The healthcare industry has witnessed a transformative impact due to recent advancements in sensing technology, coupled with the Internet of Medical Things (IoMTs)-based healthcare systems. Remote monitoring and informed decision-making have become possible by leveraging an integrated platform for efficient data analysis and processing, thereby optimizing data management in healthcare. However, this data is collected, processed, and transmitted across an interconnected network of devices, which introduces notable security risks and escalates the potential for vulnerabilities throughout the entire data processing pipeline. Traditional security approaches rely on computational complexity and face challenges in adequately securing sensitive healthcare data against evolving threats, thus necessitating robust solutions that ensure trust, enhance security, and maintain data confidentiality and integrity. To address these challenges, this paper introduces a two-phase framework that integrates blockchain technology with IoMT to enhance trust computation, resulting in a secure cluster that supports the quality-of-service (QoS) for sensitive data. The first phase utilizes the decentralized interplanetary file system and hashing functions to create a smart contract for device registration, establishing a resilient storage platform that encrypts data, improves fault tolerance, and facilitates data access. In the second phase, communication overhead is optimized by considering power levels, communication ranges, and computing capabilities alongside the smart contract. The smart contract evaluates the trust index and QoS of each node to facilitate device clustering based on processing capabilities. We implemented the proposed framework using OMNeT++ simulator and C++ programming language and evaluated against the cutting-edge IoMT security approaches in terms of attack detection, energy consumption, packet delivery ratio, throughput, and latency. The qualitative results demonstrated that the proposed framework enhanced attack detection by 6.00%, 18.00%, 20.00%, and 27.00%, reduced energy consumption by 6.91%, 8.19%, 12.07%, and 17.94%, improved packet delivery ratio by 3.00%, 6.00%, 9.00%, and 10.00%, increased throughput by 7.00%, 8.00%, 11.00%, and 13.00%, and decreased latency by 4.90%, 8.81%, 11.54%, and 20.63%, against state-of-the-art methods and was supported by statistical analysis.
With the advent of Bitcoin, a cryptographically-enabled peer-to-peer digital payment system, blockchain together with a whole package of distributed ledger technologies, which serve as the underlying foundation of all the crypto-currencies, have been gaining attention from both academia and industry in the last fifteen years. The recent years have witnessed tremendous momentum in the development of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies, largely due to the impressive rise in the market capital of these digital tokens. More and more industries, from banking and insurance, to supply chain and e-commerce, are quickly realizing the great potential in blockchain technology in efficiency boost, process automation and secure data sharing across otherwise isolated data silos. Furthermore, as the recognition of the data value began to sink in, data assets has become an essential part of the development of enterprises and countries. Blockchain technology is regarded as the foundation of digital economy and provides an effective approach for data ownership, pricing and transactions, which are the core issues of data asset management. However, the potential implications of Blockchain technologies go far beyond their application as the technological backbone for cryptocurrencies. Web3.0, using blockchain as underlying technology, allow for various novel application scenarios, which are built upon distributed consensus and thus are hard to block or censor while providing public verifiability of peer-to-peer transactions without a trusted central party. Web3.0 are expected to become the main front for a plethora of highly expressive applications. To more thoroughly explore the potential of blockchain and web3.0 and promote their progress, SDBD'24 will provide a forum for the most recent blockchain and web3.0 research, innovations, and applications, bridging the gap between theory and practice in the design.
Andrew R. Short, Τheofanis G Orfanoudakis, Helen C. Leligou
This research paper discusses security issues with current deployments of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Systems (SCADA) in the industry and proposes a solution that enables PLC devices to query a blockchain infrastructure for commands and setpoints. The blockchain assumes a dual role in this context: serving as an immutable audit trail database as well as a trusted source for critical commands and setpoints. In contrast to the conventional paradigm, this novel approach does not require write access at the PLC level, thus minimizes its attack surface and helping to protect against known and zero-day vulnerabilities often used in cyberwarfare, such as in the case of the notorious Stuxnet worm. Applications that enforce the logging of user operations for Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) or compliance purposes use the blockchain network as an audit trail database for user actions. Any attempt to maliciously circumvent the logging operation would not affect the operation of a critical process. Additionally, a prototype implementation developed as part of this research finds that modern PLC devices are more than capable of interacting with private Ethereum blockchain nodes. The required libraries and user code consume a small percentage of available resources, while the duration of a complete request-response cycle measured around 22msec. The authors anticipate that PLCBlox can be used as a drop-in replacement for applications requiring higher security standards and logging enforcement, such as nuclear power plants or other critical infrastructure.
