Towards the Representation of Network Assets in Health Care Environments Using Ontologies

Objectives The aim of the study is to design an ontology model for the representation of assets and its features in distributed health care environments. Allow the interchange of information about these assets through the use of specific vocabularies based on the use of ontologies. Methods Ontologies are a formal way to represent knowledge by means of triples composed of a subject, a predicate, and an object. Given the sensitivity of network assets in health care institutions, this work by using an ontology-based representation of information complies with the FAIR principles. Federated queries to the ontology systems, allow users to obtain data from multiple sources (i.e., several hospitals belonging to the same public body). Therefore, this representation makes it possible for network administrators in health care institutions to have a clear understanding of possible threats that may emerge in the network. Results As a result of this work, the “Software Defined Networking Description Language—CUREX Asset Discovery Tool Ontology” (SDNDL-CAO) has been developed. This ontology uses the main concepts in network assets to represent the knowledge extracted from the distributed health care environments: interface, device, port, service, etc. Conclusion The developed SDNDL-CAO ontology allows to represent the aforementioned knowledge about the distributed health care environments. Network administrators of these institutions will benefit as they will be able to monitor emerging threats in real-time, something critical when managing personal medical information.