Jaime Ibarra’s research while affiliated with Northumbria University and other places

This research presents the collection of data from different cybersecurity methodologies used for securing IoT environments, of which a few were chosen for the validation of parameters. The methodology known as ENISA was used to filter, select and adjust to the needs of the architecture carried out in this project and was compared with the Hardening methodology. To review and validate the parameters of each one, a test bed environment was designed with several sensors and integrated systems (NodeMCU ESP8266 and Raspberry Pi). In addition, tests were carried out in three different scenarios and the validation of its security has been done using the Kali Linux distribution with tools like Nmap, Hydra, Wireshark, etc. The results were presented at the end in comparative tables attached to this document, which enabled the research to validate which methodology provides better resilience along with its applications to other architectures depending on the needs of the users.

The chapter focuses on building a theoretical network, which supports the protection of home networks from critical cyberattacks. A framework is proposed which aims to augment a home router with machine learning techniques to identify threats. During the current pandemic, employees have been working from home. So it is reasonable to expect that cyberattacks on households will become more common to leverage access into corporate networks. The model described in this chapter is for a single network; however, the network would be segmented into regions to avoid a wider compromise. Since the deployment of 5G, mobile threats are rising steadily. Therefore, the UK requires a robust plan to identify and mitigate all forms of threats including nation-state, terrorism, hacktivism. Additionally, the model dynamically analyses traffic to identify trends and patterns; therefore, supporting on the building of a resilient cyber defence. The emphasis in this model is to bridge the gap of trust between the government and the public, so that trust and transparency is established by a regulatory framework with security recommendations. At present, there is no authorisation to collect this data at national level, nor is there trust between the public and government regarding data and storage. It is hoped that this model would change human perception on the collection of data and contribute to a safer UK.

The Internet of Things is a cutting-edge technology that organisations are adopting them in order to increase their business productivity and speed the operations. It has been involved for homes, companies, industries and now it is present in healthcare. However, due to lack of standardisation and accelerated competition, providers are deploying devices focused on innovation without having the proper balance between security, performance and ease of use. This is leading to new attacking vectors easing attackers to penetrate systems with confidence and without the need to be an expert in hacking thanks to the variety of open source tools available on the Internet e.g. Kali Linux, Github. The increased number of cyber attacks through IoT devices has complicated the performance of forensic investigators, reaching to Chains of Custody (CoC) easy to challenge by defenders and the rejection of investigation cases. Healthcare organisations has become the most attractive targets for cyber crime due to the variety and value of information allocated on Electronic Health Records (EHR).

This publication highlights the fast-moving technological advancement and infiltration of Artificial Intelligence into society. Concepts of evolution of society through interconnectivity are explored, together with how the fusion of human and technological interaction leading to Augmented Humanity is fast becoming more than just an endemic phase, but a cultural phase shift to digital societies. It aims to balance both the positive progressive outlooks such developments bring with potential issues that may stem from innovation of this kind, such as the invasive procedures of bio hacking or ethical connotations concerning the usage of digital twins. This publication will also give the reader a good level of understanding on fundamental cyber defence principles, interactions with Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) and the Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence (C3I) decision-making framework. A detailed view of the cyber-attack landscape will be garnered; touching on the tactics, techniques and procedures used, red and blue teaming initiatives, cyber resilience and the protection of larger scale systems. The integration of AI, smart societies, the human-centric approach and Augmented Humanity is discernible in the exponential growth, collection and use of [big] data; concepts woven throughout the diversity of topics covered in this publication; which also discusses the privacy and transparency of data ownership, and the potential dangers of exploitation through social media. As humans are become ever more interconnected, with the prolificacy of smart wearable devices and wearable body area networks, the availability of and abundance of user data and metadata derived from individuals has grown exponentially. The notion of data ownership, privacy and situational awareness are now at the forefront in this new age.

Cybercrime has reached to a level that any cyber-attack can cause great levels of extortion. With the support of technology, healthcare organisations have been able to enhance medical treatment assuring better solutions to improve lifestyle of people. Likewise, criminals are attracted to the information allocated within hospital and clinics regardless of physical or digital storage. Electronic Health Records (EHR) are the most important asset in healthcare and criminals are aware of their value in the black market, including the dark web. This paper analyses the impact of cyber-attacks to healthcare organisations including methods used by criminals to enhance their anonymity, and the value of healthcare data nowadays. It studies blockchain, The Onion Router (TOR) and other common tools to ensure security and privacy while navigating through the internet and the reason why cybercriminals take advantage of the dark web to sell stolen information from hospitals in order to get higher financial gain. It also looks at the levels of extortion that is caused to organisations and how people are compromised.