Recent Byzantine Fault-Tolerant (BFT) State Machine Replication (SMR) protocols increasingly focus on scalability and security to meet the growing demand for Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) applications across various domains. Current BFT consensus algorithms typically require a single leader node to receive and validate votes from the majority process and broadcast the results, a design challenging to scale in large systems. We propose a fast-response consensus algorithm based on improvements to HotStuff, aimed at enhancing transaction ordering speed and overall performance of distributed systems, even in the presence of faulty copies. The algorithm introduces an optimistic response assumption, employs a message aggregation tree to collect and validate votes, and uses a dynamically adjusted threshold mechanism to reduce communication delay and improve message delivery reliability. Additionally, a dynamic channel mechanism and an asynchronous leader multi-round mechanism are introduced to address multiple points of failure in the message aggregation tree structure, minimizing dependence on a single leader. This adaptation can be flexibly applied to real-world system conditions to improve performance and responsiveness. We conduct experimental evaluations to verify the algorithm's effectiveness and superiority. Compared to the traditional HotStuff algorithm, the improved algorithm demonstrates higher efficiency and faster response times in handling faulty copies and transaction ordering.
Abstract The Metaverse, distinguished by its capacity to integrate the physical and digital realms seamlessly, presents a dynamic virtual environment offering diverse opportunities for engagement across innovation, entertainment, socialization, and commercial endeavors. However, the Metaverse is poised for a transformative evolution through the convergence of contemporary technological advancements, including artificial intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Robotics, augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality. This convergence is anticipated to revolutionize the global digital landscape, introducing novel social, economic, and operational paradigms for organizations and communities. To comprehensively elucidate the future potential of this technological fusion and its implications for digital innovation, this research endeavors to undertake a thorough analysis of scholarly discourse and research pertaining to the Metaverse, AI, Blockchain, and associated technologies. This survey delves into various critical facets of the Metaverse ecosystem, encompassing component analysis, exploration of digital currencies, assessment of AI utilization in virtual environments, and examination of Blockchain's role in enhancing digital content and data security. Leveraging articles retrieved from esteemed digital repositories including ScienceDirect, IEEE Xplore, Springer Nature, Google Scholar, and ACM, published between 2017 and 2023, this study adopts an analytical approach to engage with these materials. Through rigorous examination and discourse, this research aims to provide insights into the emerging trends, challenges, and future directions in the convergence of the Metaverse, Blockchain, and AI. This article is categorized under: Application Areas > Industry Specific Applications
O mercado de veículos conectados cresceu substancialmente nos últimos anos, fortale- cendo a Internet dos Veículos (IoV). Esse ecossistema viabiliza a conectividade entre veículos, infraestrutura dos sistemas de transporte inteligentes (ITS) e dispositivos de pedestres, além de permitir acesso a serviços de Internet e recursos de nuvens computacionais. Entretanto, a adoção mais ampla da IoV, com todo o seu potencial inovador para as cidades inteligentes, depende de estratégias eficazes de segurança e privacidade. Um dos pilares fundamentais para garantir segurança na IoV é o processo de autenticação. Por um lado, a autenticação deve assegurar que apenas veículos autorizados obtenham conectividade, armazenamento e proces- samento na IoV. Por outro lado, este processo não deve comprometer a qualidade de serviço (QoS) de aplicações críticas, como streaming de vídeo dos passageiros e atualizações remotas de software automotivas, conhecidas como over-the-air (OTA). O desafio desta pesquisa é equilibrar a necessidade de segurança com a manutenção da QoS em um ambiente de alta mobilidade e densidade variável de veículos. O estudo avaliou estratégias de autenticação para veículos em redes móveis 5G-V2X, comparando abordagens centralizadas, baseadas em auto- ridades de confiança (TA), e soluções distribuídas com suporte de blockchain, utilizando os algoritmos de consenso PoW (Proof of Work) e PoS (Proof of Stake). Foi proposta uma ar- quitetura em camadas para