PUFchain: Secure IoHT Authentication via PUFs, ZKPs, and Blockchain

Abstract

The Internet of Health Things (IoHT) introduces new opportunities for remote patient monitoring but also exposes sensitive medical data to serious security risks. Traditional authentication mechanisms are often too resource-intensive for IoHT devices, which are constrained in terms of storage, computation, and energy. This paper presents a lightweight, decentralized authentication protocol tailored for IoHT environments, integrating blockchain technology, Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs), and zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs). Our protocol employs the Proof of Elapsed Work and Luck (PoEWAL) consensus mechanism, enabling secure, energy-efficient participation in a private Hyperledger Fabric blockchain. The scheme ensures strong mutual authentication between healthcare providers and IoHT devices without exposing sensitive data. An informal analysis is done to demonstrate the protocol’s resilience against common attacks. This protocol offers a secure solution for enabling trustworthy healthcare communication in resource-limited IoHT networks.