COVID-19: Secure Healthcare Internet of Things Networks, Current Trends and Challenges with Future Research Directions

Abstract

The number of affirmed COVID-19 cases showed an enormous increase in the recent past throughout the globe. Keeping in view the catastrophic destruction of this devastating virus, there is a must-need situation to maximize the use of existing healthcare technologies such as the healthcare Internet of Things (H-IoT). In healthcare, patient wearable devices are widely recognized as a dormant technology with enormous capabilities to assess and combat various diseases e.g. cough, seizer, temperature, and heartbeat, etc. As we know that in the H-IoT patient wearable devices are dispersed in an infrastructure-free environment that exposes them to several private and public coercion while accumulating and transmitting high sensitive data over the wireless communication channel. Therefore, security is the main concern of these applications, and thus, the primary focus of this paper to outline the limitations and challenges in the present literature from 2019 to 2021, to identify the requirements of H-IoT applications used in the context of COVID-19. Following this, we will move one step ahead to explore the current security techniques adopted in these applications. Consequently, we will identify the network architectural, cryptographic, protocols, and operational security challenges during our study to recommend viable research directions and opportunities, which could be helpful and capable to minimize the network architecture, deployment, and maintenance cost with more productive outcomes.

Engineered two-dimensional nanomaterials based diagnostics integrated with internet of medical things (IoMT) for COVID-19

“…The study analyzed network architecture, cryptography, protocols, and operational security to identify areas for reducing costs and increasing productivity. 311…”

The role of cybersecurity in facilitating sustainable healthcare solutions: Overcoming challenges to protect sensitive data

“…The security of H-IoT networks is paramount, as vulnerabilities can expose sensitive patient data to cyber threats. Current research focuses on identifying and mitigating these challenges, with an emphasis on developing secure communication protocols and leveraging advanced security techniques like machine learning and blockchain to protect H-IoT networks (Adil et al, 2023). Looking to the future, the integration of H-IoT with emerging technologies such as big data analytics, edge computing, and software-defined networks presents both opportunities and challenges for healthcare cybersecurity.…”

Machine Learning for Healthcare-IoT Security: A Review and Risk Mitigation

“…In H-IoT, the privacy and security of patients and their data are paramount as any compromise could result in severe consequences (i.e., loss of command and control of a cobot arm used for precision surgeries may lead to its malfunctioning causing harms to person, property, loss of availability could lead to healthcare service disruption leaving critical patients who may need immediate attention vulnerable, loss of integrity would risk patients to wrong diagnosis or medication, loss of confidentiality would lead to loss of privacy, digital identity frauds, deep fakes, bio-hacking issues, etc.). In many cases, H-IoT uses heterogeneous networks to communicate and store data, exposing it to attack over long distances [272]. Thus, the security and privacy of data require anomaly detection, mitigation, robust encryption, and authentication techniques, as mentioned in section VII-B.…”