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A. Muñoz, R. Rios, R. Roman, and J. Lopez, "A survey on the (in)security of Trusted Execution Environments",
Computers & Security, Elsevier, pp. 103-180, 2023. DOI (I.F.: 5.105)More..

Abstract

As the number of security and privacy attacks continue to grow around the world, there is an ever increasing need to protect our personal devices. As a matter of fact, more and more manufactures are relying on Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) to shield their devices. In particular, ARM TrustZone (TZ) is being widely used in numerous embedded devices, especially smartphones, and this technology is the basis for secure solutions both in industry and academia. However, as shown in this paper, TEE is not bullet-proof and it has been successfully attacked numerous times and in very different ways. To raise awareness among potential stakeholders interested in this technology, this paper provides an extensive analysis and categorization of existing vulnerabilities in TEEs and highlights the design flaws that led to them. The presented vulnerabilities, which are not only extracted from existing literature but also from publicly available exploits and databases, are accompanied by some effective countermeasures to reduce the likelihood of new attacks. The paper ends with some appealing challenges and open issues.

Impact Factor: 5.105
Journal Citation Reports® Science Edition (Thomson Reuters, 2021)

PDF icon MUNOZ2023103180.pdf (2.08 MB)
C. Alcaraz, R. Roman, P. Najera, and J. Lopez, "Security of Industrial Sensor Network-based Remote Substations in the context of the Internet of Things",
Ad Hoc Networks, vol. 11, Elsevier, pp. 1091–1104, 2013. DOI (I.F.: 1.943)More..

Abstract

The main objective of remote substations is to provide the central system with sensitive information from critical infrastructures, such as generation, distribution or transmission power systems. Wireless sensor networks have been recently applied in this particular context due to their attractive services and inherent benefits, such as simplicity, reliability and cost savings. However, as the number of control and data acquisition systems that use the Internet infrastructure to connect to substations increases, it is necessary to consider what connectivity model the sensor infrastructure should follow: either completely isolated from the Internet or integrated with it as part of the Internet of Things paradigm. This paper therefore addresses this question by providing a thorough analysis of both security requirements and infrastructural requirements corresponding to all those TCP/IP integration strategies that can be applicable to networks with constrained computational resources.

Impact Factor: 1.943
Journal Citation Reports® Science Edition (Thomson Reuters, 2013)

PDF icon 1752.pdf (1.21 MB)
J. Lopez, C. Alcaraz, and R. Roman, "Smart Control of Operational Threats in Control Substations",
Computers & Security, vol. 38, Elsevier, pp. 14-27, OCT 2013. DOI (I.F.: 1.172)More..

Abstract

Any deliberate or unsuitable operational action in control tasks of critical infrastructures, such as energy generation, transmission and distribution systems that comprise sub-domains of a Smart Grid, could have a significant impact on the digital economy: without energy, the digital economy cannot live. In addition, the vast majority of these types of critical systems are configured in isolated locations where their control depends on the ability of a few, supposedly trustworthy, human operators. However, this assumption of reliabilty is not always true. Malicious human operators (criminal insiders) might take advantage of these situations to intentionally manipulate the critical nature of the underlying infrastructure. These criminal actions could be not attending to emergency events, inadequately responding to incidents or trying to alter the normal behaviour of the system with malicious actions. For this reason, in this paper we propose a smart response mechanism that controls human operators’ operational threats at all times. Moreover, the design of this mechanism allows the system to be able to not only evaluate by itself, the situation of a particular scenario but also to take control when areas are totally unprotected and/or isolated. The response mechanism, which is based on Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks (IWSNs) for the constant monitoring of observed critical infrastructures, on reputation for controlling human operators’ actions, and on the ISA100.11a standard for alarm management, has been implemented and simulated to evaluate its feasibility for critical contexts.

Impact Factor: 1.172
Journal Citation Reports® Science Edition (Thomson Reuters, 2013)

PDF icon 1770.pdf (1.58 MB)
P. Najera, R. Roman, and J. Lopez, "Secure architecure for the integration of RFID and sensors in personal networks",
7th International Workshop on Security and Trust Management (STM’11), LNCS 7170, Springer, pp. 207-222, 2012. DOI More..

