A Blockchain-Enabled GNN Framework for Secure Routing in IoT Networks

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) has made secure and reliable data communication more difficult due to its dynamic topologies, energy constrictions, and intelligent and sophisticated adversaries.To address these difficulties in IoT networks, we propose G-TrustChain, an integrated hybrid framework based on Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) for intelligent and dynamic routing and a light Blockchain for distributed trust.G-TrustChain makes use of node-level parameters including latency, remaining energy, and behavioural trust scores derived from a Graph Attention Network (GAT) for routing paths.A lightweight Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG)-structure Blockchain maintains trust scores with a distributed, scalable, and tamper-proof ledger that minimizes dependency on a centralized authority.Experimentation is done for 10,000 rounds, G-TrustChain demonstrated superior routing performance to other protocols such as Trust-based Routing, BBTR, and ROUTENET.It is achieving 95.6% packet delivery ratio, 91.2% detection rate of attacks, and energy consumption as low as 0.0110 J/bit.Also achieving more accurate and reliable trust scores despite energy constraints and higher/extensive attacks.These outcomes demonstrated G-TrustChain provides energy-efficient, secure, and intelligent data communication for the next generation of IoT networks.