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ARES

Advanced REsearch on information Security and privacy

Project Overview: 

The ARES project was born from the belief of six Spanish research groups that security enhancement and privacy preservation are compatible. Therefore, the core goal of ARES is to bring security to the information society while preserving individual rights, especially the privacy of individuals. ARES focuses on three intertwined application scenarios (Ubiquitous computing, protection of critical information infrastructures, secure electronic commerce and digital content distribution), while tackling different technical challenges in the areas of cryptology, smart cards, personal identification and biometrics, access control and authentication, network security, security certification and trust generation.

In the area of ubiquitous computing, the security and privacy issues of different technologies like Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) [1] and Radio-frequency identification (RFID) has been studied. On WSN, our research was focused on studying how the application requirements influence on the different security mechanisms that should be included to deploy a fault-tolerant sensor application. Regarding RFID, our analyses provided insightful advice on the secure integration of this technology in different healthcare scenarios while enhancing patient’s safety, data privacy and secure communications. Future planning involves the secure integration of these technologies in the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm[2][3].

As for the area of Critical Infrastructures (e.g. transport systems, energy suppliers, water treatment systems), where a disturbance in any of their components could affect the performance of other ones, it is important to analyze the influence of technologies such as the Internet and WSN [4][5] for improving the reliability and robustness of SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems [6][7][8]. Such analysis has lead to the design of different security components. For example, the Adaptive Assignment Manager component is able to identify which human operator is the most suitable to attend a certain alarm based on his reputation [9]. Another example is a sensor-based Early Warning System that can anticipate a possible anomalous event or situation and provide a response on time [10].

 
References
  1. J. Lopez, R. Roman, and C. Alcaraz, “Analysis of Security Threats, Requirements, Technologies and Standards in Wireless Sensor Networks“,
    Foundations of Security Analysis and Design 2009, LNCS 5705, Springer Berlin/Heidelberg, pp. 289-338, August, 2009. DOI  
  2. C. Alcaraz, P. Najera, J. Lopez, and R. Roman, “Wireless Sensor Networks and the Internet of Things: Do We Need a Complete Integration?“,
    1st International Workshop on the Security of the Internet of Things (SecIoT’10), IEEE, pp. xxxx, December, 2010.   
  3. J. Lopez, R. Roman, and P. Najera, “Los Desafíos de Seguridad en la Internet de los Objetos“,
    Revista SIC, vol. 88, Ediciones CODA, pp. 66-73, Feb 2010.   
  4. C. Alcaraz, and J. Lopez, “A Security Analysis for Wireless Sensor Mesh Networks in Highly Critical Systems“,
    IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part C: Applications and Reviews, vol. 40, no. 4, IEEE, pp. 419-428, July, 2010. DOI   (I.F.: 2.105)
  5. Citekey Alcaraz 2009a not found
  6. C. Alcaraz, G. Fernandez, R. Roman, A. Balastegui, and J. Lopez, “Gestión segura de redes SCADA“,
    Nuevas tendencias en gestión de redes, Novática, no. 196, CEPIS, pp. 20-25, December, 2008.   
  7. C. Alcaraz, G. Fernandez, R. Roman, A. Balastegui, and J. Lopez, “Secure Management of SCADA Networks“,
    Novatica, New Trends in Network Management, vol. 9, no. 6, Cepis UPGRADE, pp. 22-28, December, 2008.   
  8. C. Alcaraz, R. Roman, P. Najera, and J. Lopez, “Acceso seguro a redes de sensores en SCADA a través de Internet“,
    XI Reunión Española sobre Criptología y Seguridad de la Información (RECSI 2010), pp. 337-342, September, 2010.   
  9. C. Alcaraz, et al., “Adaptive Dispatching of Incidences Based on Reputation for SCADA Systems“,
    6th International Conference on Trust, Privacy and Security in Digital Business (TrustBus’09), Springer-Verlag, pp. 86-94, September, 2009. DOI   
  10. C. Alcaraz, A. Balastegui, and J. Lopez, “Early Warning System for Cascading Effect Control in Energy Control Systems“,
    5th International conference on Critical Information Infrastructures Security (CRITIS’10), LNCS 6712, Springer, pp. 55-67, September, 2010.