The overwhelming popularity of technology-based solutions and innovations to address day-to-day processes has significantly contributed to the emergence of smart cities. where millions of interconnected devices and sensors generate and share huge volumes of data. The easy and high availability of rich personal and public data generated in these digitalized and automated ecosystems renders smart cities vulnerable to intrinsic and extrinsic security breaches. Today, with fast-developing technologies, the classical username and password approaches are no longer adequate to secure valuable data and information from cyberattacks. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) can provide an effective solution to minimize the security challenges associated with legacy single-factor authentication systems (both online and offline). This paper identifies and discusses the role and need of MFA for securing the smart city ecosystem. The paper begins by describing the notion of smart cities and the associated security threats and privacy issues. The paper further provides a detailed description of how MFA can be used for securing various smart city entities and services. A new concept of blockchain-based multi-factor authentication named “BAuth-ZKP” for securing smart city transactions is presented in the paper. The concept focuses on developing smart contracts between the participating entities within the smart city and performing the transactions with zero knowledge proof (ZKP)-based authentication in a secure and privacy-preserved manner. Finally, the future prospects, developments, and scope of using MFA in smart city ecosystem are discussed.

A potential rise in interest in the Internet of Things in the upcoming years is expected in the fields of healthcare, supply chain, logistics, industries, smart cities, smart homes, cyber physical systems, etc. This paper discloses the fusion of the Internet of Things (IoT) with the so-called “distributed ledger technology” (DLT). IoT sensors like temperature sensors, motion sensors, GPS or connected devices convey the activity of the environment. Sensor information acquired by such IoT devices are then stored in a blockchain. Data on a blockchain remains immutable however its scalability still remains a challenging issue and thus represents a hindrance for its mass adoption in the IoT. Here a communication system based on IOTA and DLT is discussed with a systematic architecture for IoT devices and a future machine-to-machine (M2M) economy. The data communication between IoT devices is analyzed using multiple use cases such as sending DHT-11 sensor data to the IOTA tangle. The value communication is analyzed using a novel “micro-payment enabled over the top” (MP-OTT) streaming platform that is based on the “pay-as-you-go” and “consumption based” models to showcase IOTA value transactions. In this paper, we propose an enhancement to the classical “masked authenticated message” (MAM) communication protocol and two architectures called dual signature masked authenticated message (DSMAM) and index-based address value transaction (IBAVT). Further, we provided an empirical analysis and discussion of the proposed techniques. The implemented solution provides better address management with secured sharing and communication of IoT data, complete access control over the ownership of data and high scalability in terms of number of transactions that can be handled.

The rapid spread of false information and persistent manipulation attacks on online social networks (OSNs), often for political, ideological, or financial gain, has affected the openness of OSNs. While researchers from various disciplines have investigated different manipulation-triggering elements of OSNs (such as understanding information diffusion on OSNs or detecting automated behavior of accounts), these works have not been consolidated to present a comprehensive overview of the interconnections among these elements. Notably, user psychology, the prevalence of bots, and their tactics concerning false information detection have been overlooked in previous research. To address this research gap, this paper synthesizes insights from various disciplines to provide a comprehensive analysis of the manipulation landscape. By integrating the primary elements of social media manipulation (SMM), including false information, bots, and malicious campaigns, we extensively examine each SMM element. Through a systematic investigation of prior research, we identify commonalities, highlight existing gaps, and extract valuable insights in the field. Our findings underscore the urgent need for interdisciplinary research to effectively combat social media manipulations, and our systematization can guide future research efforts and assist OSN providers in ensuring the safety and integrity of their platforms.

This paper unfolds the infancy of the exquisite experience of the 'Internet of Things'. It will address the thrilling potential of the looming opportunity of IoT & will echo the integration of things when harnessed with the bubble of internet. The topic is vulnerable due to handful factors but chiefly improves the insights and will observe exponential rise in the 'Next generation'. The new rule enchanted for future will be "Anything that can be connected will be connected". Moreover, cognitive consciousness of people will understand that IoT is the next big thing without procrastinating, in particular. This paradigm will review the implementation and challenges of several domotics technologies and others in general within the communication field and its contribution to the 'Smart World', exploring supplementary in fields of healthcare, living culture, transportation and furthermore that collectively rise for the world of Ubiquitous computing or Pervasive computing around us. Pervasive computing in short serves as a meaning where smart devices are connected as network and available all time. By scratching past, we have seen DDoS attack happening in 2016 via botnet attacks & malware from the devices such as IP security cameras, routers, printers. IoT as of now, have taken steps for the security but still lacks for the major part. Blockchain, the revolutionary technology behind the famous Bitcoin, which is cryptographically secured and decentralized, hence, can act as the liberator for the security of IoT devices. Blockchain in short are distributed immutable ledger that maintains the integrity of the network by achieving consensus algorithms like Proof of Work or Proof of Stake. Hence, an attacker won't be able to take down the IoT devices as easy as it was taken down before and eventually, harder to attack or hack the network. This manuscript discusses the use of Blockchain technology implementation for the security of IoT devices along with the sustainable and energy efficient solution towards the problem stated and addresses the limitations, if any. We also discuss the future prospect for IoT, blockchain and other possible architectures.