IoV, incorporando os dois métodos de autenticação em ambientes de computação de borda (edge) e nevoeiro (fog). Os mecanismos foram implementados utili- zando os simuladores OMNeT++, Veins, SIMU5G, INET e SUMO, com dados de tráfego da Avenida Agamenon Magalhães, Recife-PE, Brasil, para capturar a variabilidade do ambiente real. O objetivo foi desenvolver um arcabouço inteligente para a tomada de decisão ciente de contexto na escolha do método de autenticação mais adequado para a IoV, utilizando otimização bayesiana para melhorar a segurança e a eficiência operacional dos sistemas de transporte inteligente. A solução proposta, SIMA-IoV, seleciona dinamicamente o método de autenticação (centralizado ou descentralizado) mais adequado com base nos dados coletados. Os resultados das simulações indicam que a computação de borda distribuída entre as esta- ções rádio base 5G garantiu tempos de autenticação na ordem de milissegundos, mantendo a continuidade dos serviços em ambientes de alta mobilidade. O SIMA-IoV demonstrou que a autenticação baseada em blockchain com PoS é mais estável para cenários de alta densidade de veículos, enquanto a TA apresentou melhor desempenho em cenários de baixa densidade. Já o PoW mostrou instabilidade, destacando suas limitações em ambientes IoV de alta demanda. Os resultados obtidos foram inovadores, mostrando um avanço significativo na otimização do serviço de autenticação em redes móveis veiculares.
The resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan has significantly exacerbated educational challenges for marginalized women and girls, deepening gender disparities and impeding socio-economic development. Addressing these issues, this article introduces the Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence Non-Formal Education System (BANFES), an innovative educational solution specifically designed for Afghan girls deprived of formal schooling. BANFES leverages advanced artificial intelligence technologies, including personalized data analysis, to provide customized learning experiences. Additionally, blockchain technology ensures secure record management and data integrity, facilitating a decentralized educational ecosystem where various nodes offer hybrid learning methodologies without intermediaries. This system not only adapts to individual learning speeds and styles to enhance engagement and outcomes but also employs an independent assessment mechanism to evaluate learners. Such evaluations promote transparency and maintain the quality and reputation of educational contributions within the network. The BANFES initiative also addresses implementation challenges, including local distrust and integration with existing educational structures, providing a robust model to overcome barriers to education. Furthermore, the paper explores the scalability of BANFES, proposing its application as a global strategy for non-formal education systems facing similar geopolitical and infrastructural challenges. By creating a secure, flexible, and learner-focused environment, BANFES aims to empower Afghan women and girls with essential skills for personal and professional growth, thus fostering socioeconomic advancement within their communities and setting a new standard for informal education worldwide.
Symbiotic communication (SC) is known as a new wireless communication paradigm, similar to the natural ecosystem population, and can enable multiple communication systems to cooperate and mutualize through service exchange and resource sharing. As a result, SC is seen as an important potential technology for future sixth-generation (6G) communications, solving the problem of lack of spectrum resources and energy inefficiency. Symbiotic relationships among communication systems can complement radio resources in 6G. However, the absence of established trust relationships among diverse communication systems presents a formidable hurdle in ensuring efficient and trusted resource and service exchange within SC frameworks. To better realize trusted SC services in 6G, in this paper, we propose a solution that converges SC and blockchain, called a symbiotic blockchain network (SBN). Specifically, we first use cognitive backscatter communication to transform blockchain consensus, that is, the symbiotic blockchain consensus (SBC), so that it can be better suited for the wireless network. Then, for SBC, we propose a highly energy-efficient sharding scheme to meet the extremely low power consumption requirements in 6G. Finally, such a blockchain scheme guarantees trusted transactions of communication services in SC. Through ablation experiments, our proposed SBN demonstrates significant efficacy in mitigating energy consumption and reducing processing latency in adversarial networks, which is expected to achieve a sustainable and trusted 6G wireless network.
