Assessing the security of IoT-based smart environments such as smart homes and smart cities is becoming fundamentally essential to implementing the correct control measures and effectively reducing security threats and risks brought about by deploying IoT-based smart technologies. The problem, however, is in finding security standards and assessment frameworks that best meets the security requirements as well as comprehensively assesses and exposes the security posture of IoT-based smart environments. To explore this gap, this paper presents a review of existing security standards and assessment frameworks which also includes several NIST special publications on security techniques highlighting their primary areas of focus to uncover those that can potentially address some of the security needs of IoT-based smart environments. Cumulatively a total of 80 ISO/IEC security standards, 32 ETSI standards and 37 different conventional security assessment frameworks which included 7 NIST special publications on security techniques were reviewed. To present an all-inclusive and up-to-date state-of-the-art research, the review process considered both published security standards and assessment frameworks as well as those under development. The findings show that most of the conventional security standards and assessment frameworks do not directly address the security needs of IoT-based smart environments but have the potential to be adapted into IoT-based smart environments. With this insight into the state-of-the-art research on security standards and assessment frameworks, this study helps advance the IoT field by opening new research directions as well as opportunities for developing new security standards and assessment frameworks that will address future IoT-based smart environments security concerns. This paper also discusses open problems and challenges related to IoT-based smart environments security issues. As a new contribution, a taxonomy of challenges for IoT-based smart environment security concerns drawn from the extensive literature examined during this study is proposed in this paper which also maps the identified challenges to potential proposed solutions.

Although numerous researches have been carried on Internet of Things (IoT), little focus has been employed on how Digital Forensics (DF) techniques can be used to conduct Digital Forensic Investigations (DFIs) in IoT-based infrastructures. Up to this point, IoT has not fully adapted to DF techniques owing to the fact that the current DF tools and procedures are not able to meet the heterogeneity and distributed nature of the IoT infrastructures. As a result, gathering, examining and analysing potential evidence from IoT environments that may be used as admissible evidence in a court of law poses a challenge to DF investigators and Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA). Therefore, the problem addressed is that, at the time of writing this paper, there currently exist no accepted DF frameworks that can help to conduct DFIs in an IoT-based environment. Based on this premise, the authors have proposed a generic Digital Forensic Investigation Framework for IoT (DFIF-IoT) that is able to support future IoT investigative capabilities with a degree of certainty. The proposed framework includes the following advantage: It complies with the ISO/IEC 27043: 2015 which is an international standard for information technology, security techniques, incident investigation principles, and process. It is, therefore, the authors' opinion that if the proposed framework is successfully incorporated in future DF tool development, it will facilitate effective digital forensic crime investigation for IoT infrastructures.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has been positioned as a key pillar of the Industry 4.0 revolution, which is projected to continue accelerating and realizing digital transformations. The IIoT is becoming indispensable, providing the means through which modern communication is conducted across industries and offering improved efficiency, scalability, and robustness. However, the structural and dynamic complexity introduced by the continuous integration of the IIoT has widened the scope for cyber-threats, as the processes and data generated by this integration are susceptible and vulnerable to attacks. This article presents an in-depth analysis of the state-of-the-art in the IIoT ecosystem from security and digital forensics perspectives. The dimensions of this study are twofold: first, we present an overview of the cutting-edge security of IIoT ecosystems, and second, we survey the literature on digital forensics. The key achievements, open challenges, and future directions are identified in each case. The challenges and directions for future studies that we identify will provide important guidance for cybersecurity researchers and practitioners.

Mobile Forensics (MF) field uses prescribed scientific approaches with a focus of recovering Potential Digital Evidence (PDE) from mobile devices levaragking forensic techniques. Consequently, increased proliferation, mobile-based services, and the need for new requirements have led to the development of the MF field, which has in the recent past become an area of importance. In this paper, the authors take a step to conduct a review on Mobile Forensics Investigation Process Models (MFIPMs) as a step towards uncovering the MF transitions as well as identifying open and future challenges. Based on the study conducted in this paper, a review of the literature revealed that there are a few MFIPMs that are designed for solving certain mobile scenarios, with a variety of concepts, investigation processes, activities, and tasks. A total of 100 MFIPMs were reviewed, to present an inclusive and up-to-date background of MFIPMs. Also, this study proposes a Harmonized Mobile Forensic Investigation Process Model (HMFIPM) for the MF field to unify and structure whole redundant investigation processes of the MF field. The paper also goes the extra mile to discuss the state of the art of mobile forensic tools, open and future challenges from a generic standpoint. The results of this study find direct relevance to forensic practitioners and researchers who could leverage the comprehensiveness of the developed processes for investigation.

Continuous and emerging advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have enabled Internet-of-Things (IoT)-to-Cloud applications to be induced by data pipelines and Edge Intelligence-based architectures. Advanced vehicular networks greatly benefit from these architectures due to the implicit functionalities that are focused on realizing the Internet of Vehicle (IoV) vision. However, IoV is susceptible to attacks, where adversaries can easily exploit existing vulnerabilities. Several attacks may succeed due to inadequate or ineffective authentication techniques. Hence, there is a timely need for hardening the authentication process through cutting-edge access control mechanisms. This paper proposes a Blockchain-based Multi-Factor authentication model that uses an embedded Digital Signature (MFBC_eDS) for vehicular clouds and Cloud-enabled IoV. Our proposed MFBC_eDS model consists of a scheme that integrates the Security Assertion Mark-up Language (SAML) to the Single Sign-On (SSO) capabilities for a connected edge to cloud ecosystem. MFBC_eDS draws an essential comparison with the baseline authentication scheme suggested by Karla and Sood. Based on the foundations of Karla and Sood’s scheme, an embedded Probabilistic Polynomial-Time Algorithm (ePPTA) and an additional Hash function for the $P_i$ generated during Karla and Sood’s authentication were proposed and discussed. The preliminary analysis of the proposition shows that the approach is more suitable to counter major adversarial attacks in an IoV-centered environment based on the Dolev–Yao adversarial model while satisfying aspects of the Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA) triad.

The emergence of unmanned aerial vehicles (also referred to as drones) has transformed the digital landscape of surveillance and supply chain logistics, especially in terrains where such was previously deemed unattainable. Moreover, the adoption of drones has further led to the proliferation of diverse drone types and drone-related criminality, which has introduced a myriad of security and forensics-related concerns. As a step towards understanding the state-of-the-art research into these challenges and potential approaches to mitigation, this study provides a detailed review of existing digital forensic models using the Design Science Research method. The outcome of this study generated in-depth knowledge of the research challenges and opportunities through which an effective investigation can be carried out on drone-related incidents. Furthermore, a potential generic investigation model has been proposed. The findings presented in this study are essentially relevant to forensic researchers and practitioners towards a guided methodology for drone-related event investigation. Ultimately, it is important to mention that this study presents a background for the development of international standardization for drone forensics.