Title:
Enumerating and Classifying IoT Devices with Software-Defined Radios
Abstract:
The rapid proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has introduced a multitude of hardware and communication standards, such as Zigbee, BLE, and LoRa. This fragmentation complicates the cost-effective assessment of physical-layer performance and security. Furthermore, traditional network scanning tools like Nmap are ineffective because many IoT devices do not possess IP addresses. This presentation introduces “IoT-Scan”, an extensible, Nmap-like reconnaissance tool designed for non-IP IoT devices using a single Software-Defined Radio (SDR). The tool employs passive, active, and multiprotocol parallel scanning algorithms to efficiently discover devices across various protocols. Experimental results, grounded in the theoretical coupon collector problem, demonstrate that active scanning can reduce Zigbee discovery time by 87% compared to passive scanning. Additionally, the presentation details a novel SDR-based testbed for IoT device classification. By analyzing physical-layer behaviors, such as receiver sensitivity and capture effects under controlled interference, devices can be accurately fingerprinted based on their type and model without the need for extensive data training or privacy intrusion. Therefore, SDRs serve as a versatile “Swiss-army knife” for comprehensive IoT security and performance evaluation.
Speaker:
Prof. David Starobinski
ECE, SE, and CS Departments, Boston University
Bio:
Dr. David Starobinski is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, and Computer Science at Boston University (BU). After receiving his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in 1999, he held visiting and fellowship positions at UC Berkeley, EPFL, and the U.S. DoT Volpe National Transportation Systems Center. He has served on the editorial boards of the IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, the IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, and the IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society. Dr. Starobinski has received an NSF CAREER award, a U.S. Department of Energy Early Career Principal Investigator award, two BU ECE Faculty Teaching Award, and has been a co-recipient of four best paper awards at prominent conferences. His research interests are in cybersecurity, wireless networking, blockchain and cryptocurrency, and network economics.
Host: Professor Alex Wyglinski