The current trend towards an interconnected society is being driven by an unprecedented technological convergence, which enables the development of new data-driven applications. For the realization of these applications, sensor networks represent a key component for the collection and exchange of large volumes of data through heterogeneous network technologies in the context of the well-known Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm. This data can be shared and correlated through artificial intelligence techniques to derive information and knowledge that can be used to support the deployment of applications in different domains, like eHealth, Industry 4.0 or smart mobility, and many other applications.

However, the massive deployment of sensor networks in our daily lives entails an increase of cybersecurity risks that can ultimately affect the safety of citizens. This is especially relevant in certain scenarios, such as body area networks, which are used to exchange medical data about patients. Additionally, while in recent years there has been a growing interest in the development of secure sensor networks, there are still a number of challenges that need to be considered to leverage the benefits of new data-driven applications. In particular, widely deployed cryptographic mechanisms and security protocols may be impractical in this context due to the limitations of underlying network technologies, or the constrained resources of interconnected sensors and actuators. Furthermore, the potentially huge number of these devices requires automated and efficient mechanisms to foster secure deployment. Moreover, security solutions for sensor networks need to manage the changing and dynamic environment (e.g., due to software updates or loss of network connectivity) where such devices could be deployed. These changes may be also due to new identified vulnerabilities and security attacks that need to be detected and mitigated automatically to adapt the network behavior accordingly. Additionally, the protection of exchanged data needs to be addressed from a technological and legal perspective, taking into account current regulations on security and data protection. In the coming years, it is expected that the development of security solutions for sensor networks can take advantage of emerging technologies, such as the use of blockchain, or the development of new distributed artificial intelligence techniques, such as federated learning.

Thus, this special issue seeks original contributions focused on improving the security of sensor networks for the sake of enabling the development of trustworthy data-driven services and applications.

GUEST EDITORS

Dr. José L. Hernández Ramos
Prof. Georgios Kambourakis
Prof. Dr. Erol Gelenbe
Dr. Gianmarco Baldini

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

KEYWORDS

- Identity management and access control in sensor networks
- Trust management in sensor networks
- Lightweight cryptography for sensor networks
- Risk management in sensors networks
- Intrusion detection systems for sensor networks
- Privacy-preserving data analytics
- Blockchain-based approaches to improve sensor networks security
- Network wide security and vulnerability assessment
- Application of software-defined networks (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) in sensor networks
- Evolution of sensor networks toward 5G-enabled IoT systems
- Innovative use cases and scenarios based on sensor networks
- Data-centric security for sensor networks
- Application of machine learning techniques for intelligent security in sensor networks
- Federated learning in sensor networks
- Secure orchestration of sensor networks
- Security in low-power wide-area networks (LPWAN)
- Efficient and scalable security for sensor networks
- Standardization activities for secure sensor networks
- Enforcement of data protection regulations based on secure sensor networks