Abstract

The secure integration of RFID technology into the personal network paradigm, as a context-aware technology which complements body sensor networks, would provide notable benefits to applications and potential services of the PN. RFID security as an independent technology is reaching an adequate maturity level thanks to research in recent years; however, its integration into the PN model, interaction with other network resources, remote users and service providers requires a specific security analysis and a PN architecture prepared to support these resource-constrained pervasive technologies. This paper provides such PN architecture and analysis. Aspects such as the management of personal tags as members of the PN, the authentication and secure communication of PN nodes and remote users with the context-aware technologies, and the enforcement of security and privacy policies are discussed in the architecture.

PDF icon Najera_STM11.pdf (551.02 KB)
C. Alcaraz, J. Lopez, R. Roman, and H-H. Chen, "Selecting key management schemes for WSN applications",
Computers & Security, vol. 31, no. 38, Elsevier, pp. 956–966, Nov 2012. DOI (I.F.: 1.158)More..

Abstract

Key management in wireless sensor networks (WSN) is an active research topic. Due to the fact that a large number of key management schemes (KMS) have been proposed in the literature, it is not easy for a sensor network designer to know exactly which KMS best fits in a particular WSN application. In this article, we offer a comprehensive review on how the application requirements and the properties of various key management schemes influence each other. Based on this review, we show that the KMS plays a critical role in determining the security performance of a WSN network with given application requirements. We also develop a method that allows the network designers to select the most suitable KMS for a specific WSN network setting. In addition, the article also addresses the issues on the current state-of-the-art research on the KMS for homogeneous (i.e. non-hierarchical) networks to provide solutions for establishing link-layer keys in various WSN applications and scenarios.

Impact Factor: 1.158
Journal Citation Reports® Science Edition (Thomson Reuters, 2012)

PDF icon AlcarazR2012.pdf (326.12 KB)
C. Alcaraz, J. Lopez, J. Zhou, and R. Roman, "Secure SCADA Framework for the Protection of Energy Control Systems",
Concurrency and Computation Practice & Experience, vol. 23, no. 12, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 1414-1430, Aug 2011. DOI (I.F.: 0.636)More..

Abstract

Energy distribution systems are becoming increasingly widespread in today’s society. One of the elements that is used to monitor and control these systems are the SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems. In particular, these control systems and their complexities, together with the emerging use of the Internet and wireless technologies, bring new challenges that must be carefully considered. Examples of such challenges are the particular bene¯ts of the integration of those new technologies, and also the e®ects they may have on the overall SCADA security. The main task of this paper is to provide a framework that shows how the integration of di®erent state-of-the-art technologies in an energy control system, such as Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks (MANETs), and the Internet, can bring some interesting benefits such as status management and anomaly prevention, while maintaining the security of the whole system.

Impact Factor: 0.636
Journal Citation Reports® Science Edition (Thomson Reuters, 2011)

PDF icon Alcaraz2011a.pdf (908.82 KB)
R. Roman, P. Najera, and J. Lopez, "Securing the Internet of Things",
IEEE Computer, vol. 44, no. 9, IEEE, pp. 51 -58, Sept 2011. DOI (I.F.: 1.47)More..

Abstract

This paper presents security of Internet of things. In the Internet of Things vision, every physical object has a virtual component that can produce and consume services Such extreme interconnection will bring unprecedented convenience and economy, but it will also require novel approaches to ensure its safe and ethical use. The Internet and its users are already under continual attack, and a growing economy-replete with business models that undermine the Internet’s ethical use-is fully focused on exploiting the current version’s foundational weaknesses.

