IoT networks are increasingly popular nowadays to monitor critical environments of different nature, significantly increasing the amount of data exchanged. Due to the huge number of connected IoT devices, security of such networks and devices is therefore a critical issue. Detection systems assume a crucial role in the cyber-security field: based on innovative algorithms such as machine learning, they are able to identify or predict cyber-attacks, hence to protect the underlying system. Nevertheless, specific datasets are required to train detection models. In this work we present MQTTset, a dataset focused on the MQTT protocol, widely adopted in IoT networks. We present the creation of the dataset, also validating it through the definition of a hypothetical detection system, by combining the legitimate dataset with cyber-attacks against the MQTT network. Obtained results demonstrate how MQTTset can be used to train machine learning models to implement detection systems able to protect IoT contexts.

The application of machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques in the medical world is growing, with a range of purposes: from the identification and prediction of possible diseases to patient monitoring and clinical decision support systems. Furthermore, the widespread use of remote monitoring medical devices, under the umbrella of the “Internet of Medical Things” (IoMT), has simplified the retrieval of patient information as they allow continuous monitoring and direct access to data by healthcare providers. However, due to possible issues in real-world settings, such as loss of connectivity, irregular use, misuse, or poor adherence to a monitoring program, the data collected might not be sufficient to implement accurate algorithms. For this reason, data augmentation techniques can be used to create synthetic datasets sufficiently large to train machine learning models. In this work, we apply the concept of generative adversarial networks (GANs) to perform a data augmentation from patient data obtained through IoMT sensors for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) monitoring. We also apply an explainable AI algorithm to demonstrate the accuracy of the synthetic data by comparing it to the real data recorded by the sensors. The results obtained demonstrate how synthetic datasets created through a well-structured GAN are comparable with a real dataset, as validated by a novel approach based on machine learning.

The advancement in the domain of IoT accelerated the development of new communication technologies such as the Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol. Although MQTT servers/brokers are considered the main component of all MQTT-based IoT applications, their openness makes them vulnerable to potential cyber-attacks such as DoS, DDoS, or buffer overflow. As a result of this, an efficient intrusion detection system for MQTT-based applications is still a missing piece of the IoT security context. Unfortunately, existing IDSs do not provide IoT communication protocol support such as MQTT or CoAP to validate crafted or malformed packets for protecting the protocol implementation vulnerabilities of IoT devices. In this paper, we have designed and developed an MQTT parsing engine that can be integrated with network-based IDS as an initial layer for extensive checking against IoT protocol vulnerabilities and improper usage through a rigorous validation of packet fields during the packet-parsing stage. In addition, we evaluate the performance of the proposed solution across different reported vulnerabilities. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution for detecting and preventing the exploitation of vulnerabilities on IoT protocols.

Cooperative Cyber-Physical Systems (Co-CPSs) can be enabled using wireless communication technologies, which in principle should address reliability and safety challenges. Safety for Co-CPS enabled by wireless communication technologies is a crucial aspect and requires new dedicated design approaches. In this paper, we provide an overview of five Co-CPS use cases, as introduced in our SafeCOP EU project, and analyze their safety design requirements. Next, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the main existing wireless communication technologies giving details about the protocols developed within particular standardization bodies. We also investigate to what extent they address the non-functional requirements in terms of safety, security and real time, in the different application domains of each use case. Finally, we discuss general recommendations about the use of different wireless communication technologies showing their potentials in the selected real-world use cases. The discussion is provided under consideration in the 5G standardization process within 3GPP, whose current efforts are inline to current gaps in wireless communications protocols for Co-CPSs including many future use cases.