MDPI Sensors Special Issue 2019 : Special Issue on RFID and NFC in Secure IoT Scenarios and Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Short-range wireless communications are considered one of the pillars of the Internet of Things (IoT). Among the different technologies considered as short range, near field communication (NFC) and radio-frequency identification (RFID), both active and passive, are widely accepted as the most extended techniques for the realization of IoT applications by the end user. Together, they are complementing each other to provide connectivity. RFID is commonly used to automatize inventory in the retail sector whereas NFC can provide this information to ease purchasing processes.

However, NFC, RFID and, in general, the irruption of IoT, create unique requirements in security different to the ones considered when people, computers, servers, and more recently smartphones were the only inhabitants of the Internet. Firstly, as a myriad of sensors provide information which will end up taking a decision to act or not, we need reliable data, regardless of the sector: home, health, business, etc. Secondly, the extreme variety in terms of resources in IoT devices imposes particular restrictions on the implementation of security methods or even on the delegation of these methods in other devices. Thirdly, IoT is much more an ecosystem than any other distribution infrastructure in the past and, moreover, it is extremely dynamic and decoupled. Considering this perspective, assumptions in traditional security methods can fail. Fourthly, the massive number of IoT devices impede a centralized management of security in the style of a traditional information security management system (ISMS), and collaborative security management should be pursued.

On the application side, it is clear that the integration of IoT solutions with authentication allows us to have a unique identifier that can be used to discover and analyse inefficiencies with the help of big data technologies. It also facilitates the monitoring, security, and traceability in (but not limited to) manufacturing, transport, water and power services, supply and warehousing, or safety in medical and IT infrastructures environments. The application side of security also has a place in this issue.

Another important perspective of the IoT technology covered in this issue is the open source hardware and software implementing low-cost application sensors where a commercial solution does not exist, the commercial solution is expensive, or not flexible enough to apply to the problem.

Although no IoT technology is excluded, this Special Issue is specially oriented toward the security challenges of scenarios and applications which make an extensive use of RFID, NFC, and beacons. One of the objectives of this Special Issue is to provide a vision of the current situation of proximity solutions. The adoption rate and capabilities are different but, in many cases, a mix of technologies will be the best option.

- Risk assessment in IoT
- Information Security management in IoT
- Trusted Identities
- Trusted data
- Trusted infrastructure
- Privacy and confidentiality
- Product traceability and safety
- Forensic data analytics in IoT devices
- Early intrusion detection
- Safety-based IoT devices
- Monitoring of infrastructures
- Open source/low-cost hardware and applications

Prof. Carlos Dafonte
Prof. Ana Fernández-Vilas
Guest Editors