Security and Privacy of Wireless Beacon Systems

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons have been increasingly used in smart city applications, such as location-based and proximity-based services, to enable Internet of Things to interact with people in vicinity or enhance context-awareness. Their widespread deployment in human-centric applications makes them an attractive target to adversaries for social or economic reasons. In fact, beacons are reportedly exposed to various security issues and privacy concerns. A characterization of attacks against beacon systems is given to help understand adversary motives, required adversarial capabilities, potential impact and possible defence mechanisms for different threats, with a view to facilitating security evaluation and protection formulation for beacon systems.