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Internet of Things (IoT)
enable them to communicate through the nanonetwork via the Internet for global connection among a lot of devices around the world. “Technavios analysts forecast the global
internet of Nano-Things (IoNT) market to grow at a CAGR of 24.25% during the period
2016–2020” (Technavio 2016). The concept of IoNT was introduced by Ian Akyildiz and
Josep Jornet who defined an architecture for electromagnetic nanodevice communication
that includes protocols, channel modeling, and information encoding (Akyildiz and Jornet
2010; Balasubramaniam and Kangasharju 2013). On the IoNT, nanonetworks are connecting nanodevices which can sense, collect, process, and store information. These nanodevices communicate through nano-communication process which means transfer of data
and information between different nanodevices inside the nanonetwork. This nanocommunication process consists of two types, namely molecular and electromagnetic
communication, as follows (Akyildiz et al. 2008):
1. Molecular Communication (MC): This type of communication is defined as the
exchange of information through the transmission and reception of molecules.
These molecules will interact with nanodevices in a biological environment such
as human body.
2. Electromagnetic Communication (EM): This type of communication is defined
as the exchange of information through the transmission and reception of electromagnetic radiation from nanodevices in nanonetworks. These radiations will be
emitted in specific bandwidth for allowing nanodevices to interact and communicate with each other.
The IoNT enabling technologies could pose new, severe security threats if managed
with pernicious intent against IoNT infrastructure; therefore, security on the IoNT plays
a vital role in providing safe and reliable communication environment between nanodevices in nanonetworks, which consist of nanodevices that can connect together to exchange
information. Attackers can exploit vulnerabilities and weaknesses in these nanonetworks.
An attacker can also exploit the weakness of crucial health and safety equipment or the
communication channel and trigger malicious instructions to jeopardize a patient’s life.
For example, in the area of Internet of bio-nano-things (IoBNT), malicious people could
hack bio-things which are used to access human body and create health problems by introducing new types of viruses that can cause new diseases. Current security mechanisms
and techniques cannot secure nanodevices in the nanonetwork from malicious attacks and
crimes because nanodevices work in terahertz band. To protect the IoNT infrastructure,
there is a serious need to propose and develop new security solutions to prevent crimes
related to the IoNT. The existing security solutions cannot be used directly for securing
the IoNT infrastructure. Some of the suggested solutions for securing the IoNT environment are checking the integrity of data by using checksum algorithms, using encryption
algorithms to encrypt data before transferring between nanodevices, using data hiding
algorithms for hiding critical data, and using multi layer authentication to guarantee that
only the user can access nanonetworks.
To investigate such attacks in the IoNT paradigm, there is a need to execute digital forensics procedures to find any digital evidence about criminal or illegal activities.
Unfortunately, performing digital forensics investigation in the IoNT brings a new challenge for examiners and digital investigators as the existing digital forensics tools and
procedures do not cope with the IoNT environment to collect and extract digital evidence
from nanodevices inside nanonetworks. The huge number of nanodevices will generate a
massive amount of possible evidence, which will bring new challenges for all aspects of
Internet of Things (IoT)
enable them to communicate through the nanonetwork via the Internet for global connection among a lot of devices around the world. “Technavios analysts forecast the global
internet of Nano-Things (IoNT) market to grow at a CAGR of 24.25% during the period
2016–2020” (Technavio 2016). The concept of IoNT was introduced by Ian Akyildiz and
Josep Jornet who defined an architecture for electromagnetic nanodevice communication
that includes protocols, channel modeling, and information encoding (Akyildiz and Jornet
2010; Balasubramaniam and Kangasharju 2013). On the IoNT, nanonetworks are connecting nanodevices which can sense, collect, process, and store information. These nanodevices communicate through nano-communication process which means transfer of data
and information between different nanodevices inside the nanonetwork. This nanocommunication process consists of two types, namely molecular and electromagnetic
communication, as follows (Akyildiz et al. 2008):
1. Molecular Communication (MC): This type of communication is defined as the
exchange of information through the transmission and reception of molecules.
These molecules will interact with nanodevices in a biological environment such
as human body.
2. Electromagnetic Communication (EM): This type of communication is defined
as the exchange of information through the transmission and reception of electromagnetic radiation from nanodevices in nanonetworks. These radiations will be
emitted in specific bandwidth for allowing nanodevices to interact and communicate with each other.
The IoNT enabling technologies could pose new, severe security threats if managed
with pernicious intent against IoNT infrastructure; therefore, security on the IoNT plays
a vital role in providing safe and reliable communication environment between nanodevices in nanonetworks, which consist of nanodevices that can connect together to exchange
information. Attackers can exploit vulnerabilities and weaknesses in these nanonetworks.
An attacker can also exploit the weakness of crucial health and safety equipment or the
communication channel and trigger malicious instructions to jeopardize a patient’s life.
For example, in the area of Internet of bio-nano-things (IoBNT), malicious people could
hack bio-things which are used to access human body and create health problems by introducing new types of viruses that can cause new diseases. Current security mechanisms
and techniques cannot secure nanodevices in the nanonetwork from malicious attacks and
crimes because nanodevices work in terahertz band. To protect the IoNT infrastructure,
there is a serious need to propose and develop new security solutions to prevent crimes
related to the IoNT. The existing security solutions cannot be used directly for securing
the IoNT infrastructure. Some of the suggested solutions for securing the IoNT environment are checking the integrity of data by using checksum algorithms, using encryption
algorithms to encrypt data before transferring between nanodevices, using data hiding
algorithms for hiding critical data, and using multi layer authentication to guarantee that
only the user can access nanonetworks.
To investigate such attacks in the IoNT paradigm, there is a need to execute digital forensics procedures to find any digital evidence about criminal or illegal activities.
Unfortunately, performing digital forensics investigation in the IoNT brings a new challenge for examiners and digital investigators as the existing digital forensics tools and
procedures do not cope with the IoNT environment to collect and extract digital evidence
from nanodevices inside nanonetworks. The huge number of nanodevices will generate a
massive amount of possible evidence, which will bring new challenges for all aspects of