The rapid adoption of intelligent systems across domains such as finance, healthcare, transportation, and smart infrastructure has created new opportunities for automation, efficiency, and data-driven decision making. However, these systems often operate in complex digital ecosystems where transparency, trust, and data integrity remain significant concerns. Traditional centralized governance frameworks struggle to provide verifiable accountability and secure collaboration among multiple stakeholders. Blockchain technology, with its decentralized ledger structure and cryptographic validation mechanisms, offers a promising solution to these challenges by enabling transparent and tamper-resistant governance models for intelligent systems. This study proposes a blockchain-based governance architecture designed to enhance the transparency, reliability, and security of intelligent systems operating in distributed environments. The framework integrates decentralized consensus mechanisms, smart contract-based policy enforcement, and secure data sharing protocols to establish trustworthy governance across autonomous agents and data providers.
Land registration is a important process that involves the felony recording of land possession, rights, and transactions. The current land registration structures in many nations frequently face demanding situations including corruption, inefficiency, and lack of transparency. Land Registration is a use case which entails lot of middlemen and critical authorities within the method which then puts trust within the gadget. keeping traces of who owns which part of land is challenging when there are hundreds or lots of land information to maintain. the use of Blockchain will take away the middlemen within the system and also will reduce corruption and increase pace of the process. Land Registration is a easy decentralized application which is build the usage of the Ethereum Blockchain principals. we will use this registration system as a replacement to bypass the present machine flaws. here the user who owns the land registers his land information and additionally enters marketplace value of the land with the aid of presenting all the important proofs. A central authority who traditionally looks into land registry is assigned as a land inspector can do the registration technique. Lands coming underneath a selected village can be registered to the gadget best via the inspector who's assigned to that village. The smart contract used here is written in this type of manner that the owner has to transfer his belongings completely to the buyer and no transaction of the land can be partial. Even we allow a government authority is involved in registration system, the complete manner is obvious and the transaction takes place most effective among the two customers.
The adoption of blockchain platforms to bolster the security of Internet of Things (IoT) systems has attracted significant attention in recent years. Currently, there is a lack of comprehensive and systematic survey papers in the literature addressing these platforms. This paper discusses six of the most popular emerging blockchain platforms adopted by IoT systems and analyses their usage in state-of-the-art works to solve security problems. The platform was compared in terms of security features and other requirements. Findings from the study reveal that most blockchain components contribute directly or indirectly to IoT security. Blockchain platform components such as cryptography, consensus mechanism, and hashing are common ways that security is achieved in all blockchain platform for IoT. Technologies like Interplanetary File System (IPFS) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) can further enhance data and communication security when used alongside blockchain. To enhance the applicability of blockchain in resource-constrained IoT environments, future research should focus on refining cryptographic algorithms and consensus mechanisms to optimise performance and security.
Yazeed Yasin Ghadi, Tehseen Mazhar, Tariq Shahzad, Muhammad Amir Khan · 7 authors
This study explores integrating blockchain technology into the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) to address security and privacy challenges. Blockchain's transparency, confidentiality, and decentralization offer significant potential benefits in the healthcare domain. The research examines various blockchain components, layers, and protocols, highlighting their role in IoMT. It also explores IoMT applications, security challenges, and methods for integrating blockchain to enhance security. Blockchain integration can be vital in securing and managing this data while preserving patient privacy. It also opens up new possibilities in healthcare, medical research, and data management. The results provide a practical approach to handling a large amount of data from IoMT devices. This strategy makes effective use of data resource fragmentation and encryption techniques. It is essential to have well-defined standards and norms, especially in the healthcare sector, where upholding safety and protecting the confidentiality of information are critical. These results illustrate that it is essential to follow standards like HIPAA, and blockchain technology can help ensure these criteria are met. Furthermore, the study explores the potential benefits of blockchain technology for enhancing inter-system communication in the healthcare industry while maintaining patient privacy protection. The results highlight the effectiveness of blockchain's consistency and cryptographic techniques in combining identity management and healthcare data protection, protecting patient privacy and data integrity. Blockchain is an unchangeable distributed ledger system. In short, the paper provides important insights into how blockchain technology may transform the healthcare industry by effectively addressing significant challenges and generating legal, safe, and interoperable solutions. Researchers, doctors, and graduate students are the audience for our paper.