Impact Factor: 1.47
Journal Citation Reports® Science Edition (Thomson Reuters, 2011)

PDF icon 1633.pdf (373.78 KB)
F. Moyano, R. Roman, A. Abou El Kalam, M. Lacoste, and M. Maachaoui, "Security",
Digital Home Networking, R. Carbou, M. Diaz, E. Exposito, and R. Roman Eds., pp. 139-202, 2011.
F. Moyano, R. Roman, A. Abou El Kalam, M. Lacoste, and M. Maachaoui, "Security",
Digital Home Networking, R. Carbou, M. Diaz, E. Exposito, and R. Roman Eds., pp. 139-202, 2011.
R. Roman, J. Lopez, C. Alcaraz, and H. Hwa Chen, "SenseKey - Simplifying the Selection of Key Management Schemes for Sensor Networks",
5th International Symposium on Security and Multimodality in Pervasive Environments (SMPE’11), IEEE, March, 2011. DOI More..

Abstract

Key Management Schemes (KMS) are a very important security mechanism for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), as they are used to manage the credentials (i.e. secret keys) that are needed by the security primitives. There is a large number of available KMS protocols in the literature, but it is not clear what should network designers do to choose the most suitable protocol for the needs of their applications. In this paper, we consider that given a certain set of application requirements, the network designer can check which properties comply with those requirements and select the KMS protocols that contains those particular properties. Therefore, we study the relationship between requirements and properties, and we provide a web tool, the SenseKey tool, that can be used to automatically obtain an optimal set of KMS protocols.

PDF icon Roman11SK.pdf (143.01 KB)
R. J. Caro, et al., "SMEPP: A Secure Middleware for Embedded P2P",
ICT Mobile and Wireless Communications Summit (ICT-MobileSummit’09), June, 2009. More..

Abstract

The increasing presence of embedded devices with internet access capabilities constitutes a new challenge in software development. These devices are now cooperating in a distributed manner towards what has been called as "Internet of Things". In this new scenario the client-server model is sometimes not adequate and dynamic ad-hoc networks are more common than before. However, security poses as a hard issue as these systems are extremely vulnerable. In this paper, we introduce SMEPP project, which aims at developing a middleware designed for P2P systems with a special focus on embedded devices and security. SMEPP is designed to be deployed in a wide range of devices. It tries to ease the development of applications hiding platforms details and other aspects such as scalability, adaptability and interoperability. A full implementation of this middleware is already available that incorporates security features specially designed for low-resource devices. Moreover, we describe two business applications being developed using this middleware in the context of "Digital Home" and "Environmental Monitoring in Industrial Environments".

PDF icon Benito2009.pdf (331.96 KB)
C. Alcaraz, G. Fernandez, R. Roman, A. Balastegui, and J. Lopez, "Secure Management of SCADA Networks",
Novatica, New Trends in Network Management, vol. 9, no. 6, Cepis UPGRADE, pp. 22-28, December, 2008. More..

Abstract

When a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system monitors and manages other complex infrastructures through the use of distributed technologies, it becomes a critical infrastructure by itself: A failure or disruption in any of its components could implicate a serious impact on the performance of the other infrastructures. The connection with other systems makes a SCADA system more vulnerable against attacks, generating new security problems. As a result, it is essential to perform diverse security analysis frequently in order to keep an updated knowledge and to provide recommendations and/or solutions to mitigate or avoid anomalous events. This will facilitate the existence of a suitable, reliable, and available control network.

PDF icon Alcaraz2008b.pdf (325.52 KB)
R. Roman, J. Lopez, and S. Gritzalis, "Situation Awareness Mechanisms for Wireless Sensor Networks",
IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 46, no. 4, IEEE, pp. 102-107, April, 2008. DOI (I.F.: 2.799)More..

Abstract

A wireless sensor network should be able to operate for long periods of time with little or no external management. There is a requirement for this autonomy: the sensor nodes must be able to configure themselves in the presence of adverse situations. Therefore, the nodes should make use of situation awareness mechanisms to determine the existence of abnormal events in their surroundings. This work approaches the problem by considering the possible abnormal events as diseases, thus making it possible to diagnose them through their symptoms, namely, their side effects. Considering these awareness mechanisms as a foundation for high-level monitoring services, this article also shows how these mechanisms are included in the blueprint of an intrusion detection system.

