Search Results (11)

Modern cyber threats demand coordinated defensive strategies that extend beyond centralized security mechanisms. However, existing multi-agent platforms exhibit critical limitations in explicit communication and real-time coordination for cyberdefense operations. This work proposes a hierarchical multi-agent architecture for autonomous cyberdefense that addresses these limitations through structured inter-agent communication and distributed coordination. The architecture integrates a centralized monitor agent with specialized defensive swarms deployed across operational hosts. It is implemented using SPADE 4.1 (Smart Python Agent Development Environment) to enable XMPP-based (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol) communication with low-latency messaging and location transparency. Four specialized swarms—Network Defender, Host Defender, Anomaly Detection, and Forensic and Recovery—perform autonomous defensive tasks. A secure authentication mechanism ensures trusted communication between monitor and deployer agents. The system was evaluated in a controlled virtualized environment using the Network Defender Swarm as an illustrative case. The experimental results focus on internal coordination behavior, messaging efficiency, and end-to-end detection time across increasing levels of parallelism. A scan agent scalability analysis shows that moderate parallelism (2–16 agents) yields the lowest Total Detection Time (12.88 s across the full TCP port range), while excessive agent counts degrade performance. Results demonstrate how the proposed architecture supports low-latency communication, efficient coordination, and parallel task execution. Message latency benchmarks show improvements compared to classical agent frameworks such as JADE. These findings provide initial evidence that communication-centric multi-agent architectures can facilitate coordinated and adaptive cyberdefense operations, while serving as a platform for further experimental evaluation. Full article

The Internet of Things (IoT) connects billions of heterogeneous devices, necessitating lightweight, efficient, and secure communication protocols to support a diverse range of use cases. While physical and network-layer technologies enable connectivity, transport and application-layer protocols determine how IoT devices exchange, manage, and secure information. The diverse and constrained nature of IoT devices presents a challenge in selecting appropriate communication protocols, with no one-size-fits-all solution existing. This article provides a comprehensive review of key transport and application protocols in IoT, including MQTT, MQTT-SN, CoAP, LwM2M, AMQP, XMPP, WebSockets, HTTP/HTTPS, and OPC UA. Each protocol is examined in terms of its design principles, communication patterns, reliability mechanisms, and security features. The discussion highlights their suitability for different deployment scenarios, ranging from resource-constrained sensor networks to industrial automation and cloud-integrated consumer devices. By mapping protocol characteristics to IoT requirements, such as scalability, interoperability, power efficiency, and manageability, the article provides guidelines for selecting the optimal protocol stack to optimize IoT system performance and long-term sustainability. Our analysis reveals that while MQTT dominates cloud telemetry, CoAP and LwM2M are superior in IP-based constrained networks, and emerging solutions like OSCORE are critical for end-to-end security. Full article

Power system facility calibration is a compulsory task that requires in-site operations. In this work, we propose a remote calibration device that incorporates edge intelligence so that the required calibration can be accomplished with little human intervention. Our device entails a wireless serial port module, a Bluetooth module, a video acquisition module, a text recognition module, and a message transmission module. First, the wireless serial port is used to communicate with edge node, the Bluetooth is used to search for nearby Bluetooth devices to obtain their state information and the video is used to monitor the calibration process in the calibration lab. Second, to improve the intelligence, we propose a smart meter reading method in our device that is based on artificial intelligence to obtain information about calibration meters. We use a mini camera to capture images of calibration meters, then we adopt the Efficient and Accurate Scene Text Detector (EAST) to complete text detection, finally we built the Convolutional Recurrent Neural Network (CRNN) to complete the recognition of the meter data. Finally, the message transmission module is used to transmit the recognized data to the database through Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). Our device solves the problem that some calibration meters cannot return information, thereby improving the remote calibration intelligence. Full article

As micro grids are gradually being deployed in many areas, communication technology is becoming important for collecting data and controlling devices in micro grids. In a micro grid, various devices are distributed and perform their respective functions. These devices exchange information with each other and transmit information to the micro grid management system. This micro grid environment is similar to the IoT environment in which information is exchanged in the presence of a large number of devices. Recent studies have tried to apply various IoT protocols as a communication protocol in the micro grid. However, the data model used in current research is limited in proprietary data mapping. Recently, IEC TC 57 published another IEC 61850 series which maps the IEC 61850 services to XMPP (eXtensible Messaging Presence Protocol), which was the first IoT protocol mapping of IEC 61850. Few research has shown that the mapping of the IEC 61850 data model to the IoT protocol and communication boundary is limited in a lab environment. We developed a micro grid test-bed with an IEC 61850 data and service model, and mapped to two IoT protocols, that is, XMPP and the MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport). By combining IoT protocol with the IEC 61850 data and service model, the proposed micro grid architecture can provide interoperability with any DMS or other power utility system. Performance analysis was conducted on the test-bed by measuring various metrics, such as the response time, packet size, and packet loss, over a public network. Full article

