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Journal ArticleDOI

Security and Privacy Issues in Wireless Sensor Networks for Healthcare Applications

01 Feb 2012-Journal of Medical Systems (Springer US)-Vol. 36, Iss: 1, pp 93-101
TL;DR: A new field known as wireless body area networks (WBAN or simply BAN) has emerged to address the growing use of sensor technology in healthcare applications and security and privacy concerns are discussed.
Abstract: The use of wireless sensor networks (WSN) in healthcare applications is growing in a fast pace. Numerous applications such as heart rate monitor, blood pressure monitor and endoscopic capsule are already in use. To address the growing use of sensor technology in this area, a new field known as wireless body area networks (WBAN or simply BAN) has emerged. As most devices and their applications are wireless in nature, security and privacy concerns are among major areas of concern. Due to direct involvement of humans also increases the sensitivity. Whether the data gathered from patients or individuals are obtained with the consent of the person or without it due to the need by the system, misuse or privacy concerns may restrict people from taking advantage of the full benefits from the system. People may not see these devices safe for daily use. There may also possibility of serious social unrest due to the fear that such devices may be used for monitoring and tracking individuals by government agencies or other private organizations. In this paper we discuss these issues and analyze in detail the problems and their possible measures.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
12 Jan 2017-Sensors
TL;DR: This paper has presented and compared several low-cost and non-invasive health and activity monitoring systems that were reported in recent years and compatibility of several communication technologies as well as future perspectives and research challenges in remote monitoring systems will be discussed.
Abstract: Life expectancy in most countries has been increasing continually over the several few decades thanks to significant improvements in medicine, public health, as well as personal and environmental hygiene. However, increased life expectancy combined with falling birth rates are expected to engender a large aging demographic in the near future that would impose significant burdens on the socio-economic structure of these countries. Therefore, it is essential to develop cost-effective, easy-to-use systems for the sake of elderly healthcare and well-being. Remote health monitoring, based on non-invasive and wearable sensors, actuators and modern communication and information technologies offers an efficient and cost-effective solution that allows the elderly to continue to live in their comfortable home environment instead of expensive healthcare facilities. These systems will also allow healthcare personnel to monitor important physiological signs of their patients in real time, assess health conditions and provide feedback from distant facilities. In this paper, we have presented and compared several low-cost and non-invasive health and activity monitoring systems that were reported in recent years. A survey on textile-based sensors that can potentially be used in wearable systems is also presented. Finally, compatibility of several communication technologies as well as future perspectives and research challenges in remote monitoring systems will be discussed.

795 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Concerns as blockchain technology has its own specific vulnerabilities and issues that need to be addressed, such as mining incentives, mining attacks, and key management are highlighted in this survey paper.

377 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
22 Dec 2011-Sensors
TL;DR: The security and privacy issues in healthcare application using WMSNs are discussed, some popular healthcare projects using wireless medical sensor networks are highlighted, and their security is discussed, and a summary of open security research issues that need to be explored for future healthcare applications using W MSNs are explored.
Abstract: Healthcare applications are considered as promising fields for wireless sensor networks, where patients can be monitored using wireless medical sensor networks (WMSNs). Current WMSN healthcare research trends focus on patient reliable communication, patient mobility, and energy-efficient routing, as a few examples. However, deploying new technologies in healthcare applications without considering security makes patient privacy vulnerable. Moreover, the physiological data of an individual are highly sensitive. Therefore, security is a paramount requirement of healthcare applications, especially in the case of patient privacy, if the patient has an embarrassing disease. This paper discusses the security and privacy issues in healthcare application using WMSNs. We highlight some popular healthcare projects using wireless medical sensor networks, and discuss their security. Our aim is to instigate discussion on these critical issues since the success of healthcare application depends directly on patient security and privacy, for ethic as well as legal reasons. In addition, we discuss the issues with existing security mechanisms, and sketch out the important security requirements for such applications. In addition, the paper reviews existing schemes that have been recently proposed to provide security solutions in wireless healthcare scenarios. Finally, the paper ends up with a summary of open security research issues that need to be explored for future healthcare applications using WMSNs.

363 citations


Cites background from "Security and Privacy Issues in Wire..."

  • ...There are other survey studies on security and privacy issues in wireless healthcare applications [8,33-36,40-43]....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The main aim is to review current state of the art monitoring systems and to perform extensive and an in-depth analysis of the findings in the area of smart health monitoring systems.
Abstract: Health monitoring systems have rapidly evolved during the past two decades and have the potential to change the way health care is currently delivered. Although smart health monitoring systems automate patient monitoring tasks and, thereby improve the patient workflow management, their efficiency in clinical settings is still debatable. This paper presents a review of smart health monitoring systems and an overview of their design and modeling. Furthermore, a critical analysis of the efficiency, clinical acceptability, strategies and recommendations on improving current health monitoring systems will be presented. The main aim is to review current state of the art monitoring systems and to perform extensive and an in-depth analysis of the findings in the area of smart health monitoring systems. In order to achieve this, over fifty different monitoring systems have been selected, categorized, classified and compared. Finally, major advances in the system design level have been discussed, current issues facing health care providers, as well as the potential challenges to health monitoring field will be identified and compared to other similar systems.

330 citations


Cites background from "Security and Privacy Issues in Wire..."

