A Middleware Framework to Address Security Issues in Integrated Multisystem Applications

Integrating multiple programmable components and subsystems developed by different manufacturers into a final system (a system of systems) can create some security concerns. While there are many efforts for developing interoperability approaches to enable smooth, reliable and safe integration among different types of components to build final systems for different applications, less attention is usually given for the security aspects of this integration. This may leave the final systems exposed and vulnerable to potential security attacks. The issues elevate further when such systems are also connected to other networks such as the Internet or systems like fog and cloud computing. This issue can be found in important industrial applications like smart medical, smart manufacturing and smart city systems. As a result, along with performance, safety and reliability; multisystem integration must also be highly secure. This paper discusses the security issues instigated by such integration. In addition, it proposes a middleware framework to address the security issues for integrated multisystem applications.