Internet of Things

Your watch knows what you did last summer

Nathan Kahl — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 17:36:08 +0000

Your watch knows what you did last summer Nathan Kahl Mon, 06/15/2026 - 13:36

A smartwatch sitting quietly on someone’s wrist may seem unremarkable. But in a criminal investigation, that device could become a witness.

91�� Cyber Security Engineering Associate Professor Umit Karabiyik helps law enforcement agencies across the country understand how data from everyday connected devices can provide critical evidence in criminal cases. Through a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)–funded project, Karabiyik and researchers trained thousands of criminal justice professionals and provided technical assistance on cases involving everything from smartwatches and fitness trackers to smart home devices and medical technologies.

“We try to understand this Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem and extract data from these technologies for evidentiary purposes in courts, criminal investigations, and criminal litigation,” said Karabiyik.

The project, funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, was first awarded in 2021 while Karabiyik was at Purdue University. Originally planned as a short-term effort, the grant was extended multiple times, allowing the team to continue responding to a growing challenge: helping investigators keep pace with the expansion of connected technologies in everyday life.

IoT devices include smartwatches, fitness trackers, smart appliances, home security systems, smart glasses, medical monitoring devices, and countless other products that collect and exchange data. “Law enforcement agencies need to understand what these technologies are, what the security issues are, what the privacy issues are, and most importantly, how to investigate them,” Karabiyik said.

That work often goes beyond research papers and conference presentations. Since the project began, Karabiyik’s team has trained more than 7,000 criminal justice professionals through conferences, webinars, and specialized workshops. They have also become a resource for investigators facing technical questions in active cases.

“We get phone calls from law enforcement agencies that say, ‘I’ve got this case, and I got stuck. What do I do?’” Karabiyik said.

One line of research focused on how devices within Apple’s ecosystem communicate with one another. Karabiyik’s team discovered that Apple devices can collect identifying information about nearby Apple products even without direct interaction from users. The findings created new possibilities for investigators attempting to establish whether individuals or devices had been in proximity to one another.

After presenting the research, Karabiyik received inquiries from investigators working homicide and cold cases who wanted to know whether data from nearby Apple devices could help narrow the list of potential suspects. “These kinds of calls keep coming,” he said.

Geolocation data points generated by an iPhone alongside data from nearby WiFi access points. Despite iPhone location services being disabled, information from surrounding devices is still collected. Image provided.

As part of the project, Karabiyik and colleagues serve as a criminal IoT helpdesk, of sorts.

In one case, Karabiyik served as an expert witness in a murder trial where investigators examined data from a smartwatch worn by the defendant, who maintained she had been asleep during the time prosecutors alleged the crime occurred.

“We looked at the technology and proved that she was indeed sleeping,” Karabiyik said. “There were no steps taken, and her stress level was perfectly fine until she found the victim dead.” The defendant was ultimately found not guilty.

While much of the project focuses on digital forensics, Karabiyik’s research also examines the privacy and security risks associated with connected devices. His team has built databases of vulnerabilities and studied how data collected by consumer technologies is stored, shared, and potentially exposed.

He noted that his research influences his own personal use. “I’m very picky about what technologies I use,” he said. He avoids devices with microphones and cameras whenever possible, does not use voice assistants such as Alexa or Google Home, and is cautious about products that collect large amounts of personal data.

At the same time, he sees enormous value in connected technologies when they are used responsibly. “Unless you are a bad person, these technologies can be super helpful,” he said. “If something happens to me, I know these devices are going to tell law enforcement a lot of things.”

As connected devices continue to multiply, Karabiyik expects demand for digital forensic expertise to grow as well. The current project concludes later this year, but he is already pursuing new DOJ funding opportunities aimed at helping forensic examiners, law enforcement agencies, and criminal justice professionals navigate an increasingly connected world.

Check out "When Your Smartwatch Becomes a Witness," an episode of CEC's podcast In the Abstract.

Podcast episode transcript

Teresa Donnellan A smart watch sitting quietly on someone's wrist may seem unremarkable, but in a criminal investigation, that device could become a witness.

Welcome to In the Abstract, a research podcast from 91��'s College of Engineering and Computing. I'm Teresa Donnellan.

Umit Karabiyik There are so many new technologies that are coming in IoT became part of everyday life for every single one of us.

Teresa Donnellan 91�� Cyber Security Engineering Associate Professor Umit Karabiyik helps law enforcement agencies across the country understand how data from everyday connected devices can provide critical evidence in criminal cases.

