Luca Cotti, Davide Guizzardi, Barbara Rita Barricelli, Daniela Fogli
{"title":"Enabling End-User Development in Smart Homes: A Machine Learning-Powered Digital Twin for Energy Efficient Management","authors":"Luca Cotti, Davide Guizzardi, Barbara Rita Barricelli, Daniela Fogli","doi":"10.3390/fi16060208","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fi16060208","url":null,"abstract":"End-User Development has been proposed over the years to allow end users to control and manage their Internet of Things-based environments, such as smart homes. With End-User Development, end users are able to create trigger-action rules or routines to tailor the behavior of their smart homes. However, the scientific research proposed to date does not encompass methods that evaluate the suitability of user-created routines in terms of energy consumption. This paper proposes using Machine Learning to build a Digital Twin of a smart home that can predict the energy consumption of smart appliances. The Digital Twin will allow end users to simulate possible scenarios related to the creation of routines. Simulations will be used to assess the effects of the activation of appliances involved in the routines under creation and possibly modify them to save energy consumption according to the Digital Twin’s suggestions.","PeriodicalId":37982,"journal":{"name":"Future Internet","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141344606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Towards a New Business Model for Streaming Platforms Using Blockchain Technology","authors":"Rendrikson Soares, André Araújo","doi":"10.3390/fi16060207","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fi16060207","url":null,"abstract":"Streaming platforms have revolutionized the digital entertainment industry, but challenges and research opportunities remain to be addressed. One current concern is the lack of transparency in the business model of video streaming platforms, which makes it difficult for content creators to access viewing metrics and receive payments without the intermediary of third parties. Additionally, there is no way to trace payment transactions. This article presents a computational architecture based on blockchain technology to enable transparency in audience management and payments in video streaming platforms. Smart contracts will define the business rules of the streaming services, while middleware will integrate the metadata of the streaming platforms with the proposed computational solution. The proposed solution has been validated through data transactions on different blockchain networks and interviews with content creators from video streaming platforms. The results confirm the viability of the proposed solution in enhancing transparency and auditability in the realm of audience control services and payments on video streaming platforms.","PeriodicalId":37982,"journal":{"name":"Future Internet","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141347341","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Wala Bagunaid, Naveen Chilamkurti, Ahmad Salehi Shahraki, Saeed Bamashmos
{"title":"Visual Data and Pattern Analysis for Smart Education: A Robust DRL-Based Early Warning System for Student Performance Prediction","authors":"Wala Bagunaid, Naveen Chilamkurti, Ahmad Salehi Shahraki, Saeed Bamashmos","doi":"10.3390/fi16060206","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fi16060206","url":null,"abstract":"Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) have revolutionised e-learning by creating personalised, adaptive, and secure environments. However, challenges such as privacy, bias, and data limitations persist. E-FedCloud aims to address these issues by providing more agile, personalised, and secure e-learning experiences. This study introduces E-FedCloud, an AI-assisted, adaptive e-learning system that automates personalised recommendations and tracking, thereby enhancing student performance. It employs federated learning-based authentication to ensure secure and private access for both course instructors and students. Intelligent Software Agents (ISAs) evaluate weekly student engagement using the Shannon Entropy method, classifying students into either engaged or not-engaged clusters. E-FedCloud utilises weekly engagement status, demographic information, and an innovative DRL-based early warning system, specifically ID2QN, to predict the performance of not-engaged students. Based on these predictions, the system categorises students into three groups: risk of dropping out, risk of scoring lower in the final exam, and risk of failing the end exam. It employs a multi-disciplinary ontology graph and an attention-based capsule network for automated, personalised recommendations. The system also integrates performance tracking to enhance student engagement. Data are securely stored on a blockchain using the LWEA encryption method.","PeriodicalId":37982,"journal":{"name":"Future Internet","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141357851","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Enhancing Efficiency and Security in Unbalanced PSI-CA Protocols through Cloud Computing and Homomorphic Encryption in Mobile Networks","authors":"Wuzheng Tan, Shenglong Du, Jian Weng","doi":"10.3390/fi16060205","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fi16060205","url":null,"abstract":"Private Set Intersection Cardinality (PSI-CA) is a cryptographic method in secure multi-party computation that allows entities to identify the cardinality of the intersection without revealing their private data.Traditional approaches assume similar-sized datasets and equal computational power, overlooking practical imbalances. In real-world applications, dataset sizes and computational capacities often vary, particularly in Internet of Things and mobile scenarios where device limitations restrict computational types. Traditional PSI-CA protocols are inefficient here, as computational and communication complexities correlate with the size of larger datasets. Thus, adapting PSI-CA protocols to these imbalances is crucial. This