Since the smart grid deals with a large mass of data and critical missions, it requires ubiquitous, reliable, and real-time communication. The Internet of Things (IoT) technology, which has the potential of connecting all objects over the globe through the Internet, excels in providing robust information transmission infrastructure in the smart grid. There are a multitude of possible protocols, standards, and configurations for communication in the smart grid. A commonly applied communication standard IEC 61850 recommends the use of Manufacturing Message Specification (MMS) protocol for communication in Local Area Network (LAN) and eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) in Wide Area Network (WAN). However, a plethora of research on this topic compares the behavior of other IoT protocols and standard recommendations in the smart grid. On the other hand, the sky-rocketing penetration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), especially in the form of micro grid, transformed the central control structure of the smart grid into a distributed style called Multi-Agent Systems (MAS). This new approach defined new communication requirements and more particular IoT protocol characteristic requirements. However, a limited number of the existing studies have considered IoT protocol characteristic requirements of the smart grid and its new control structures. In this paper, we initially investigate the communication requirements of the smart grid and introduce all IoT protocols and their specifications. We analyze IoT protocol characteristics and performances in the smart grid through literature review based on the smart grid communication requirements. In this approach, we highlight weak points of these practices making them fail to acquire the holistic guidelines in utilizing proper IoT protocol that can meet the smart grid environment interaction requirements. Using the existing facilities, the public Internet, we follow the arrangement of cost-effective high penetration communication requirements for new structures of the smart grid, i.e., the MAS and multi-micro grid. In this case, we consider IoT protocol Quality of Services (QoS) requirements, especially in the case of security and reliability, to satisfy stakeholders, namely utilities and prosumers. Addressing effective elements in applying IoT in the smart grid’s future trends is another contribution to this paper. Full article

IoT technologies are becoming pervasive in public and private sectors and represent presently an integral part of our daily life. The advantages offered by these technologies are frequently coupled with serious security issues that are often not properly overseen or even ignored. The IoT threat landscape is extremely wide and complex and involves a wide variety of hardware and software technologies. In this framework, the security of application layer protocols is of paramount importance since these protocols are at the basis of the communications among applications and services running on different IoT devices and on cloud/edge infrastructures. This paper offers a comprehensive survey of application layer protocol security by presenting the main challenges and findings. More specifically, the paper focuses on the most popular protocols devised in IoT environments for messaging/data sharing and for service discovery. The main threats of these protocols as well as the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) for their products and services are analyzed and discussed in detail. Good practices and measures that can be adopted to mitigate threats and attacks are also investigated. Our findings indicate that ensuring security at the application layer is very challenging. IoT devices are exposed to numerous security risks due to lack of appropriate security services in the protocols as well as to vulnerabilities or incorrect configuration of the products and services being deployed. Moreover, the constrained capabilities of these devices affect the types of security services that can be implemented. Full article

Communication plays a key role in the effective management of virtual power plants (VPPs). For effective and stable operation of VPPs, a reliable, secure, and standardized communication infrastructure is required. In the literature, efforts were made to develop this based on industry standards, such as the IEC 60870-5-104, OpenADR 2.0b and IEC 61850. Due to its global acceptance and strong object-oriented information models, IEC 61850 standard-based communication is preferred for smart grid operations, including VPPs. However, communication models based on IEC 61850 present cybersecurity and scalability challenges. To address this issue, this paper presents an eXtensible Message Presence Protocol (XMPP)-based IEC 61850 communication for VPPs. Firstly, a full mapping of IEC 61850 messages for VPP energy management is carried out. Secondly, XMPP-based single- and multiple-domain communications are demonstrated. Finally, a federation concept has been added to facilitate communication in multi-domain communication networks. These models show that a standard communication model can be implemented with IEC 61850 and XMPP, not only for VPPs but other wide-area communication implementations in smart grids. This not only facilitates plug-and-play (PnP) with easy component additions but secures smart grid communication against cyber-attacks. Full article