Umit Karabiyik So try to understand this Internet of Things ecosystem and extract data from these technologies for the use of evidentiary purposes in courts— criminal, you know, litigations, criminal investigations. So they want to make sure, the law enforcement agencies and, in general, criminal justice professionals, they understand the technology, IoT technologies, and anything related to justice domain, with respect to IoT devices. Do they understand what the technology is? What are the security issues? What are the privacy issues? And more importantly, which is the majority part of it when they are found in criminal investigations, how to investigate these technologies, how to understand the data [that] reside on these devices generated by these devices and stored somewhere else sometimes.

Teresa Donnellan Through a U.S. Department of Justice funded project, Karabiyik and researchers trained thousands of criminal justice professionals and provided technical assistance on cases involving everything from smartwatches and fitness trackers to smart home devices and medical technologies.

Umit Karabiyik I work on Internet of Things technologies. Particularly, we focus on fitness trackers, smartwatches, smart appliances at homes, like meta glasses. You know, they record everything, watches, and Oura rings, you know, even we investigated some glucometers; we had one of our researchers, coincidentally, he was diabetic, he was using also glucometer. We investigated his data points and technology as well. Then what we do based on the research and products, we create trainings. And throughout the five years since twenty twenty one, we trained over seven thousand criminal justice professionals at more than thirty in-person trainings, and we did several online webinars so that we can answer questions. That's the technical training component of this, and then there is technical assistance.

Teresa Donnellan The project, funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, was first awarded in 2021. Originally planned as a short term effort, the grant was extended multiple times, allowing the team to continue responding to a growing challenge: Helping investigators keep pace with the expansion of connected technologies in everyday life. They have also become a resource for investigators facing technical questions in active cases.

Umit Karabiyik We get phone calls from law enforcement agencies. They call us like, "Hey, I got this case." It could be a cold case, or it could be an ongoing case. "And I got stuck on this. What do I do?" So it's under the project, we actually provide technical assistance. We collaborate with the White Collar Crime Center. And you know, with this, you know, uh, partnership, they have connection to the tens of thousands of criminal justice professionals. So they reach out to them, and then they reach out to us as technical subject matter experts. And then I provide them, "Hey, you got to do this. You need to do that." or "You know, we don't have technology for this." Something like that.

Teresa Donnellan One line of research focused on how devices within Apple's ecosystem communicate with one another. Karabiyik's team discovered that Apple devices can collect identifying information about nearby Apple products, even without direct interaction from users. The findings created new possibilities for investigators attempting to establish whether individuals or devices had been in proximity to one another.

Umit Karabiyik We found that, especially [with] Apple ecosystem devices, they constantly share data with each other, even without the interaction of the users. They keep changing data with each other. So we give the example of this: like if there is any smart watch in a room, it knows all the other Apple devices in the room. What it means: It knows it basically collects the unique identifier about those devices. So then we give this scenario. We say, if there's an abduction of a child, and there's a suspect for this abduction, and you go to the suspect, say, well, have you seen this kid? Say, no, I've never seen this person. I've never, you know, in contact with this person. But the kid might have Apple Watch. And if we investigate that person's phone, we could find that that watch has been interacting with the phone.

Teresa Donnellan After presenting the research, Karibiyik received inquiries from investigators working homicide and cold cases who wanted to know whether data from nearby Apple devices could help narrow the list of potential suspects.

Umit Karabiyik Then when we brought this research findings four years ago, I got a phone call from Ohio FBI field office, said, "Oh, I got a cold case. This is exactly what happened. There is a dead body. And we, because of the CCTV cameras they had, that suspect was wearing an Apple Watch. And the the victim was the victim was actually having a iPhone." So the question was, would that iPhone have the killer's Apple Watch information? That was a cold case. Unfortunately, it was too old. At that time, this communication wasn't really happening. We couldn't solve that case.

Teresa Donnellan As part of the project, Karibiyik and colleagues serve as a criminal IoT help desk of sorts.

Umit Karabiyik Under this project, they reach out to NW3C, the White Collar Crime Center. We give them this hotline phone number, and then the, the NW3C contact reaches out to me depending on the question, because we have subcontracts from NW3C. They are experts in litigations and legal issues. Some of them are just reaching out saying like, "I have a, you know, IoT device. We investigated this. We found this evidence. Well, how are we going to put it into the legal context? How is this going to be admissible?" It's not really my case in that case, because I prove scientifically it's correct. So my co-pi from NW3C, he's the chief counsel of White Collar Crime Center. And he helps on that case when it's a technology problem. Like, "Hey, we found this device. How are we going to get data out of it?" I come into play.

Teresa Donnellan In one case, Karibiyik served as an expert witness in a murder trial, where investigators examined data from a smartwatch worn by the defendant.

