A dataset of barometric readings for enhancing security and privacy of IoT.

The security and privacy of wireless channels is typically enforced by leveraging cryptographic tools. However, there are scenarios where these methods are unfit, such as in resource-constrained environments, i.e., Internet of Things (IoT), or when an extra layer of security is needed. A promising solution involves correlating air pressure (barometric) readings to securely pair IoT devices while requiring zero-interaction. This paper presents an experimental dataset of real-world barometric measurements collected in open areas under different weather conditions. Specifically, our dataset includes readings recorded using the reference hardware platform BMP280. The experiments involve a reference scenario constituted by three Adafruit BMP280 barometric sensors connected to a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B board to collect barometric measurements. The three sensors represent two communicating parties (Alice and Bob) and an adversary (Eve), respectively. The dataset is constituted by three experiments characterized by different relative distances among Alice, Bob, and Eve. We considered 5cm and 2m between Alice and Bob while placing Eve at 2m and 8 meters, respectively. The second configuration, i.e., (Alice-Bob at 2m and Eve at 8m) has been replicated in a different scenario characterized by less air pressure fluctuations. The sampling frequency has been set to 70Hz while the measurements last for 50, 24 and 41 hours, respectively. Researchers can use this dataset in several ways, including: (i) Study the air pressure variation and correlation between devices separated by different distances, (ii) Develop a co-location verification extension for the Diffie-Hellman (DH) key agreement method that utilizes air pressure data streams, (iii) Study possible attacks against proximity-based authentication techniques that depend on pressure correlated variations.

Physical-layer data of IRIDIUM satellites broadcast messages.

Physical-layer information associated with wireless communications is a trove of data, that can be leveraged by several research communities, e.g., networking and security. Indeed, such information (IQ samples) represents the signal at the very beginning of the receiver chain, just after the demodulation, and they embed valuable information about both the channel and the transmitter, which can be used for several purposes, e.g., protocol design, network performance analysis, and transmitter fingerprinting. In this paper, we present the data of a measurement campaign targeting the messages of the IRIDIUM satellite constellation. The resulting dataset has been collected throughout a measurement period of about 2 months and it comprises +3.8 M IRIDIUM Ring Alert (IRA) packets-the cleartext packets broadcasted by the IRIDIUM satellites. Our dataset includes several pieces of information included in the IRA packets, i.e., the reception timestamp, position of the transmitting satellite on the ground, satellite ID, beam ID, etc. Moreover, for each packet, we also collected the corresponding raw IQ samples, for a total of +7.6B data. We believe that the amount of collected data, the duration of the measurement campaign, and the information included herein, will be valuable assets for the research community.

Localization of a Power-Modulated Jammer.

Jamming is a malicious radio activity that represents a dreadful threat when employed in critical scenarios. Several techniques have been proposed to detect, locate, and mitigate jamming. Similarly, counter-counter-jamming techniques have been devised. This paper belongs to the latter thread. In particular, we propose a new jammer model: a power-modulated jammer that defies standard localization techniques. We provide several contributions: we first define a new mathematical model for the power-modulated jammer and then propose a throughout analysis of the localization error associated with the proposed power-modulated jammer, and we compare it with a standard power-constant jammer. Our results show that a power-modulated jammer can make the localization process completely ineffective-even under conservative assumptions of the shadowing process associated with the radio channel. Indeed, we prove that a constant-power jammer can be localized with high precision, even when coupled with a strong shadowing effect (σ ≈ 6 dBm). On the contrary, our power-modulated jammer, even in the presence of a very weak shadowing effect (σ < 2 dBm), presents a much wider localization error with respect to the constant-power jammer. In addition to being interesting on its own, we believe that our contribution also paves the way for further research in this area.

Thermodynamic Solution Properties of a Biodegradable Chelant (L-glutamic-N,N-diacetic Acid, L-GLDA) and Its Sequestering Ability toward Cd2.

The thermodynamics of the interaction of L-glutamic-N,N-diacetic acid (GLDA) with protons was studied potentiometrically at different temperatures, ionic strengths and ionic media. Four protonation constants and corresponding enthalpy changes occurred at infinite dilution together with temperature and ionic strength coefficients. The medium effect was also interpreted in terms of the formation of weak complexes between the ligand and the cations of supporting electrolytes, resulting in a greater tendency of GLDA to chemically interact with Na+ rather than K+ and, in turn, (CH3)4N+. Formation constants of GLDA with Cd2+ were determined in NaCl(aq) at different ionic strength values. Five complex species were found, namely CdL2-, CdHL-, CdH2L0(aq), Cd2L0(aq), and Cd(OH)L3-, whose formation constant values at infinite dilution were log ß = 12.68, 17.61, 20.76, 17.52, and 1.77, respectively. All the species results were relevant in the pH range of natural waters, although the Cd2L0(aq) was observed only for CCd ≥ CGLDA and concentrations of >0.1 mmol dm-3. The sequestering ability of GLDA toward Cd2+, evaluated by means of pL0.5, was maximum at pH~10, whereas the presence of a chloride containing a supporting electrolyte exerted a negative effect. Among new generation biodegradable ligands, GLDA was the most efficient in Cd2+ sequestration.

Strength of Crowd (SOC)-Defeating a Reactive Jammer in IoT with Decoy Messages.

We propose Strength of Crowd (SoC), a distributed Internet of Things (IoT) protocol that guarantees message broadcast from an initiator to all network nodes in the presence of either a reactive or a proactive jammer, that targets a variable portion of the radio spectrum. SoC exploits a simple, yet innovative and effective idea: nodes not (currently) involved in the broadcast process transmit decoy messages that cannot be distinguished (by the jammer) from the real ones. Therefore, the jammer has to implement a best-effort strategy to jam all the concurrent communications up to its frequency/energy budget. SoC exploits the inherent parallelism that stems from the massive deployments of IoT nodes to guarantee a high number of concurrent communications, exhausting the jammer capabilities and hence leaving a subset of the communications not jammed. It is worth noting that SoC could be adopted in several wireless scenarios; however, we focus on its application to the Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) domain, including IoT, Machine-to-Machine (M2M), Device-to-Device (D2D), to name a few. In this framework, we provide several contributions: firstly, we show the details of the SoC protocol, as well as its integration with the IEEE 802.15.4-2015 MAC protocol; secondly, we study the broadcast delay to deliver the message to all the nodes in the network; and finally, we run an extensive simulation and experimental campaign to test our solution. We consider the state-of-the-art OpenMote-B experimental platform, adopting the OpenWSN open-source protocol stack. Experimental results confirm the quality and viability of our solution.

Merkel cell carcinoma: a distinct lesion of the eyelid.

Merkel cell carcinoma (trabecular cell carcinoma) is a rare, distinct, primitive, neuroendocrine malignancy of the skin, usually affecting elderly patients. It develops from Merkel cells and nearly one out of every 10 Merkel cell carcinomas occurs in the eyelids and periocular region. The tumor manifests itself clinically as a bulging lesion near the lid margin, painless, reddish colored with teleangiectatic blood vessels on the surface. Histologically, the tumor can mimic malignant lymphoma, undifferentiated melanoma, sebaceous carcinoma or cutaneous metastases of pulmonary microcytoma. Immunohistochemical studies with antibodies to neuron-specific enolase, cytokeratins and neurosecretory granules are necessary to differentiate these tumors. One third of all Merkel cell carcinomas result in death. In the present paper, we present data on the clinical features, treatment and long-term follow-up of three patients.