paper explores unbalanced scenarios where one party (the receiver) has a relatively small dataset and limited computational power, while the other party (the sender) has a large amount of data and strong computational capabilities.This paper, based on the concept of commutative encryption, introduces Cuckoo filter, cloud computing technology, and homomorphic encryption, among other technologies, to construct three novel solutions for unbalanced Private Set Intersection Cardinality (PSI-CA): an unbalanced PSI-CA protocol based on Cuckoo filter, an unbalanced PSI-CA protocol based on single-cloud assistance, and an unbalanced PSI-CA protocol based on dual-cloud assistance. Depending on performance and security requirements, different protocols can be employed for various applications.","PeriodicalId":37982,"journal":{"name":"Future Internet","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141372124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Evaluation of Radio Access Protocols for V2X in 6G Scenario-Based Models","authors":"Héctor Orrillo, André Sabino, M. Marques da Silva","doi":"10.3390/fi16060203","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fi16060203","url":null,"abstract":"The expansion of mobile connectivity with the arrival of 6G paves the way for the new Internet of Verticals (6G-IoV), benefiting autonomous driving. This article highlights the importance of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication in improving road safety. Current technologies such as IEEE 802.11p and LTE-V2X are being improved, while new radio access technologies promise more reliable, lower-latency communications. Moreover, 3GPP is developing NR-V2X to improve the performance of communications between vehicles, while IEEE proposes the 802.11bd protocol, aiming for the greater interoperability and detection of transmissions between vehicles. Both new protocols are being developed and improved to make autonomous driving more efficient. This study analyzes and compares the performance of the protocols mentioned, namely 802.11p, 802.11bd, LTE-V2X, and NR-V2X. The contribution of this study is to identify the most suitable protocol that meets the requirements of V2V communications in autonomous driving. The relevance of V2V communication has driven intense research in the scientific community. Among the various applications of V2V communication are Cooperative Awareness, V2V Unicast Exchange, and V2V Decentralized Environmental Notification, among others. To this end, the performance of the Link Layer of these protocols is evaluated and compared. Based on the analysis of the results, it can be concluded that NR-V2X outperforms IEEE 802.11bd in terms of transmission latency (L) and data rate (DR). In terms of the packet error rate (PER), it is shown that both LTE-V2X and NR-V2X exhibit a lower PER compared to IEEE protocols, especially as the distance between the vehicles increases. This advantage becomes even more significant in scenarios with greater congestion and network interference.","PeriodicalId":37982,"journal":{"name":"Future Internet","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141377611","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Metric Space Indices for Dynamic Optimization in a Peer to Peer-Based Image Classification Crowdsourcing Platform","authors":"Fernando Loor, V. Gil-Costa, Mauricio Marín","doi":"10.3390/fi16060202","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fi16060202","url":null,"abstract":"Large-scale computer platforms that process users’ online requests must be capable of handling unexpected spikes in arrival rates. These platforms, which are composed of distributed components, can be configured with parameters to ensure both the quality of the results obtained for each request and low response times. In this work, we propose a dynamic optimization engine based on metric space indexing to address this problem. The engine is integrated into the platform and periodically monitors performance metrics to determine whether new configuration parameter values need to be computed. Our case study focuses on a P2P platform designed for classifying crowdsourced images related to natural disasters. We evaluate our approach under scenarios with high and low workloads, comparing it against alternative methods based on deep reinforcement learning. The results show that our approach reduces processing time by an average of 40%.","PeriodicalId":37982,"journal":{"name":"Future Internet","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141381371","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Usability Evaluation of Wearable Smartwatches Using Customized Heuristics and System Usability Scale Score","authors":"Majed A. Alshamari, Maha M. Althobaiti","doi":"10.3390/fi16060204","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fi16060204","url":null,"abstract":"The mobile and wearable nature of smartwatches poses challenges in evaluating their usability. This paper presents a study employing customized heuristic evaluation and use of the system usability scale (SUS) on four smartwatches, along with their mobile applications. A total of 11 heuristics were developed and validated by experts by combining Nielsen’s heuristic and Motti and Caines’ heuristics. In this study, 20 participants used the watches and participated in the SUS survey. A total of 307 usability issues were reported by the evaluators. The results of this study show that the Galaxy Watch 5 scored highest in terms of efficiency, ease of use, features, and battery life compared to the other three smartwatches and has fewer usability issues. The results indicate that ease of use, features, and flexibility are important usability attributes for future smartwatches. The Galaxy Watch 5 received the highest SUS score of 87.375. Both evaluation methods showed no significant differences in results, and customized heuristics were found to be useful for smartwatch evaluation.","PeriodicalId":37982,"journal":{"name":"Future Internet","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141380353","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gabriel Arquelau Pimenta Rodrigues, André Luiz Marques Serrano, Guilherme Fay Vergara, Robson de Oliveira Albuquerque, G. A. Nze