Umit Karabiyik Because of this research, I actually worked on a case in Indiana. It was also a murder case. Um, a suspect was a wife. She was accused of killing her husband. Uh, and she was saying that he fell over the stairs and, um, and she was wearing an Apple Watch. She was wearing a Garmin watch, um, IoT device. And she said she was sleeping all night. And we were, you know, called to the case. Um, we were hired, and we looked at the technology, and we proved that she was indeed sleeping. There were no steps taken, and her stress level was perfectly fine until she found him dead. Um, at 4:34 a.m. in the morning. So we presented this to the court.

Teresa Donnellan The defendant was ultimately found not guilty. While much of the project focuses on digital forensics, Karabiyik's research also examines the privacy and security risks associated with connected devices.

Umit Karabiyik From the forensics part, I believe they serve a lot to us, unless you are a bad person. I'm not a bad person. So I believe these IoT technologies are super helpful for for if I'm killed, I know this device is going to tell a lot of things to the, you know, law enforcement about me and my killer. But I'm very picky about what technologies I use, because I also know these technologies have a lot of privacy concerns and security concerns.

Teresa Donnellan His team has built databases of vulnerabilities and studied how data collected by consumer technologies is stored, shared, and potentially exposed.

Umit Karabiyik So we created a database of vulnerabilities of these technologies [of] what are the security and privacy pitfalls as an individual, um, as a user of these technologies, like I am very picky. I'm very selective of using Chinese technologies because as we do the research, we know these technologies, like, for instance, indoor security cameras, they share data with the third parties and they store data in, you know, clouds, even though they don't have, you know, subscriptions. So these technologies are sometimes freaking me out, if I don't know their behaviors. So this is why, you know, we try to some of my research is privacy and security of IoT devices so that we identify and we just let the rest of the world know this technology collects this type of data. And in fact, maybe they sell your data. So from that perspective, I'm very selective of using certain technologies personally. And I suggest my friends and, you know, family members also like what to use, what not to use. And usually good technologies are more expensive. Technologies are secure, not always, most of the time, but cheaper products are very questionable ones.

Teresa Donnellan He avoids devices with microphones and cameras whenever possible, does not use voice assistants such as Alexa or Google Home, and is cautious about products that collect large amounts of personal data. At the same time, he sees enormous value in connected technologies when they are used responsibly. As connected devices continue to multiply, Karibiyik expects demand for digital forensic expertise to grow as well. The current project concludes later this year, but he is already pursuing new DOJ funding opportunities aimed at helping forensic examiners, law enforcement agencies, and criminal justice professionals navigate an increasingly connected world.

Thanks for listening to In the Abstract. For more information or to find out about graduate study opportunities, visit cec dot gmu dot edu.

Explore more research at George Mason

Topics

Cybersecurity Research

Department of Cyber Security Engineering faculty

Internet of Things

Department of Justice

Research

Mason, Amazon collaboration to deliver innovations in education and research

ckearney — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 17:03:01 +0000

Mason, Amazon collaboration to deliver innovations in education and research ckearney Mon, 11/28/2022 - 12:03

91�� and Amazon have entered into a strategic collaboration that will allow the university to better serve students, advance its commitment to a more sustainable campus environment, and introduce new educational programs in data center engineering.

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

By leveraging technical solutions from Amazon Web Services’ cloud services, Mason will develop a unified platform to improve the process for students from community colleges to transfer into the university. The seamless process will support Mason’s commitment to access by eliminating obstacles related to enrollment and transfer, ensuring systematic barriers do not prevent student success.

Mason faculty, students, staff, and public-sector and industry partners can also expect the development of new approaches to address food insecurity, reduce the technical skills gap in data center engineering, and advance environmental priorities. In the coming years, students will be able to access these novel programs and new curriculum that will help learners pursue careers in data center engineering across the greater Washington metropolitan area, where there is an increasing need for mechanical and electrical engineering talent.

Mason is among the largest producers of tech talent in Virginia, with 40% of students majoring in STEM fields. The university is ranked No. 1 in the commonwealth and No. 9 nationally among public institutions for innovation by U.S. News and World Report.

“The diverse talent pipeline that 91�� produces is in part what attracted Amazon to Arlington,” Mason President Gregory Washington said of the company’s construction of a headquarters in the city. “Mason’s work with Amazon will better serve the students in that pipeline as well as drive economic growth through business, government and community collaborations as Mason becomes one of the most technologically advanced, inclusive universities in the nation.”

