Excellence in Research: iMed-Sec: Exploring Hardware-Assisted Solutions for Energy-Efficient Low-Overhead Security and Privacy for the Internet-of-Medical-Things

The combination of a network of physical devices embedded with electronics, Internet connectivity, and sensors, that can communicate and interact with others over the Internet is known as the Internet of Things (IoT). An IoT-based framework for the healthcare industry is called the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). Security of Implantable Medical Devices and Wearable Medical Devices is one of the major concerns of IoMT, in addition to medical data privacy.

Imminent threats to the safe use of IoMT include the vulnerability of IoMT-devices to hacking. The project will undertake research to explore Hardware-Assisted Security with low-overhead, energy-efficient solutions for the IoMT. The uniqueness of the iMed-Sec project is a unified multilayer effort involving devices, circuits, and systems for robust cybersecurity.

The project will build IoMT security course materials (such as modules, training materials, and syllabi) to boost various interdisciplinary STEM undergraduate curricula to train students in smart healthcare paradigms, thus serving the national interest.

iMed-Sec is a novel unified multilayer effort involving devices, circuits, and systems using a Security-by-Design (SbD) paradigm for energy-efficient robust cybersecurity of internet-connected smart systems used in healthcare industry, popularly known as the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). The project will address research to integrate IoMT devices with hardware security primitives called Physical Unclonable Functions (PUF) so that these can be used to perform real-time security and privacy functionalities, without using the resources of the devices, thus ensuring low-overhead.

PUF-based unified security and privacy protocols are not available in the current literature. The project will determine appropriate device technology and circuit topologies for robust, energy efficient PUFs useful in smart healthcare security and privacy. The project will result in energy efficient novel protocols for IoMT device cybersecurity.

The project will build IoMT cybersecurity course materials (such as modules, training materials, and syllabi) to boost various interdisciplinary STEM undergraduate curricula to train students in smart healthcare paradigms at Historically Black College and Universities.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.