Security Aspects of Conflicting Policies in Intelligent Internet of Things Systems with Split Analytic Functions

In intelligent Internet of Things (IoT) systems with split analytic functions, time-critical applications perform tasks that require instant data processing and immediate physical responses within milliseconds to prevent danger, injury, or system failure, and time-tolerant applications perform non-urgent background tasks that do not need an immediate response. Conflicts between applications occur when two or more applications send opposite or incompatible commands to the same physical devices at the same time. Cross-layer conflicts between time-critical and time-tolerant applications occur when resource demands overlap and the system reaches its limits. In contrast, conflicts between time-critical applications occur when multiple high-priority tasks compete for limited shared resources simultaneously. This research focuses on the security aspects of conflicting applications in intelligent IoT system architectures with split analytic functions, analyzes cross-layer conflicts between applications, and identifies security threats. The study introduces a threat model designed to analyze the operational and security risks that arise when applications from different vendors simultaneously apply conflicting configurations to a single IoT device. Through simulations, the research evaluates these security risks, analyzes alternative defense strategies, and provides a sensitivity analysis. Finally, it proposes a conflict-alleviation architectural framework tailored for time-critical applications; this framework proactively detects and resolves policy conflicts during the application onboarding stage before they can affect active IoT network operations.