As Mason works with Amazon Web Services to implement enhanced, high-performance computing and machine learning, it also will accelerate its research capabilities and provide new platforms for innovation, including an increased collaboration with the intelligence community to drive research and new discoveries with artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and 5G technology.

In total, this unique collaboration will deliver a secure, cloud-based environment for university, industry and government mission partners to conduct cutting-edge research.

"This is just the beginning of a powerful collaboration," said Amazon's Paul Misener. Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services

"In this long-term initiative, customer services and resources from across Amazon will accelerate innovation at Virginia's largest public research university, including by helping Mason innovate and build on the vast portfolio of AWS Cloud technologies and solutions,” said Paul Misener, vice president for global innovation policy and communications at Amazon. “This is just the beginning of a powerful collaboration that not only will improve student outcomes, but also will create a more resilient, efficient, and sustainable future for the university.”

The newly announced projects will add to an already strong collaborative effort between Mason, AWS, and Amazon to support students and innovation.

A just-completed hackathon co-hosted by Mason and Amazon, a project based out of the university’s Mason Square in Arlington, Virginia, challenged teams from U.S. and international academic institutions, companies, and other affiliations to develop innovative ideas to improve public-private collaborations against the industry-wide global challenge of counterfeiting.

Mason Square is also the future home of Mason’s Fuse building, a 345,000-square-foot facility that will open in 2025 as the flagship tech hub for digital innovation, showcasing the power of partnerships in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, connecting students, faculty, industry, and government.

Additionally, AWS’ Girls Tech Day in Northern Virginia was held at Mason’s Science and Technology Campus with the goal of inspiring girls and women to pursue careers in the technology sector. And Mason President Gregory Washington recently participated in a panel discussion, hosted by Amazon, that focused on workforce development and the future of work.

“91�� has proven to be a leading education institution in the nation’s capital for a number of years,” said Kim Majerus, vice president, U.S. education, state and local government at AWS. “As one of the first universities to launch a cloud computing degree program, Mason has always seen how the power of technology can help meet mission outcomes. This collaboration will be transformative in showing the positive impact technology can have on the education community across the nation, as well as advance research in cybersecurity, defense, and military intelligence for public-sector leaders.”

Topics

New scoring framework addresses software vulnerabilities

Tama Moni — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 17:50:54 +0000

New scoring framework addresses software vulnerabilities Tama Moni Tue, 10/25/2022 - 13:50

In This Story

Massimiliano Albanese

Liza Wilson Durant

The 91�� College of Engineering and Computing has launched the Mason Vulnerability Scoring Framework (MVSF), which publishes a continuously updated ranking of the most-common global software weaknesses. The work, in conjunction with PARC (Palo Alto Research Center), relies on the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST)—Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures data and other sources of vulnerability information to create an up-to-date database that can be used to identify and mitigate risks. This line of work has resulted in multiple pending patent applications and a Best Paper Award at the 19th International Conference on Security and Cryptography.

Cybersecurity code with 1s and 0s

Photo provided by iStock images

Liza Wilson Durant, Mason’s associate provost for strategic initiatives and community engagement, says, "This preemptive tool to guide strategic defense against cybersecurity vulnerabilities will not only safeguard systems but mitigate potential business revenue losses for those who leverage the tool. “

An existing list called the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses, compiled by The MITRE Corporation, has long been the industry standard. MVSF improves on the CWE Top 25 by having data input monthly, compared to MITRE’s yearly reporting. This improvement allows researchers, programmers, developers, and others to have an accurate, almost real-time picture of where software vulnerabilities are most likely to be exploited. Additionally, where MITRE ranks the top 25 vulnerabilities, MVSF ranks the top 150.

Associate Professor, Department of Information Sciences and Technology and Associate Director, Center for Secure Information Systems, Max Albanese oversees the project for Mason. He says, “If there is a trend where a certain type of vulnerability is becoming more severe, you don’t have to wait for a full year to discover that; you’ll see that class of vulnerability getting worse – or better – month-to-month.” MVSF can even correct course based on new information, going back and re-ranking weaknesses’ order in a previous month based on new information that was not known at the time of original ranking.

Albanese further notes that NIST assigns a severity score to vulnerabilities based on a combination of an exploitability score – how difficult the vulnerability is to exploit – and an impact score – how bad the consequences would be if the vulnerability were exploited. MVSF uses those components as variables but allows users to add their own, additional variables not considered by NIST. MVSF also allows users to decide how to weigh the variables that rank the vulnerabilities. This customizability, still under development, is an important feature of the new system.