In recent years, the rapid integration of Internet of Things (IoT) devices into the healthcare sector has brought about revolutionary advancements in patient care and data management. While these technological innovations hold immense promise, they concurrently raise critical security concerns, particularly in safeguarding medical data against potential cyber threats. The sensitive nature of health-related information requires robust measures to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of patient data in IoT-enabled medical environments. Addressing the imperative need for enhanced security in IoT-based healthcare systems, we propose a comprehensive method encompassing three distinct phases. In the first phase, we implement Blockchain-Enabled Request and Transaction Encryption to strengthen data transaction security, providing an immutable and transparent framework. In the second phase, we introduce a Request Pattern Recognition Check that leverages diverse data sources to identify and block potential unauthorized access attempts. Finally, the third phase incorporates Feature Selection and a BiLSTM network to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of intrusion detection using advanced machine learning techniques. We compared the simulation results of the proposed method with three recent related methods: AIBPSF-IoMT, OMLIDS-PBIoT, and AIMMFIDS. The evaluation criteria include detection rate, false alarm rate, precision, recall, and accuracy - crucial benchmarks for assessing the overall performance of intrusion detection systems. Our findings show that the proposed method outperforms existing approaches across all evaluated criteria, demonstrating its effectiveness in improving the security of IoT-based healthcare systems.
The telemedicine sector has entered a new phase marked by the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) devices to identify and then send patient health data to medical terminals for additional diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Today, patients can receive prompt and expert medical care at home in comfortable settings. Due to the unique nature of these services, it is essential to verify patient healthcare data, as it contains a greater amount of personal information that is vulnerable to privacy violations and data breaches. Blockchain technology has attracted interest in addressing security concerns due to its decentralized, immutable, shared, and distributed characteristics. This study proposes lightweight dynamic blockchain-enabled encryption schemes to secure physiological data during authentication and exchange processes. The proposed scheme introduces the logistic Advanced Encryption Scheme (AES) that combines chaotic logistic maps to secure the data in the blockchain network and mitigate different attacks. The model was deployed on the Ethereum blockchain and performance metrics, such as computation and transaction time, were calculated and compared with other current blockchain-inspired encryption models. Furthermore, the NIST test was conducted to prove the strength of the proposed scheme. The proposed model exhibits high security and a shorter transaction time (0.964 s) than other existing schemes. Finally, the proposed model generates high-dynamic keys that are suitable for defending against unpredictable attacks on blockchain.
Blockchain stands as a crucial technology capable of enhancing transparency, security, and efficiency within various sectors. Particularly in Industry 4.0, blockchains can be employed to monitor the movement of goods and materials across the supply chain, ensuring data integrity, transparency, immutability, accountability, and industrial process interoperability. Industry 4.0 companies must interact with various external players, which often requires collaborations and partnerships to access new technologies, shared data and analytics, and required resources for their processes. However, current business process management in the industry is mostly centralized, untraceable, unreliable and lacks automation. Smart contracts hold the potential to tackle these concerns by offering a remarkable level of automation, transparency, and security while also aiding in regulatory compliance. However, the adoption of smart contracts in Industry 4.0 is still limited due to various obstacles. The challenges facing the deployment of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) in Industry 4.0 are multifaceted, encompassing issues such as interoperability across different blockchain systems, scalability and performance constraints, limitations on ensuring data privacy, difficulties in accessing external data sources, and the significant transaction costs often associated with executing smart contracts. To tackle these obstacles comprehensively, we advocate for the development of an interoperable consortium blockchain framework tailored to meet the versatile business processes required by Industry 4.0 enterprises or groups. This proposed architecture, distinct from any specific internal system, incorporates private channels and ensures secure access to external data, thus addressing broader interoperability concerns beyond just smart contracts. Our goal is to establish a comprehensive DLT framework that assures data integrity and traceability throughout its lifecycle, from creation and processing to its final utilization for business insights. The effectiveness of our approach is demonstrated through its application in a real-world industrial scenario, undertaken in partnership with Fagor Automation, a global leader in the industrial sector.
