<p>  </p> <p>Data is the foundation of digital agriculture. Data from a wide variety of sensors in the soil, in machinery, or from remote sensing can inform decisions including site-specific land and crop management but capitalizing on these data requires metadata that captures the full story related to production. Answers to metadata questions such as who, what, where, when, and how are often unavailable when aggregated data are analyzed. These metadata are crucial for making accurate operation and management decisions and certainly for developing AI models. Since farmers and researchers exhibit human behavior of forgetting to take notes or entering incorrect information, even with digital means, missing and erroneous records are common. To address this issue, a metadata collection Android app – Meta Ag for agricultural activities was created that automatically appends the operator’s name, time, and space information to an in-field event, and provides a user-friendly interface to gather information with more details describing which activity was done and how. Meta Ag has six main modules, including user registration, geofence construction, accessed geofence recognition, an infobot for extensive activity data collection, setting options for Infobot and data access. By design, manual data input, with automatic validation, when possible, was used for information collection. To achieve this, Meta Ag uses dynamically constructed, interactive option lists for fewer data entry errors. The collected data were stored in a Google Firebase database as central storage for multiple users. To facilitate data interoperability, stored data were made accessible in CSV and JSON format. The Android app collects extensive metadata from database interactive option lists and the infobot as a data collection wizard provides a dynamic environment for data collection in a short time with minimal manual input. The app was also able to reduce missing data as it automatically records the accessed fields and activity time in that field. The Meta-Ag app can work both as a standalone tool and an integration into any other farm information management system.</p>

<p dir="ltr">To assess the security of mobile devices, I begin by identifying the key entities involved in their operation: the user, the mobile device, and the service or device being accessed. Users rely on mobile devices to interact with services and perform essential tasks. These devices act as gateways, enabling communication between the user and the back-end services. For example, a user may access their bank account via a banking app on their mobile device, which communicates with the bank’s back-end server. In such scenarios, the server must authenticate the user to ensure only authorized individuals can access sensitive information. However, beyond user authentication, it is crucial for connected services and devices to verify the integrity of the mobile device itself. A compromised mobile device can have severe consequences for both the user and the services involved.</p><p dir="ltr">My research focuses on examining the methods used by various entities to attest and verify the integrity of mobile devices. I conduct a comprehensive analysis of mobile device attestation from multiple perspectives. Specifically, I investigate how attestation is carried out by back-end servers of mobile apps, IoT devices controlled by mobile companion apps, and large language models (LLMs) accessed via mobile apps.</p><p dir="ltr">In the first case, back-end servers of mobile apps must attest to the integrity of the device to protect against tampered apps and devices, which could lead to financial loss, data breaches, or intellectual property theft. For instance, a music streaming service must implement strong security measures to verify the device’s integrity before transmitting sensitive content to prevent data leakage or unauthorized access.</p><p dir="ltr">In the second case, IoT devices must ensure they are communicating with legitimate companion apps running on attested mobile devices. Failure to enforce proper attestation for IoT companion apps can expose these devices to malicious attacks. An attacker could inject malicious code into an IoT device, potentially causing physical damage to the device or its surroundings, or even seizing control of the device, leading to critical safety risks, property damage, or harm to human lives.</p><p dir="ltr">Finally, in the third case, malicious apps can exploit prompt injection attacks against LLMs, leading to data leaks or unauthorized access to APIs and services offered by the LLM. These scenarios underscore the importance of secure and attested communication between mobile devices and the services they interact with.</p>