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In modern times, the Internet of Things (IoT) is having a major impact on agriculture. Risk and security parameters are always linked when researching, developing, implementing and deploying IoT-based devices. It is a myth that security does not play a major role in IoT applications in agriculture. Data accuracy and availability is a high-priority requirement for farmers who help achieve high yields. A secure IoT network requires a situational approach, often referred to as dynamic security. An advanced security approach to improving IoT security is adaptive security, a cybersecurity-based approach. The lack of security in a smart farming environment is a very important factor for agricultural growth. In this study, we introduce IoT together with adaptive security operations and integrate it into a smart farming environment. We propose an evaluation framework that can be applied to diverse smart farming environments. Several scenarios of an agricultural environment with smart devices and sensors are described for execution. Storylines with real-time environments are then derived from these scenarios to extend and incorporate adaptive security frameworks and scenarios in IoT-based agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthcare is one of the notable areas where the integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) is highly adopted, also known as the Medical IoT (MIoT). So far, MIoT is revolutionizing healthcare because it provides many advantages for the benefit of patients and healthcare personnel. The use of MIoT is becoming a booming trend, generating a large amount of IoT data, which requires proper analysis to infer meaningful information. This has led to the rise of deploying artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, such as machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) algorithms, to learn the meaning of this underlying medical data, where the learning process usually occurs in the cloud or telemedicine servers. Due to the exponential growth of MIoT devices and widely distributed private MIoT data sets, it is becoming a challenge to use centralized learning AI algorithms for such tasks. In this connection, federated learning (FL) is gaining traction as a possible method of learning on devices that do not need to migrate private and sensitive data to a central cloud. The terminal equipment and the central server in FL only share learning model updates to ensure that sensitive data is always kept secret. Even though this has recently become a promising research area, no other research has been conducted on this topic recently. In this paper, we synthesize recent literature and FL improvements to support FL-driven MIoT applications and services in healthcare. The findings of this research help stakeholders in academia and industry to realize the competitive advantage of the most advanced privacy preserved MIoT systems based on federal learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart and interconnected devices can generate meaningful patient data and exchange it automatically without any human intervention in order to realize the Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare (HIoT). Due to more and more online security and data hijacking attacks, the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data are considered serious issues in HIoT applications. In this regard, lightweight block ciphers (LBCs) are promising in resourceconstrained environment where security is the primary consideration. The prevalent challenge while designing an LBC for the HIoT environment is how to ascertain platform performance, cost, and security. Most of the existing LBCs primarily focus on text data or grayscale images. The main focus of this paper is about securing color images in a cost-effective way. We emphasis high confidentiality of color images captured by cameras in resource-constrained smartphones, and high confidentiality of sensitive images transmitted by low-power sensors in IoT systems. In order to reduce computational complexity and simulation time, the proposed Lightweight Symmetric Block Cipher (LSBC) exploits chaos-based confusion-diffusion operations at the inter-block level using a single round. The strength of LSBC is assessed by cryptanalysis, while it is ranked by comparing it to other privacy-preserving schemes. Our results show that the proposed cipher produces promising results in terms of key sensitivity and differential attacks, which proves that our LSBC is a good candidate for image security in HIoT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have recently attracted widespread attention in civil and commercial applications. For example, UAVs (or drone) technology is increasingly used in crowd monitoring solutions due to its wider air footprint and the ability to capture data in real time. However, due to the open atmosphere, drones can easily be lost or captured by attackers when reporting information to the crowd management center. In addition, the attackers may initiate malicious detection to disrupt the crowd-sensing communication network. Therefore, security and privacy are one of the most significant challenges faced by drones or the Internet of Drones (IoD) that supports the Internet of Things (IoT). In the literature, we can find some authenticated key agreement (AKA) schemes to protect access control between entities involved in the IoD environment. However, the AKA scheme involves many vulnerabilities in terms of security and privacy. In this paper, we propose an enhanced AKA solution for crowd monitoring applications that require secure communication between drones and controlling entities. Our scheme supports key security features, including anti-forgery attacks, and confirms user privacy. The security characteristics of our scheme are analyzed by NS2 simulation and verified by a random oracle model. Our simulation results and proofs show that the proposed scheme sufficiently guarantees the security of crowd-aware communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modern paradigm of the Internet of Things (IoT) has led to a significant increase in demand for latency-sensitive applications in Fog-based cloud computing. However, such