Machine Learning in IoT Security: Current Solutions and Future Challenges

The future Internet of Things (IoT) will have a deep economical, commercial and social impact on our lives. The participating nodes in IoT networks are usually resource-constrained, which makes them luring targets for cyber attacks. In this regard, extensive efforts have been made to address the security and privacy issues in IoT networks primarily through traditional cryptographic approaches. However, the unique characteristics of IoT nodes render the existing solutions insufficient to encompass the entire security spectrum of the IoT networks. Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) techniques, which are able to provide embedded intelligence in the IoT devices and networks, can be leveraged to cope with different security problems. In this paper, we systematically review the security requirements, attack vectors, and the current security solutions for the IoT networks. We then shed light on the gaps in these security solutions that call for ML and DL approaches. Finally, we discuss in detail the existing ML and DL solutions for addressing different security problems in IoT networks. We also discuss several future research directions for ML- and DL-based IoT security.

I. Introduction

IoT is considered as an interconnected and distributed network of embedded systems communicating through wired or wireless communication technologies [1]. It is also defined as the network of physical objects or things empowered with limited computation, storage, and communication capabilities as well as embedded with electronics (such as sensors and actuators), software, and network connectivity that enables these objects to collect, sometimes process, and exchange data. The things in IoT refer to the objects from our daily life ranging from smart house-hold devices such as smart bulb, smart adapter, smart meter, smart refrigerator, smart oven, AC, temperature sensor, smoke detector, IP camera, to more sophisticated devices such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices, heartbeat detectors, accelerometers, sensors in parking lot, and a range of other sensors in automobiles etc., [2]. There are a plethora of applications and services offered by the IoT ranging from critical infrastructure to agriculture, military, home appliances, and personal health-care [3].