Conventional and Zero Trust Security Measures for Precision Agriculture Devices: the mySense’s VineInspector Case-study

Abstract

Precision Agriculture (PA) systems, crucial for modern farming, heavily rely on data gathered from various sensors often connected through an Internet of Things (IoT)-based environment, wherein cybersecurity challenges must not be neglected. To address such challenges, this paper explores conventional security approaches and Zero Trust (ZT) principles oriented to PA. To that end, a practical case-study focusing a precision viticulture device known as VineInspector is assessed in terms of susceptibilities, encompassing unauthorized physical access, manipulation of sensor readings, and tampering of data communication. As a result of that assessment, a set of recommendations are provided to ensure integrity, confidentiality, and availability of agricultural data, with applicability to PA devices operating in conditions similar to the one considered for the referred case-study.