# Securing the Future of Web-Enabled IoT: A Critical Analysis of Web of Things Security
## 2 Background
### WoT Architecture and Applications  
The Web of Things builds on the principles of the IoT by integrating web technologies to facilitate the interaction of devices over the web. The WoT aims to enhance the accessibility and interoperability of IoT devices by using standard web protocols and technologies such as HTTP, RESTful APIs, and WebSockets [1].  
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) architecture of the WoT, shown in Figure 2 [15], defines several key components that are essential for the functioning and integration of things (IoT devices) into the web environment. We consider here only the main components that are essential to make the WoT environment up and running:  
* Thing Description: It is a pivotal element in the WoT architecture, acting as a standardized schema that provides a machine-readable representation of a thing. It includes metadata about the device, such as its manufacturer, model, and capabilities. Moreover, the TD outlines the interaction affordances, which describe how other devices or applications can interact with the thing, whether through actions, properties, or events. The TD serves as the universal interface for interacting with a thing, enabling interoperability across different platforms and protocols.
* Protocol Binding: This defines how the interactions specified in the thing description can be realized over various communication protocols, such as HTTP, MQTT, CoAP, and WebSockets. This component ensures that the WoT architecture can accommodate a wide range of devices and networks by abstracting the specific communication protocol used. By providing these bindings, the WoT framework allows things to communicate seamlessly, regardless of the underlying protocol.
* WoT Scripting API: it is a standardized programming interface that enables developers to create scripts for interacting with things. This API abstracts the complexities of different protocols and device specifics, allowing developers to focus on creating applications that can control and monitor things efficiently. The API ensures that  
Figure 1: IoT architecture.  
applications can be written once and then run across various devices, enhancing the portability and scalability of WoT solutions.  
More about the architectural components of the WoT can be found here [15]. Further, the integration of web technologies into IoT devices simplifies the development of applications and enhances device interoperability, making the WoT a powerful extension of the IoT [7; 10]. WoT applications span various domains, including the following:  
* Smart Homes: enables the seamless control and automation of home devices via web interfaces;
* Healthcare: enables remote monitoring and management of health data using web-based platforms;
* Industrial Automation: enables the web-based control and monitoring of industrial processes and machinery;
* Smart Cities: allows for the integration of urban infrastructure with web technologies for enhanced management and services [4; 16].  
Understanding the complex architecture and applications of the WoT sets the stage for exploring the use of patterns and reference architectures (RAs) in modeling these systems. Patterns and reference architectures provide structured solutions to common design problems and offer a blueprint for developing robust and scalable WoT systems. In the following section, we will delve into the significance of patterns and RAs in the WoT, highlighting how they contribute to the systematic design and security of WoT environments.