Mason and PARC’s collaboration on the Mason Vulnerability Scoring Framework builds on a relationship that started with both of them working on a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) project dubbed SCIBORG: Secure Configurations for the Internet of Things (IoT) based on Optimization and Reasoning on Graphs. The goal of SCIBORG was to devise fundamentally new approaches to determine security configurations that protect critical infrastructure and IoT-based systems.

The association with PARC here was important to making the project a success. “Working with GMU was a productive collaboration,” says Marc Mosko, principal scientist, PARC. “Configuration vulnerabilities are growing, now comprising over 15 percent of all Common Vulnerability and Exposure (CVE) notices. We appreciate that across many different industry sectors, there are often gaps in context between management, software security teams, and those who are responsible for ensuring systems are performing optimally on an ongoing basis. Our work addresses these evolving configuration security needs, and we look forward to exploring opportunities to apply this work in the future.”

Mason and PARC’s collaboration on the Mason Vulnerability Scoring Framework builds on a relationship that started with both of them working on a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program ConSec in a project dubbed SCIBORG: Secure Configurations for the Internet of Things (IoT) based on Optimization and Reasoning on Graphs. The goal of SCIBORG was to devise fundamentally new approaches to determine security configurations that protect critical infrastructure and IoT-based systems.

Albanese, who is also an external consultant for MITRE, has initiated a collaboration with MITRE’s group responsible for CWE to leverage synergies between the two organizations.

In addition to the excitement of the innovation, it is equally impactful to see undergraduate students involved in its design and implementation and innovating alongside their mentor faculty," says Wilson Durant.

The Virginia Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) will provide continued support for two Mason undergraduate students to assist with the project, which Albanese says is key for the continued maintenance of the system.

Topics

cryptography

configuration vulnerabilities

Internet of Things

Information Sciences and Technology Department

Research

CEC faculty research

Expanding the internet of things

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 15:17:31 +0000

Expanding the internet of things Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 08/25/2021 - 11:17

In This Story

Parth Pathak

Wireless connectivity on our smartphones, wearables, and laptops keeps us connected to everyone, but it often ties us to outlets as our devices recharge. The faster our search results come in, the more energy-hungry our digital devices become, creating a tradeoff of speed for energy efficiency.

Parth Pathak, an assistant professor of computer science, received a National Science Foundation CAREER award to look at breaking the cycle by using existing technology to create a new high-speed and low-power solution to expand the capabilities in wireless connectivity.

Parth Pathak is innovating existing technologies to expand the capabilities of the internet of things.

“There are two trends in wireless connectivity. One is the wireless networks you would see in an iPhone, incredibly fast but also very energy hungry. The other trend uses extremely low-power networks, like those used in EZ passes and other automated tolls, but they are slow in communication,” Pathak says.

But this divergence is limiting. A low-power and high-speed solution would allow everyday items to be added to the wireless network, like our water bottles, pens, notebooks—the possibilities are endless. “This is the vision of the internet of things, to have the things we see around us connected,” says Pathak.

His work entitled, “CAREER: Unifying Millimeter-wave Networking and Sensing Using Commodity Backscatter” uses backscattering techniques to reflect high speed 5G signals. Backscatter objects, like EZ passes and RFIDs, don’t have their own independent way of communicating. Instead, when another device transmits, they take that signal coming in, modify it, and communicate back, says Pathak.

Since objects would reflect a signal instead of transmitting one on their own, it drastically reduces the energy it needs, says Pathak. “Think of it like using a mirror. When there is sunlight, the sun is transmitting, and I use a mirror with two sides – reflecting or not – to send that sunlight to you, forming a stream of 0s and 1s. The mirror is not using much energy, except for flipping sides or producing any signal. It is intuitively backscattering an existing signal.”

In this case, the sunlight is a 5G network signal, which transmits information over millimeter-wave wireless signals. Millimeter-waves are a part of the electromagnetic spectrum that are high frequency and high speed, but they also pose some challenges.

“Since the millimeter-wave signals are so high frequency, it is challenging to ensure the right balance between energy and speed,” says Pathak. So, he and his research team are developing new algorithms and protocols specifically for these high-speed wireless networks.

Because their work uses existing infrastructure such as the 5G cellular and the next-generation WiFi networks, it would also be low-cost and easily implemented. “We are creating a very efficient and cost-effective way of expanding the possibilities of wireless,” says Pathak.

“We are rapidly becoming a society centered around ubiquitous wireless communication and sensing, but the pace of change is hampered by the power consumption needs of wireless devices. Parth’s research will tackle this challenge through an innovative approach to exploiting reflected 5G network signals for important low-power sensing applications such as proximity detection and contact tracing,” says Department of Computer Science chair David Rosenblum.