Secure web based home automation: Application layer based security using embedded programmable logic controller

The paper postulates the feasibility of an open but secure and affordable home automation system. An Internet enabled embedded programmable logic controller is used in the context of intelligent networked Heating, Ventilation, & Air Conditioning (HVAC)-control. In the paper, security problems of the ecotope, comprising embedded controllers, web servers, and external services are analysed. In the absence of encryption of the channels, an application based security method was designed, preventing from simple manipulation of user data. Integrity of the intranet is secured via rigorous design, avoiding inbound traffic. A simplified sequence diagram documents this primary protection process, using rolling code encryption of the transmitted data. The security method was demonstrated successfully using an IP enabled universal industrial controller. Apart from security, process capability is investigated, analysing energy supply, communication channel options, bandwidth and real time requirements. Finalising, semantic enhanced, representational state transfer (REST), and resource definition framework are bespoken for the context of embedded.