FromUbiquitousComputingtoInternetofEverything:

ChallengesandOpportunitiesPaulPatras

Hypeorgenuineevolution?

1988

MarkWeiss(XeroxPARC)– UbiquitousComputing

“…hundredsofwirelesscomputingdevicesperpersonperoffice,ofallscales[…]ThisisdifferentfromPDA's,dynabooks,orinformationatyourfingertips.Itisinvisible,everywherecomputingthatdoesnotliveonapersonaldeviceofanysort,butisinthewoodworkeverywhere.[…]itshighestidealistomakeacomputersoimbedded,sofitting,sonatural,thatweuseitwithouteventhinkingaboutit.”

1999- 2002

NeilGershenfeld (MITMediaLab)“inretrospectitlooksliketherapidgrowthoftheWorldWideWebmayhavebeenjustthetriggerchargethatisnowsettingofftherealexplosion,asthingsstarttousetheNet.”

KevinAshton(Auto-ID@MIT)– InternetofThings

“Weneedaninternetforthings,astandardizedwayforcomputerstounderstandtherealworld”

2005

ITUInternetReport:TheInternetofThings

“alwaysoncommunications,inwhichnewubiquitoustechnologies(suchasradio-frequencyidentificationandsensors)promiseaworldofnetworkedandinterconnecteddevices(e.g.fridge,television,vehicle,garagedoor,etc.)thatproviderelevantcontentandinformationwhateverthelocationoftheuser– heraldingthedawnofanewera,oneinwhichtheinternet(ofdataandpeople)acquiresanewdimensiontobecomeanInternetofThings.”

2009

EC,IoT — AnactionplanforEurope

“networkofinterconnectedobjects,frombookstocars,fromelectricalappliancestofood[…].TheseobjectswillsometimeshavetheirownInternetProtocoladdresses,beembeddedincomplexsystemsandusesensorstoobtaininformationfromtheirenvironment[…]and/oruseactuatorstointeractwithit”.

2013

Cisco– coins InternetofEverything

“TheInternetofEverything(IoE)bringstogetherpeople,processes,data,andthingstomakenetworkedconnectionsmorerelevantandvaluablethaneverbefore– turninginformationintoactionsthatcreatenewcapabilities,richerexperiences,andunprecedentedeconomicopportunityforbusinesses,individuals,andcountries.”

Numerousopportunities

Healthcareandassistedliving

Transportation

Environmentmonitoringandagriculture

Smartbuildings

Manymore

Interconnectingmanydevicesthatexchange(big)dataischallengingHowtomodelandpredictthebehaviourofcomplexsystems?Howtoensurereliableconnectivityandoptimallysharecommunictions infrastructure?Howtoaggregatelargedatasetsandexploitonlycontextspecificinformationinreal-time?Howtopreserveuserprivacywhileachievingsomeutilityfromdataprocessing?HowtoensureInternet-connected‘things’aresecureandeasytouse?

Differentperspectivesneeded

UKresearcherswroteUbicomp manifestoin2006* – somechallengesfacingubiquitoussystemdesignstillhold

Theoreticalperspective: rigorousmodelsthatcapturesystembehaviouratdifferentlevelsofabstraction.

Engineeringperspective:architecturalandnetworkchallengesposedbylargescale,heterogeneous,anddynamicnature.

Experienceperspective:understandwhatprinciplesunderpinhuman-machineinteractionandhowaubiquitouscomputingsocietymightbeshapedfromasocio-technicalperspective.

*D.Chalmers,M.Chalmers,J.Crowcroft,M.Kwiatkowska,R.Milner,E.O’Neill,T.Rodden,V.Sassone,M.Sloman,“UbiquitousComputing:Experience,DesignandScience”,AGrandChallengeinComputingResearchsponsoredbytheUKComputingResearchCommittee,2006.

Applicationspecificchallenges

Computationally/energyconstrainedvsunconstraineddevices

Communicationtype(decentralisedvsscheduledandrange(longvsshort)

Userinterface(display,keys,touch,voice,gestures)

Example:Wristbandfitnesstrackers(activity,sleep,heartratemonitoring)

Operationmodel

Adaptedfromsecurelist.com

Surveillanceat10,000m

13devicesdetectedwithin<1minute

Securitystillanafterthought

• Interceptingsensitivepersonalinformationispossible• Injectionoffakeactivityreportstogainrewards• Compromisingvictim’spersonalstatistics

H.Fereidooni,J.Classen,T.Spink,P.Patras,M.Miettinen,A.-R.Sadeghi,M.Hollick,M.Conti,"BreakingFitnessRecordswithoutMoving:ReverseEngineeringandSpoofingFitbit",toappearinProc.RAID,Atlanta,GA,USA,Sept.2017.

SmartHomesArangeofappliancescontrollableviaamobileapp

Source:eurocomms.com

Obviousbenefits…

• Lowercarbonfootprint

• Personalisation(accesscontrol)

• Increasedcomfortandsafety(?)

…comewithrisks

• Communicationagainwirelessandsubjecttoabuse

• Controlviasoftware(app)– riskofmalwareandprivilegesabuse

• Hijackingandweaponisation

Example:Takingdownasurveillancecamera

Wirelesscamera Homewirelessrouter

Rogueaccesspoint

De-authenticationImpersonatehomerouter

Re-authentication+Videostreaminterception

Example:FakingIoT deviceandexploitinggenerousapppermission

Example:FakingIoT deviceandexploitinggenerousapppermission

• Possibletoaskphoneapptosendphotostakenbyuser,listofcontacts,andothersensitiveinformation

Whatwecando

Helpdesignsystemswithscalabilityinmind.

Worktoachievestrongencryptionwithlimitedcomputingcapabilities.

Standardisesecuritybydesign.

Definesustainabledevelopmentofnewdevices.

Traindevelopers/engineersthatunderstandembeddedsystems,programming,andsecurity.