AUPS: An Open Source AUthenticated Publish/Subscribe system for the Internet of Things. (December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rizzardi, Alessandra; Sicari, Sabrina; Miorandi, Daniele; Coen-Porisini, Alberto
• Is Part Of: Information systems. Volume 62(2016)
• Page Start: 29
• Page End: 41
• Publication Date: 2016-12
• Subjects: Internet of Things -- Security -- Publish & Subscribe -- MQTT -- Middleware -- Prototype; Database management -- Periodicals; Electronic data processing -- Periodicals; Bases de données -- Gestion -- Périodiques; Informatique -- Périodiques; Database management; Electronic data processing; Periodicals; 005.7
• DOI: 10.1016/j.is.2016.05.004
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-4379

Abstract

Abstract: The arising of the Internet of Things (IoT) is enabling new service provisioning paradigms, able to leverage heterogeneous devices and communication technologies. Efficient and secure communication mechanisms represent a key enabler for the wider adoption and diffusion of IoT systems. One of the most widely employed protocols in IoT and machine-to-machine communications is the Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT), a lightweight publish/subscribe messaging protocol designed for working with constrained devices. In MQTT messages are assigned to a specific topic to which users can subscribe. MQTT presents limited security support. In this paper we present a secure publish/subscribe system extending MQTT by means of a key management framework and a policy enforcement one. In this way the flow of information in MQTT-powered IoT systems can be flexibly controlled by means of flexible policies. The solution presented is released as open source under Apache v.2 license. Abstract : Highlights: A new secure MQTT mechanism named AUPS(AUthenticated Publish&Subscribe) is defined. AUPS is integrated in a flexible and cross-domain IoT architecture. AUPS is further integrated with a policy enforcement mechanism. AUPS is openly released under Apachev.2 license. A key management system is defined in order to guarantee a good level of security.