Everyday, people interact with different types of human machine interfaces, and the use of them is increasing, thus, it is necessary to design interfaces which are capable of responding in an intelligent, natural, inexpensive, and accessible way, regardless of social, cultural, economic, or physical features of a user. In this sense, it has been sought out the development of small interfaces to avoid any type of user annoyance. In this paper, bioelectric signals have been analyzed and characterized in order to propose a more natural human-machine interaction system. The proposed scheme is controlled by electromyographic signals that a person can create through arm movements. Such arm signals have been analyzed and characterized by a back-propagation neural network, and by a wavelet analysis, in this way control commands were obtained from such arm electromyographic signals. The developed interface, uses Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) to send control commands remotely. In the experiment, it manipulated a vehicle that was approximately 52 km away from the user, with which it can be showed that a characterized electromyographic signal can be sufficient for controlling embedded devices such as a Raspberri Pi, and in this way we can use the neural network and the wavelet analysis to generate control words which can be used inside the Internet of Things too. A Tiva-C board has been used to acquire data instead of more popular development boards, with an adequate response. One of the most important aspects related to the proposed interface is that it can be used by almost anyone, including people with different abilities and even illiterate people. Due to the existence of individual efforts to characterize different types of bioelectric signals, we propose the generation of free access Bioelectric Control Dictionary, to define and consult each characterized biosignal. Full article

Distributed energy resources (DERs) are being widely interconnected to electrical power grids. The dispersed and intermittent generational mixes bring technical and economic challenges to the power systems in terms of stability, reliability, and interoperability. In practice, most of the communication technologies in DER are provided by proprietary communication protocols, which are not designed for the prevention of cyber security over a wide area network, and methodology of DER integration is not unified. This has made it technically difficult for power utilities and aggregators to monitor and control the DER systems after they are interconnected with the electrical grids. Moreover, peer to peer communication between DER systems as well as local intelligent computation is required to reduce decision latency and enhance the stability of the smart grid or microgrid. In this paper, the first, novel architecture of IEC 61850 XMPP (extensible messaging and presence protocol) of the edge computing gateway, involving advanced concepts and technologies, was developed and completely studied to counter the abovementioned challenges. The results show that the proposed architecture can enhance the DER system’s effective integration, security in data communication and transparency for interoperability. The novel and advanced concepts involve first modeling the topology of the photovoltaic (PV) station to IEC 61850 information models according to the IEC 61850-7-4 logical nodes and the DER-specific logical nodes defined in IEC 61850-7-420. This guarantees the interoperability between DER and DER, DER and utility and DER and the energy service operator. The second step was to map the information models to IEC 61850-8-2 XMPP for the specific communication protocol in DER applications. XMPP protocol, a publish/subscribe communication mechanism, is recommended in DER applications because of its characteristics of cybersecurity and authenticated encryption. After that we enabled the edge computing capability for data processing and the analytics of the DER side for time-critical missions. The aggregated data was then sent to the control center in the cloud. By applying the edge computing architecture, the system reduced decision latency, improved data privacy and enhanced security. The goal of this paper was to introduce the practical methodologies of these novel concepts to academics and industrial engineers. Full article

The evolution of power systems towards the Smart Grid has introduced a significant number of unsolved issues degrading its accelerated deployment. The centralized control of distributed energy resources (DER) by utilizing virtual power plants is one of the essential Smart Grid ideas lacking plug and play capability. International standard IEC 61850 defines an architecture for describing Smart Grid subsystems. One of the main IEC 61850 contributions is a data model semantics describing different subsystems used for power systems production. The potential to utilize data semantics for describing DERs along with middleware technologies such as eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) can significantly decrease the integration timeframe of advanced power systems architectures such as virtual power plants and microgrids. This paper demonstrates the advantages of using the IEC 61850 standard along with the possibility of utilizing XMPP technology and how this affects new control architectures. Additionally, prototype implementation results are shown depending on the different communication infrastructure settings and application types used for DER control. Full article

Nowadays, in the panorama of Internet of Things (IoT), finding a right compromise between interactivity and security is not trivial at all. Currently, most of pervasive communication technologies are designed to work locally. As a consequence, the development of large-scale Internet services and applications is not so easy for IoT Cloud providers. The main issue is that both IoT architectures and services have started as simple but they are becoming more and more complex. Consequently, the web service technology is often inappropriate. Recently, many operators in both academia and industry fields are considering the possibility to adopt the eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) for the implementation of IoT Cloud communication systems. In fact, XMPP offers many advantages in term of real-time capabilities, efficient data distribution, service discovery and inter-domain communication compared to other technologies. Nevertheless, the protocol lacks of native security, data confidentiality and trustworthy federation features. In this paper, considering an XMPP-based IoT Cloud architectural model, we discuss how can be possible to enforce message signing/encryption and Single-Sign On (SSO) authentication respectively for secure inter-module and inter-domain communications in a federated environment. Experiments prove that security mechanisms introduce an acceptable overhead, considering the obvious advantages achieved in terms of data trustiness and privacy. Full article