Towards Creating Public Key Authentication for IoT Blockchain

Abstract

Besides confidentiality and privacy, trust is an important factor for any IoT system. When a sensor send data that is signed with its private key, the receiving nodes verify it using the public key of the sensor. Hence, it is understood that authenticating the public key of the system is part of creating trust within the system. Traditionally, trust is maintained using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) where a centralized Certificate Authority (CA) is used for authenticating the public keys. However, a centralized system can result in single point of failure where CA can be compromised or can act maliciously. Decentralizing this system using blockchain and by automating the process of certificate authentication without the need for a central third party can overcome the abovementioned limitations. We identify the challenges in creating such a system and propose a generic framework for PKI in IoT infrastructure using blockchain that can provide the functions of a CA.