-adaptive security tool for discovering the features of the protocols adopted by the devices in an IoT ecosystem. Based on such discovery, specific security defenses are deployed on the basis of (i) the attacks targeting such protocols, and (ii) the security features provided by the protocols themselves. We outline the reasons for the employment of such a tool, and present a core architecture to perform knowledge-driven security tasks. The conducted experiments show the benefits of using PAST in terms of both resource consumption and achieved security level.

I. Introduction

The Internet of Things (IoT) enables an ever-increasing number of smart device-based applications for a broad range of activities. Many such applications are being deployed in urban areas to help people in administrating their everyday lives by performing management and monitoring tasks. Smart urban ecosystems like smart buildings, smart lightening systems, vehicular networks, etc., are making public environments an ensemble of heterogeneous, ever-evolving, and overlapping IoT networks. Designing security techniques for such networks is more challenging with respect to other domains such as traditional computer networks and wireless sensor networks (WSN), that are characterized by homogeneity and interoperability. By contrast, the IoT heterogeneity along with the unattended nature of smart devices expand the attack surface and increases the difficulty of deploying all-encompassing security solutions.