applications cannot meet strict quality of service (QoS) requirements. The large-scale deployment of IoT requires more effective use of network infrastructure to ensure QoS when processing big data. Generally, cloud-centric IoT application deployment involves different modules running on terminal devices and cloud servers. Fog devices with different computing capabilities must process the data generated by the end device, so deploying latency-sensitive applications in a heterogeneous fog computing environment is a difficult task. In addition, when there is an inconsistent connection delay between the fog and the terminal device, the deployment of such applications becomes more complicated. In this article, we propose an algorithm that can effectively place application modules on network nodes while considering connection delay, processing power, and sensing data volume. Compared with traditional cloud computing deployment, we conducted simulations in iFogSim to confirm the effectiveness of the algorithm. The simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in terms of end-to-end delay and network consumption. Therein, latency and execution time is insensitive to the number of sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proliferation of Internet-of-Things (IoT) technology and its reliance on the license-free Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) bands have rendered radio spectrum scarce. The IoT can nevertheless obtain great advantage from Cognitive Radio (CR) technology for efficient use of a spectrum, to be implemented in IEEE 802.11af-based primary networks. However, such networks require a geolocation database and a centralized architecture to communicate white space information on channels. On the other hand, in spectrum sensing, CR presents various challenges such as the Hidden Primary Terminal (HPT) problem. To this end, we focus on the most recently released standard, i.e., IEEE 802.11ah, in which IoT stations can first be classified into multiple groups to reduce collisions and then they can periodically access the channel. Therein, both services are similarly supported by a centralized server that requires signaling overhead to control the groups of stations. In addition, more regroupings are required over time due to the frequent variations in the number of participating stations, which leads to more overhead. In this paper, we propose a new Multiple Access Control (MAC) protocol for CR-based IEEE 802.11ah systems, called Restricted Access with Collision and Interference Resolution (RACIR).We introduce a decentralized group split algorithm that distributes the participating stations into multiple groups based on a probabilistic estimation in order to resolve collisions. Furthermore, we propose a decentralized channel access procedure that avoids the HPT problem and resolves interference with the incumbent receiver. We analyze the performance of our proposed MAC protocol in terms of normalized throughput, packet delay and energy consumption with the Markov model and analytic expressions. The results are quite promising, which makes the RACIR protocol a strong candidate for the CR-based IoT environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), used primarily for aerial surveying, can monitor control information and carry out stalking tasks connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) using advanced wireless technology. It's limited to short distances where the delicate aerial communication system can share a spectrum with terrestrial systems. Moreover, severe privacy and security concerns are due to the unlicensed broadcasting and wireless UAV transmission networks. Therefore, this paper focus on developing a blockchain-based spectrum trading and sharing system that addresses security concerns and maintains user privacy. Mobile network operators can exchange spectrum without relying on a third party using a Distributed Blockchain Consortium System (DBCS). As a result, data is well-protected from plaintext, stalker, and ciphertext attacks, making it easier to track, manage, and control services. Experimental; results showed that the proposed DBCS outperformed other conventional systems in terms of security and performance. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of medical signal processing capabilities and advanced sensors into Internet of Things (IoT) devices plays a key role in providing comfort and convenience to human lives. As the number of patients is increasing gradually, providing healthcare facilities to each patient, particularly to the patients located in remote regions, not only has become challenging but also results in several issues, such as: (i) increase in workload on paramedics, (ii) wastage of time, and (iii) accommodation of patients. Therefore, the design of smart healthcare systems has become an important area of research to overcome these above-mentioned issues. Several healthcare applications have been designed using wireless sensor networks (WSNs), cloud computing, and fog computing. Most of the e-healthcare applications are designed using the cloud computing paradigm. Cloud-based architecture introduces high latency while processing huge amounts of data, thus restricting the large-scale implementation of latency-sensitive e-healthcare applications. Fog computing architecture offers processing and storage resources near to the edge of the network, thus, designing e-healthcare applications using the fog computing paradigm is of interest to meet the low latency requirement of such applications. Patients that are minors or are in intensive care units (ICUs) are unable to self-report their pain conditions. The remote healthcare monitoring applications deploy IoT devices with bio-sensors capable of sensing surface electromyogram (sEMG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) signals to monitor the pain condition of such patients. In this article, fog computing architecture is proposed for deploying a remote pain monitoring system. The key motivation for adopting the fog paradigm in our proposed approach is to reduce latency and network consumption. