A comprehensive survey of applications, techniques, threats, and security countermeasures in smart farming

Abstract

The technological breakthrough that smart farming has seen recently has greatly changed the ways and manners of work for all farmers. Modern technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), the Internet of Underground Things (IoUT), Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), Big Data Analytics, and Machine Learning techniques, etc , make farm operations happen at a rapid pace. However, there is a lack of a comprehensive survey that includes fundamental techniques, applications, security issues, security countermeasures, and the challenges of smart agriculture in the state-of-the-art literature. Consequently, there is a need for a paper that will provide a comprehensive survey of the techniques, applications, and challenges of smart farming, including security issues and their countermeasures. In this paper, we provide an in-depth survey of the techniques, applications, security, and countermeasures of smart agriculture, among others. This will provide a guide to identifying the different technologies for farmers to adopt. Besides, farmers will understand the security issues (such as data breaches, cyberattacks on IoT devices, and unauthorized system access that threaten the reliability of smart agricultural systems) of smart farming and how to mitigate them. In addition, it will provide a platform for identifying the directions for future research, especially for future commercial agricultural systems. The findings of this research offer valuable insights for multiple stakeholders. Farmers can use this study as a guide to adopting secure and efficient agricultural technologies, while researchers can leverage the identified gaps to develop enhanced security frameworks and innovative solutions. Furthermore, this paper outlines future directions for smart farming, emphasizing the importance of cybersecurity, sustainable technology integration, and policy development to support agricultural digitization. By addressing these critical aspects, our research aims to contribute to a safer and more resilient smart farming ecosystem. • The current state-of-the-art in smart farming techniques. • The techniques and technology that should be explored in smart farming. • What are the cyber security issues and countermeasures of IoT devices in smart farms? • The key smart farming frameworks and their limitations. • The future research directions for smart farming.