Secure mHealth IoT Data Transfer from the Patient to the Hospital: A Three-Tier Approach

eHealth and mHealth applications are gaining increasing importance with advances in the IoT and the ubiquity of sensor deployments. Measured IoT mHealth data needs to be captured, transmitted, and stored securely, without having the security measures hinder or delay the response of medical personnel in case of emergency. In this article, we present a holistic framework for data transfer from the patient to the hospital. Three tiers are identified in the proposed framework. In each tier, suitable security measures are presented for securing the data and protecting the privacy of the patients. The proposed methods range from physical layer security techniques designed for low portable sensors deployed at the patient's home or body, to combining traditional encryption methods with additional security procedures at the cloud data center where the medical records are stored.