Reference Security Architecture for Body Area Networks in Healthcare Applications

Body Area Network (BAN) and Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) are being used in the healthcare industry to improve medical outcomes by monitoring and treating patients while they go about their everyday lives. BAN facilitates data collection from the human body via a small wearable or implantable sensor. This technology has improved the quality of medical services provided and lowered some associated costs. BAN has a wide range of applications such as monitoring patients' medical conditions and enhancing their response to treatment plans, but at the same time security and privacy are among major concerns in BAN-based healthcare systems as the patients' data must be kept secure from adverse events and attackers during transmission and in storage. This paper reviewed BAN communication standards, security threats and vulnerabilities to BAN - based systems as well as existing security and privacy mechanisms. Based on the review the paper proposed a reference security architecture which focuses on developing a secure foundation of the BAN layer called Tier 1. The reference security architecture incorporates IEEE802.15.6 (WBAN) standard, which provides a security baseline. The architecture will assist BAN manufacturers and auditors to develop and ensure secure BAN.