  • ...Security of medical data should be given the main priority when considering medical worthy applications [17, 84, 85]....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Dec 2017
TL;DR: The impact of security issues and possible solutions are determined, providing future security-relevant directions to those responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining Fog systems.
Abstract: Fog computing is a new paradigm that extends the Cloud platform model by providing computing resources on the edges of a network. It can be described as a cloud-like platform having similar data, computation, storage and application services, but is fundamentally different in that it is decentralized. In addition, Fog systems are capable of processing large amounts of data locally, operate on-premise, are fully portable, and can be installed on heterogeneous hardware. These features make the Fog platform highly suitable for time and location-sensitive applications. For example, Internet of Things (IoT) devices are required to quickly process a large amount of data. This wide range of functionality driven applications intensifies many security issues regarding data, virtualization, segregation, network, malware and monitoring. This paper surveys existing literature on Fog computing applications to identify common security gaps. Similar technologies like Edge computing, Cloudlets and Micro-data centres have also been included to provide a holistic review process. The majority of Fog applications are motivated by the desire for functionality and end-user requirements, while the security aspects are often ignored or considered as an afterthought. This paper also determines the impact of those security issues and possible solutions, providing future security-relevant directions to those responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining Fog systems.

267 citations


Cites methods from "Security and Privacy Issues in Wire..."

  • ...It is important that their communication is encrypted using Wi-Fi security algorithms likeWiFi Protected Access (WPA), WPA2 [133] etc. Wireless access points are usually visible to all devices without any connection....

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  • ...It is important that their communication is encrypted using Wi-Fi security algorithms likeWiFi Protected Access (WPA), WPA2 [133] etc....

    [...]

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A multi-tier telemedicine system that performs real-time analysis of sensors' data, provides guidance and feedback to the user, and can generate warnings based on the user's state, level of activity, and environmental conditions is introduced.
Abstract: Background Recent technological advances in integrated circuits, wireless communications, and physiological sensing allow miniature, lightweight, ultra-low power, intelligent monitoring devices. A number of these devices can be integrated into a Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN), a new enabling technology for health monitoring.

1,114 citations


"Security and Privacy Issues in Wire..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Applications of wireless sensor networks focused on monitoring the health status of patients have been in demand and various projects are in the development and implementation stages [4, 6, 9]....

    [...]

  • ...If resolved successfully, these systems will open a whole range of possible new applications that can significantly influence our lives [4]....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors' prototype sensor network for health monitoring that utilizes off-the-shelf 802.15.4 compliant network nodes and custom-built motion and heart activity sensors is described and the authors' solutions for time synchronization, power management, and on-chip signal processing are presented.

1,039 citations


"Security and Privacy Issues in Wire..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Applications of wireless sensor networks focused on monitoring the health status of patients have been in demand and various projects are in the development and implementation stages [4, 6, 9]....

    [...]

  • ...Authors in [9] also have discussed some of these issues for personal health monitoring....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article outlines the constraints, security requirements, and attacks with their corresponding countermeasures in WSNs, and presents a holistic view of security issues, classified into five categories: cryptography, key management, secure routing, secure data aggregation, and intrusion detection.
Abstract: Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are used in many applications in military, ecological, and health-related areas These applications often include the monitoring of sensitive information such as enemy movement on the battlefield or the location of personnel in a building Security is therefore important in WSNs However, WSNs suffer from many constraints, including low computation capability, small memory, limited energy resources, susceptibility to physical capture, and the use of insecure wireless communication channels These constraints make security in WSNs a challenge In this article we present a survey of security issues in WSNs First we outline the constraints, security requirements, and attacks with their corresponding countermeasures in WSNs We then present a holistic view of security issues These issues are classified into five categories: cryptography, key management, secure routing, secure data aggregation, and intrusion detection Along the way we highlight the advantages and disadvantages of various WSN security protocols and further compare and evaluate these protocols based on each of these five categories We also point out the open research issues in each subarea and conclude with possible future research directions on security in WSNs

929 citations


"Security and Privacy Issues in Wire..." refers background in this paper

  • ...It is also likely that more powerful motes will need to be designed in order to support the increasing requirements for computation and communication [16]....

    [...]

Proceedings Article
01 Jan 2004
TL;DR: The architecture of CodeBlue, a wireless infrastructure intended for deployment in emergency medical care, integrating low-power, wireless vital sign sensors, PDAs, and PC-class systems, is introduced and research challenges being addressed are highlighted.
Abstract: Sensor devices integrating embedded processors, low-power, lowbandwidth radios, and a modest amount of storage have the potential to enhance emergency medical care. Wearable vital sign sensors can track patient status and location, while simultaneously operating as active tags. We introduce CodeBlue, a wireless infrastructure intended for deployment in emergency medical care, integrating low-power, wireless vital sign sensors, PDAs, and PC-class systems. CodeBlue will enhance first responders’ ability to assess patients on scene, ensure seamless transfer of data among caregivers, and facilitate efficient allocation of hospital resources. Intended to scale to very dense networks with thousands of devices and extremely volatile network conditions, this infrastructure will support reliable, ad hoc data delivery, a flexible naming and discovery scheme, and a decentralized security model. This paper introduces our architecture and highlights research challenges being addressed by the CodeBlue

892 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the MetroSense Project's vision of people-centric sensing, users are the key architectural system component, enabling a host of new application areas such as personal, public, and social sensing.
Abstract: Technological advances in sensing, computation, storage, and communications will turn the near-ubiquitous mobile phone into a global mobile sensing device. People-centric sensing will help drive this trend by enabling a different way to sense, learn, visualize, and share information about ourselves, friends, communities, the way we live, and the world we live in. It juxtaposes the traditional view of mesh sensor networks with one in which people, carrying mobile devices, enable opportunistic sensing coverage. In the MetroSense Project's vision of people-centric sensing, users are the key architectural system component, enabling a host of new application areas such as personal, public, and social sensing.

596 citations