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in minimizing delay and network utilization, simulations were carried out in iFogSim and the results were compared with the cloud-based systems. The results of the simulations carried out in this research indicate that a reduction in both latency and network consumption can be achieved by adopting the proposed approach for implementing a remote pain monitoring system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespread growth of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) and its dependence on the license-exempt Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) bands have made spectrum resources scarce. IoT can nonetheless get advantage from the Cognitive Radio (CR) technology to resolve the spectrum shortage issue. Since in CR networks the unlicensed Secondary Users (SUs) can exploit the white spaces in licensed channels of Primary Users (PUs) opportunistically. CR ad hoc networks are more useful in IoT due to ease of installation, low cost, and less complexity. However, CR ad hoc networks are prone to the rendezvous issue and hidden primary terminal problem. Moreover, the available channels in the CR system are not identical, PUs' and SUs' activities can diversify them as well. In this connection, channel selection by SUs is a complex balancing act since the transmission opportunities are space, frequency and time bounded. In this paper, we hence proposed a new Ranked Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (RSMA/CA) protocol for multichannel CR-based IoT networks. Our proposed RSMA/CA protocol not only resolves the hidden primary terminal problem but also avoids hidden and exposed terminal problems at the same time by mutual spectrum sensing. We suggest a new channel ranking mechanism to rank the available channels based on the long term qualities of the channels, PUs' return rate, and SUs' activities and tailor-made the algorithms in an existing scheme to make the rendezvous process more efficient. We analyze the performance of our proposed RSMA/CA in terms of normalized throughput through the Markov chain model and compared with that of the existing scheme. Simulation results show that our RSMA/CA protocol outperforms the existing scheme due to efficient rendezvous and access mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet-of-Things (IoT) enabling technologies such as ZigBee, WiFi, 6LowPAN, RFID, Machine-to-Machine, LTE-Advanced, etc. depend on the license-free Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) bands for the Internet. The proliferation of IoT devices is not only anticipated to create a huge amount of congestion in the near future, but even now the unlicensed spectrum is not enough in the ISM bands. Towards this end, Cognitive Radio (CR) technology can resolve the spectrum shortage issue since CR users can opportunistically exploit white spaces in licensed channels of the adjacent wireless systems. In CR networks, it is critical to coordinate spectrum access among Secondary Users (SUs) while protecting priority rights of Primary Users (PUs). Therein, SUs need to take good care of hidden PUs in order to avoid harmful interference. Further, a densely deployed CR network can compromise spectrum sensing quality and certainty of the results when a large number of SUs contends to access the same channel. Therefore, based on the vulnerable sensing results, SUs can cause interference to the PUs. In this paper, we first investigate the leading issues and then propose a novel Handshake Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (HSMA/CA) protocol for CR-based IoT networks. Our proposed HSMA/CA scheme resolves hidden primary terminal problem and maintains sufficient priority rights to PUs in a densely distributed network. In addition, we optimize the spectrum sensing period to maximize the system performance by maintaining peculiarities in the sensing operation like false alarm and misdetection. To evaluate the performance of HSMA/CA, we have analyzed the protocol through the Markov chain model in terms of throughput and verify its accuracy by simulations. Simulation results show that our scheme is suitable for non-collaborative densely deployed CR-based IoT networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Auction theory has found vital application in cognitive radio to relieve spectrum scarcity by redistributing idle channels to those who value them most. However, countries have been slow to introduce spectrum auctions in the secondary market. This could be in part because a number of substantial conflicts could emerge for leasing the spectrum at the micro level. These representative conflicts include the lack of legislation, interference management, setting a reasonable price, etc. In addition, the heterogeneous nature of the spectrum precludes the true evaluation of non-identical channels. The information abstracted from the initial activity in terms of price paid for specific channels may not be a useful indicator for the valuation of another channel. Therefore, auction mechanisms to efficiently redistribute idle channels in the secondary market are of vital interest. In this paper, we first investigate such leading conflicts and then propose a novel Adaptive and Economically-Robust spectrum slot Group-selling scheme (AERG), for cognitive radio-based networks such as IoT, 5G and LTE-Advanced. This scheme enables group-selling behavior among the primary users to collectively sell their uplink slots that are individually not attractive to the buyers due to the auction overhead. AERG is based on two single-round sealed-bid reverse-auction mechanisms accomplished in three phases. In the first phase, participants adapt asks and bids to fairly evaluate uplink slots considering the dynamics of spectrum trading such as space and time. In the second phase, an inner-auction in each primary network is conducted to collect asks on group slots, and then, an outer-auction is held between primary and secondary networks. In the third phase, the winning primary network declares the winners of the inner-auction that can evenly share the revenue of the slots. Simulation results and logical proofs verify that AERG satisfies economic properties such as budget balance, truthfulness and individual rationality and improves the utilities of the participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]