Evidence identification in IoT networks based on threat assessment.

This work focuses on near-future, User-Centric IoT systems used in smart homes. Our goal is to anticipate cyber threats to these systems and suggest points of focus for digital investigators. IoT smart homes have multi-featured, connected devices such as home appliances, monitoring devices and security devices. The envisioned near-future system is more heterogeneous than current systems, and includes advanced ‘decision making’ capabilities to autonomously change network state. In this work, we propose a model of a near-future, User-Centric IoT network, describe its characteristics, including devices, services and dataflows. Using this model network, we outline common use cases, and identify potential concerns for digital investigators working with such a network. We then conduct a threat analysis based on these use cases, outlining cyber–physical risks. Finally, we experiment with a case study of such heterogeneous systems and demonstrate the potential for device exploitation.