Consensus plays a crucial role in blockchain technology, with the deleted proof of stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism commonly utilized in both public and hybrid chains. However, the current DPoS mechanism faces challenges such as low node engagement in voting and potential security risks posed by malicious nodes. In response, we propose the DL-DPoS (deep link-delegated proof of stake) mechanism, which builds upon the DPoS framework. The DL-DPoS incorporates the LINK incentive mechanism to encourage inactive nodes to participate in voting and leader selection. Furthermore, a comprehensive credit scoring system based on wealth, performance, and stability is introduced to enhance the security of elected nodes. The verification process is optimized to involve all nodes except the leader node, and mechanisms are in place to handle malicious attacks by degrading or removing offending nodes and redistributing their responsibilities to the LINK group. Performance testing of the DL-DPoS mechanism, conducted through blockchain simulation tests using the GO language, shows a 23% increase in throughput compared to DPoS, with over 95% node participation and improved distribution of rights and equity. These results indicate the enhanced performance, security, and stability of the DL-DPoS consensus mechanism.
The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) has significantly enhanced the healthcare system by enabling advanced patient monitoring, data analytics, and remote interactions. Given that IoMT devices generate vast amounts of sensitive data, robust privacy mechanisms are essential. This privacy requirement is critical for IoMT as, generally, these devices are very resource-constrained with limited storage, computation, and communication capabilities. Blockchain technology, with its decentralisation, transparency, and immutability, offers a promising solution for improving IoMT data security and privacy. However, the recent emergence of quantum computing necessitates developing measures to maintain the security and integrity of these data against emerging quantum threats. This work addresses the current gap of a comprehensive review and analysis of the research efforts to secure IoMT data using blockchain in the quantum era. We discuss the importance of blockchain for IoMT privacy and analyse the impact of quantum computing on blockchain to justify the need for these works. We also provide a comprehensive review of the existing literature on quantum-resistant techniques for effective blockchain solutions in IoMT applications. From our detailed review, we present challenges and future opportunities for blockchain technology in this domain.
Leonidas Theodorakopoulos, Alexandra Theodoropoulou, Constantinos Halkiopoulos
Big data and blockchain technology are coming together to revolutionize how decisions are made in a decentralized way across various industries. This review looks at how these technologies, along with distributed systems, can improve data security, transparency, and real-time processing, making decision-making more efficient and informed. The integration enhances data security with unchangeable records, increases transparency and traceability, and supports real-time data analysis. However, there are challenges to overcome, including scalability, data privacy, interoperability, regulatory compliance, and high costs. By examining case studies such as Estonia’s healthcare system, IBM and Walmart’s Food Trust, and the Brooklyn Microgrid project, we explore the practical applications and benefits of combining big data with blockchain. Despite these hurdles, the review finds that the ongoing advancements and innovative solutions in these technologies offer significant promise. They are set to drive the adoption and effectiveness of decentralized decision-making, ultimately leading to better efficiency and outcomes across multiple sectors.
Yuhan Chen, Mingmei Lyu, Ho Yin Kan, Mei Pou Chan · 6 authors
Aviation information systems are a key component in ensuring efficient and smooth air transport operations. In this regard, the transfer of passenger information between parties is of paramount importance. With the continuous improvement of biometrics technology, this kind of individual identification that can provide accurate and unforgeable identification is widely used in various fields. This research presents the significance and effective application scenarios of facial recognition in biometrics in air transport operations. Due to the characteristics of aviation information systems, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) is used in this study for secure and private transmission of facial recognition information. Distributed systems can give a transparent and secure platform to multiple parties to access sensitive passenger data. This study uses the Corda framework as the DLT that supports CorDapp development. Based on the above techniques, this study proposes two feasible application scenarios. One is a baggage match detection system to prevent misplaced baggage, and the other is an iAPIS system that transmits passenger information in real-time communication between airlines and border control agencies. This article details how to apply the research in these two scenarios, as well as the benefits and implications of the applications. Finally, this article presents an outlook for future development and feasible directions for improvement.
Alessandra Rizzardi, Sabrina Sicari, Jesus F. Cevallos M., Alberto Coen‐Porisini
Healthcare supply chain domain and medical records’ management face numerous challenges that come with new demands, such as customer dissatisfaction, rising healthcare costs, tracking and traceability of drugs, and security and privacy related to the sensitive information managed in such a domain. Executing processes related to healthcare domain in a trusted, secure, efficient, accessible and traceable manner is challenging due to the fragmented nature of the healthcare supply chain, which is prone to systemic errors and redundant efforts that may compromise patient safety and negatively impact health outcomes. To cope with such issues, blockchain technology, combined with the Internet of Things (IoT), can offers a reliable way to track and trace products and protect medical data though a peer-to-peer distributed, secure, and shared ledger. Hence, this paper proposes an IoT-driven blockchain-based architecture to manage the healthcare supply chain and protect medical records from tampering and access violation. Hyperledger Fabric, which is a permissioned blockchain, has been adopted due to the sensitive and private nature of the collected data. The envisioned network has been implemented and performance has been evaluated in terms of execution time, resources consumption and throughput.
