Safety and Security Considerations for Online Laboratory Management Systems

The pandemic forced educators to shift abruptly to distance learning, also referred to as e-learning education. Educational institutions integrated new educational tools and online platforms. Several schools, colleges, and universities began incorporating online laboratories in different fields of e...

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Main Authors: Andrea Eugenia Pena-Molina, Maria Mercedes Larrondo-Petrie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Journal of Cybersecurity and Privacy
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2624-800X/5/2/24
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author Andrea Eugenia Pena-Molina
Maria Mercedes Larrondo-Petrie
author_facet Andrea Eugenia Pena-Molina
Maria Mercedes Larrondo-Petrie
author_sort Andrea Eugenia Pena-Molina
collection DOAJ
description The pandemic forced educators to shift abruptly to distance learning, also referred to as e-learning education. Educational institutions integrated new educational tools and online platforms. Several schools, colleges, and universities began incorporating online laboratories in different fields of education, such as engineering, information technology, physics, and chemistry. Online laboratories may take the form of virtual laboratories, software-based simulations available via the Internet, or remote labs, which involve accessing physical equipment online. Adopting remote laboratories as a substitute for conventional hands-on labs has raised concerns regarding the safety and security of both the remote lab stations and the Online Laboratory Management Systems (OLMSs). Design patterns and architectures need to be developed to attain security by design in remote laboratories. Before these can be developed, software architects and developers must understand the domain and existing and proposed solutions. This paper presents an extensive literature review of safety and security concerns related to remote laboratories and an overview of the industry, national and multinational standards, and legal requirements and regulations that need to be considered in building secure and safe Online Laboratory Management Systems. This analysis provides a taxonomy and classification of published standards as well as security and safety problems and possible solutions that can facilitate the documentation of best practices, and implemented solutions to produce security by design for remote laboratories and OLMSs.
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spelling doaj-art-81670ab51b004deca8dc384dee1224012025-08-20T03:27:37ZengMDPI AGJournal of Cybersecurity and Privacy2624-800X2025-05-01522410.3390/jcp5020024Safety and Security Considerations for Online Laboratory Management SystemsAndrea Eugenia Pena-Molina0Maria Mercedes Larrondo-Petrie1Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USAElectrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USAThe pandemic forced educators to shift abruptly to distance learning, also referred to as e-learning education. Educational institutions integrated new educational tools and online platforms. Several schools, colleges, and universities began incorporating online laboratories in different fields of education, such as engineering, information technology, physics, and chemistry. Online laboratories may take the form of virtual laboratories, software-based simulations available via the Internet, or remote labs, which involve accessing physical equipment online. Adopting remote laboratories as a substitute for conventional hands-on labs has raised concerns regarding the safety and security of both the remote lab stations and the Online Laboratory Management Systems (OLMSs). Design patterns and architectures need to be developed to attain security by design in remote laboratories. Before these can be developed, software architects and developers must understand the domain and existing and proposed solutions. This paper presents an extensive literature review of safety and security concerns related to remote laboratories and an overview of the industry, national and multinational standards, and legal requirements and regulations that need to be considered in building secure and safe Online Laboratory Management Systems. This analysis provides a taxonomy and classification of published standards as well as security and safety problems and possible solutions that can facilitate the documentation of best practices, and implemented solutions to produce security by design for remote laboratories and OLMSs.https://www.mdpi.com/2624-800X/5/2/24securitysafetyprivacye-learningremote labsonline laboratory management systems
spellingShingle Andrea Eugenia Pena-Molina
Maria Mercedes Larrondo-Petrie
Safety and Security Considerations for Online Laboratory Management Systems
Journal of Cybersecurity and Privacy
security
safety
privacy
e-learning
remote labs
online laboratory management systems
title Safety and Security Considerations for Online Laboratory Management Systems
title_full Safety and Security Considerations for Online Laboratory Management Systems
title_fullStr Safety and Security Considerations for Online Laboratory Management Systems
title_full_unstemmed Safety and Security Considerations for Online Laboratory Management Systems
title_short Safety and Security Considerations for Online Laboratory Management Systems
title_sort safety and security considerations for online laboratory management systems
topic security
safety
privacy
e-learning
remote labs
online laboratory management systems
url https://www.mdpi.com/2624-800X/5/2/24
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