ANT-Centric IoT Security Reference Architecture—Security-by-Design for Satellite-Enabled Smart Cities

Internet of Vehicles (IoV), a special form of Internet of Things (IoT), is an important enabler of intelligent transportation system, which is one of the most strategic applications in smart city initiatives. In order to achieve its intended functionalities, IoV requires anytime anywhere connectivity, which cannot be satisfied by traditional networking technologies. Space–air–ground-integrated network (SAGIN) is widely believed to be an ideal infrastructure for connecting IoV. In this article, we present an approach for understanding the security issues of complex IoT systems, and propose a security reference architecture for assessing security risks and addressing the security requirements. Specifically, we propose an activity-network-things (ANT)-centric security reference architecture, which is based on the three architectural perspectives in studying IoT systems, namely, device, Internet, and semantic. We discuss the limitations of existing IoT system architecture models, which are mainly evolved from the enterprise system architecture with some adaptation to the inherent features of IoT systems. Our approach can help manage the security risks by focusing on the critical activities performed in different microperimeters within an IoT system. The proposed architecture includes an organized process to understand the security requirements and select specific parameters for tailored security controls that are commensurate with organization-specific and application-specific security impacts of IoT. Our architecture is flexible enough to cater for any IoT application, and hence, can be easily applied to the case of SAGIN-enabled IoV.