Impact Factor: 2.799
Journal Citation Reports® Science Edition (Thomson Reuters, 2008)

PDF icon Roman2008a.pdf (280.63 KB)
R. Roman, C. Alcaraz, and J. Lopez, "A Survey of Cryptographic Primitives and Implementations for Hardware-Constrained Sensor Network Nodes",
Mobile Networks and Applications, vol. 12, no. 4, Springer, pp. 231-244, August, 2007. DOI (I.F.: 0.586)More..

Abstract

In a wireless sensor network environment, a sensor node is extremely constrained in terms of hardware due to factors such as maximizing lifetime and minimizing physical size and overall cost. Nevertheless, these nodes must be able to run cryptographic operations based on primitives such as hash functions, symmetric encryption and public key cryptography in order to allow the creation of secure services. Our objective in this paper is to survey how the existing research-based and commercial-based sensor nodes are suitable for this purpose, analyzing how the hardware can influence the provision of the primitives and how software implementations tackles the task of implementing instances of those primitives. As a result, it will be possible to evaluate the influence of provision of security in the protocols and applications/scenarios where sensors can be used.

Impact Factor: 0.586
Journal Citation Reports® Science Edition (Thomson Reuters, 2007)

PDF icon Roman2007.pdf (280.7 KB)
C. Fernandez-Gago, R. Roman, and J. Lopez, "A Survey on the Applicability of Trust Management Systems for Wireless Sensor Networks",
3rd International Workshop on Security, Privacy and Trust in Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing (SecPerU’07), IEEE Computer Society, pp. 25-30, 2007. DOI More..

Abstract

Trust plays an important role in human life environments and virtual organizations. In the context of a network, trust may help its elements to decide whether another member of the same network is being uncooperative or malicious. Trust becomes quite important in self-configurable and autonomous systems, such as wireless sensor networks (WSN). However, very little effort has been done in the field of trust management in WSN. On the other hand, some efforts have been made in quite related fields such as Ad-hoc and P2P networks. In this paper we give an overview of existing trust management solutions, mainly those developed for Ad-Hoc and P2P networks and, more importantly, investigate their suitability to WSN. We also provide some guidelines to aid the development of trust management systems for WSN according to the nature of these networks.

PDF icon FernandezGago2007.pdf (137.36 KB)
J. Lopez, J. A. Montenegro, and R. Roman, "Service-Oriented Security Architecture for CII based on Sensor Networks",
2nd International Workshop on Security Privacy and Trust in Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing (SecPerU’06), IEEE Press, pp. 1-6, June, 2006. More..

Abstract

The extraordinary growth of the Information Society is originating a high dependency on ICT. This provokes that those strongly interrelated technological infrastructures, as well as the information systems that underpin them, become highly critical, since their disruption would lead to high economical, material and, sometimes, human loss. As a consequence, the protection of these Critical Information Infrastructures is becoming a major objective for governments and companies. In this paper, we give an overview of the main challenges and open research issues on Critical Information Infrastructure security, and introduce an on-going research project that, using wireless sensor networks as an underlying technology, is dealing with those problems. Our research project focuses on the development of protection, control, evaluation, maintenance and verification mechanisms, integrated into a secure service-oriented architecture.

PDF icon JavierLopez2006a.pdf (66.6 KB)
R. Roman, J. Zhou, and J. Lopez, "On the Security of Wireless Sensor Networks",
Computational Science and Its Applications (ICCSA’05), LNCS 3482, Springer, pp. 681-690, May, 2005. DOI More..

Abstract

Wireless Sensor Networks are extremely vulnerable against any kind of internal or external attacks, due to several factors such as resource-constrained nodes and lack of tamper-resistant packages. As a result, security must be an important factor to have in mind when designing the infrastructure and protocols of sensor networks. In this paper we survey the state-of-the-art security issues in sensor networks and highlight the open areas of research.security issues in sensor networks and highlight the open areas of research.

PDF icon Roman2005e.pdf (111.92 KB)
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