Vulnerability analysis and method of selection of communication protocols for information transfer in Internet of Things systems

Abstract

The subject of study in the paper is the analysis of technologies, architectures, vulnerabilities and cyberattacks, communication patterns of smart objects, messaging models, and Internet of Things (IoT) / Web of Things (WoT) protocols for solving applied problems of critical and non-critical systems. The goal is to develop a method for selecting messaging models and application-level protocols in non-critical and critical multi-level IoT/WoT systems, provided that the type of access to intelligent objects is initially determined by the initial data, as well as analysis of vulnerabilities and attacks using these protocols. Objectives: to formalize the procedure for choosing communication protocols for IoT/WoT systems; analyze possible vulnerabilities of communication protocols; develop a method for selecting communication protocols for given initial data, depending on the selected type of communication template for smart objects; check practically the proposed method. The methods of research are methods of system analysis. The following results were obtained. The analysis of the features of communication protocols is conducted by comparing the main interrelated characteristics of IoT/WoT, the results of which are presented in the form of a table. A method has been developed for selecting communication protocols, depending on the selected type of communication template. The analysis of possible vulnerabilities of communication protocols and possible attacks using these protocols is conducted. The author has tested the method using the example of a corporate system (Smart House) based on the WoT concept. Findings. The scientific novelty of the results obtained is as follows: the analysis conducted in the paper shows that currently there is no unified approach to the choice of a messaging model and application-level protocols for building IoT/WoT, depending on the selected type of communication template for smart objects. The method for selecting communication protocols for the given conditions (for each IoT system its interaction pattern will correspond, depending on which components interact with each other), improved by the authors of the paper, makes it possible to simplify the task of using separate protocols for given IoT systems, considering vulnerabilities of protocols.