Mahmoud A. Shawky, Ahmed Gamal Abdellatif Ibrahim, Mostafa M. Ahmed, Mostafa Hadhouda · 9 authors
The increasing complexity and connectivity of modern vehicular networks underscore the necessity for efficient authentication mechanisms to ensure secure and reliable communication among vehicles. This paper introduces a novel approach using smart contract-based blockchain technology for trust delegation among vehicles in VANETs. Addressing challenges in 5G-enabled vehicular networks, the proposed scheme aims to optimise authentication processes, reducing computation and communication costs while enhancing handover mechanisms. Through comprehensive analysis, the scheme's security robustness against potential active attacks is evaluated, demonstrating its effectiveness in reducing costs. The numerical analysis reveals a remarkable reduction of computation and communication costs by 66% and 81 %, respectively, showcasing the superior efficiency of the proposed smart contract-based blockchain solution compared to conventional authentication methods.
Josué N. Campos, Ronan D. Mendonça, Alexandre Fontinele, Luís H. S. de Carvalho · 11 authors
The support for smart contracts in blockchain networks has led to the emergence of a decentralized and automated finance ecosystem, DeFi (Decentralized Finance).The DeFi ecosystem aims to enhance traditional financial services through token trading, to reduce intermediaries and barriers to credit, and to broaden access to financial services in the context of the decentralized web.In this chapter, we provide an in-depth discussion of three essential and driving aspects of the DeFi ecosystem: (1) innovative applications, (2) interoperability between blockchain networks, and (3) security of the decentralized protocols that rule blockchain.In this sense, we currently present the fundamentals and practical examples of the most popular DeFi applications.We also discuss state-of-the-art research focusing on the three aspects above that will support the growth of DeFi in the coming years.
Abstract Blockchain technology has gained attention in recent times owing to its ability to revolutionize traditional trade through its distributed ledger attribute. The prompt advancement of blockchain demands new systematic studies to investigate and analyze the existing knowledge in this domain. In the current work, the present standing and emerging trends of blockchain have been analyzed to direct both new and experienced researchers in establishing a baseline for future research projects. Likewise, the research advancement of consensus protocol was reviewed with a particular emphasis on their security perspective. Accordingly, the attributes, appropriate scenarios, and probable weaknesses of different consensus protocols and their future trends were reviewed. This helps in scrutinizing how blockchain technology can be applied to a variety of emerging fields, including economics, healthcare, information systems, wireless networks, and smart grids. Additionally, the current evaluation provides a throughout discussion of blockchain applications in various fields. Finally, the paper offers a brief insight into limitations and prospective future development in this domain. Overall, the aim is to aid newbies in investigating and scheming new solutions while considering the present demands and issues.
Shanshan Hu, Manuel Schmidt-Kraepelin, Scott Thiebes, Ali Sunyaev
Following the success of the Bitcoin blockchain, distributed ledger technology (DLT) has received extensive attention in health informatics research. Yet, the healthcare industry is highly complex with many different stakeholders, information systems, regulations, and challenges. Thus, DLT may be used in various settings and for different purposes. First surveys have started to synthesize our knowledge of the different use cases, in which healthcare may benefit from DLT implementations. However, an in-depth understanding of whether and how these use cases differ concerning their requirements of DLT characteristics (i.e., technical or administrative design features) is still lacking. In this work, we conducted a structured review of 185 studies on DLT-based applications in healthcare. The results reveal six pertinent use cases, each with its own combination of different purposes that DLT is used for. Furthermore, our study shows that each of these use cases has a unique set of requirements with regard to the most important DLT characteristics. In doing so, we seek to guide practitioners in the development of highly effective DLT-based applications in various healthcare settings and pave the way for future research to investigate the understudied areas of DLT-based applications in healthcare.