On the security of consumer wearable devices in the Internet of Things

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 13; no. 4; p. e0195487
• Main Authors: Tahir, Hasan, Tahir, Ruhma, McDonald-Maier, Klaus
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 18.04.2018; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Accelerometers; Biology and Life Sciences; Computer and Information Sciences; Computer security; Computer simulation; Cryptography; Cybersecurity; Electronic devices; Engineering and Technology; Fitness; Industrial applications; Integrated circuits; Internet of Things; Medicine and Health Sciences; Miniaturization; Physical Sciences; Research and Analysis Methods; Safety and security measures; Security; Sensors; Technology; Wearable computers; Wearable technology; Wireless networks; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195487

Miniaturization of computer hardware and the demand for network capable devices has resulted in the emergence of a new class of technology called wearable computing. Wearable devices have many purposes like lifestyle support, health monitoring, fitness monitoring, entertainment, industrial uses, and gaming. Wearable devices are hurriedly being marketed in an attempt to capture an emerging market. Owing to this, some devices do not adequately address the need for security. To enable virtualization and connectivity wearable devices sense and transmit data, therefore it is essential that the device, its data and the user are protected. In this paper the use of novel Integrated Circuit Metric (ICMetric) technology for the provision of security in wearable devices has been suggested. ICMetric technology uses the features of a device to generate an identification which is then used for the provision of cryptographic services. This paper explores how a device ICMetric can be generated by using the accelerometer and gyroscope sensor. Since wearable devices often operate in a group setting the work also focuses on generating a group identification which is then used to deliver services like authentication, confidentiality, secure admission and symmetric key generation. Experiment and simulation results prove that the scheme offers high levels of security without compromising on resource demands.