{"title":"Impact, Compliance, and Countermeasures in Relation to Data Breaches in Publicly Traded U.S. Companies","authors":"Gabriel Arquelau Pimenta Rodrigues, André Luiz Marques Serrano, Guilherme Fay Vergara, Robson de Oliveira Albuquerque, G. A. Nze","doi":"10.3390/fi16060201","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fi16060201","url":null,"abstract":"A data breach is the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive personal data, and it impacts millions of individuals annually in the United States, as reported by Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. These breaches jeopardize the physical safety of the individuals whose data are exposed and result in substantial economic losses for the affected companies. To diminish the frequency and severity of data breaches in the future, it is imperative to research their causes and explore preventive measures. In pursuit of this goal, this study considers a dataset of data breach incidents affecting companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. This dataset has been augmented with additional information regarding the targeted company. This paper employs statistical visualizations of the data to clarify these incidents and assess their consequences on the affected companies and individuals whose data were compromised. We then propose mitigation controls based on established frameworks such as the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. Additionally, this paper reviews the compliance scenario by examining the relevant laws and regulations applicable to each case, including SOX, HIPAA, GLBA, and PCI-DSS, and evaluates the impacts of data breaches on stock market prices. We also review guidelines for appropriately responding to data leaks in the U.S., for compliance achievement and cost reduction. By conducting this analysis, this work aims to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of data breaches and empower organizations to safeguard against them proactively, improving the technical quality of their basic services. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to address compliance with data protection regulations, security controls as countermeasures, financial impacts on stock prices, and incident response strategies. Although the discussion is focused on publicly traded companies in the United States, it may also apply to public and private companies worldwide.","PeriodicalId":37982,"journal":{"name":"Future Internet","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141383159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abbas Javed, Amna Ehtsham, Muhammad Jawad, Muhammad Naeem Awais, Ayyaz-Ul-Haq Qureshi, Hadi Larijani
{"title":"Implementation of Lightweight Machine Learning-Based Intrusion Detection System on IoT Devices of Smart Homes","authors":"Abbas Javed, Amna Ehtsham, Muhammad Jawad, Muhammad Naeem Awais, Ayyaz-Ul-Haq Qureshi, Hadi Larijani","doi":"10.3390/fi16060200","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fi16060200","url":null,"abstract":"Smart home devices, also known as IoT devices, provide significant convenience; however, they also present opportunities for attackers to jeopardize homeowners’ security and privacy. Securing these IoT devices is a formidable challenge because of their limited computational resources. Machine learning-based intrusion detection systems (IDSs) have been implemented on the edge and the cloud; however, IDSs have not been embedded in IoT devices. To address this, we propose a novel machine learning-based two-layered IDS for smart home IoT devices, enhancing accuracy and computational efficiency. The first layer of the proposed IDS is deployed on a microcontroller-based smart thermostat, which uploads the data to a website hosted on a cloud server. The second layer of the IDS is deployed on the cloud side for classification of attacks. The proposed IDS can detect the threats with an accuracy of 99.50% at cloud level (multiclassification). For real-time testing, we implemented the Raspberry Pi 4-based adversary to generate a dataset for man-in-the-middle (MITM) and denial of service (DoS) attacks on smart thermostats. The results show that the XGBoost-based IDS detects MITM and DoS attacks in 3.51 ms on a smart thermostat with an accuracy of 97.59%.","PeriodicalId":37982,"journal":{"name":"Future Internet","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141386379","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Carmen Ruiz Viñals, Marta Gil Ibáñez, José Luis del Olmo Arriaga
{"title":"Metaverse and Fashion: An Analysis of Consumer Online Interest","authors":"Carmen Ruiz Viñals, Marta Gil Ibáñez, José Luis del Olmo Arriaga","doi":"10.3390/fi16060199","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fi16060199","url":null,"abstract":"Recent studies have demonstrated the value that the Internet and web applications bring to businesses. Among other tools are those that enable the analysis and monitoring of searches, such as Google Trends, which is currently used by the fashion industry to guide experiential practices in a context of augmented reality and/or virtual reality, and even to predict purchasing behaviours through the metaverse. Data from this tool provide insight into fashion consumer search patterns. Understanding and managing this digital tool is an essential factor in rethinking businesses’ marketing strategies. The aim of this study is to analyse online user search behaviour by analysing and monitoring the terms “metaverse” and “fashion” on Google Trends. A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional method was employed. The results show that there is growing consumer interest in both concepts on the Internet, despite the lack of homogeneity in the behaviour of the five Google search tools.","PeriodicalId":37982,"journal":{"name":"Future Internet","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141266810","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}