Security Mechanisms of a Mobile Health Application for Promoting Physical Activity among Older Adults
David Bastos,
José Ribeiro,
Fernando Silva,
Mário Rodrigues,
Carlos Rabadão,
Antonio Fernández-Caballero,
João Paulo Barraca,
Nelson Pacheco Rocha,
António Pereira
Affiliations
David Bastos
Computer Science and Communications Research Centre, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, School of Technology and Management, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal
José Ribeiro
Computer Science and Communications Research Centre, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, School of Technology and Management, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal
Fernando Silva
Computer Science and Communications Research Centre, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, School of Technology and Management, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal
Mário Rodrigues
Institute of Electronics and Telematics Engineering of Aveiro, Higher School of Technology and Management of Águeda, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Carlos Rabadão
Computer Science and Communications Research Centre, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, School of Technology and Management, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal
Antonio Fernández-Caballero
Departamento de Sistemas Informáticos, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02071 Albacete, Spain
João Paulo Barraca
Department of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics, Institute of Telecommunications, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Nelson Pacheco Rocha
Department of Medical Sciences, Institute of Electronics and Telematics Engineering of Aveiro, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
António Pereira
Computer Science and Communications Research Centre, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, School of Technology and Management, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal
Physical activity contributes to the maintenance of health conditions and functioning. However, the percentage of older adults who comply with the recommendations for physical activity levels is low when compared to the same percentages on younger groups. The SmartWalk system aims to encourage older adults to perform physical activity (i.e., walking in the city), which is monitored and adjusted by healthcare providers for best results. The study reported in this article focused on the implementation of SmartWalk security services to keep personal data safe during communications and while at rest, which were validated considering a comprehensive use case. The security framework offers various mechanisms, including an authentication system that was designed to complement the pairs of usernames and passwords with trusted execution environments and token-based features, authorization with different access levels, symmetric and asymmetric key cryptography, critical transactions review, and logging supported by blockchain technology. The resulting implementation contributes for a common understanding of the security features of trustful smart cities’ applications, which conforms with existing legislation and regulations.
