NFT marketplaces have witnessed exponential growth. The unique attributes of NFTs, encapsulated by the acronym CRAVED (concealable, removable, available, valuable, enjoyable, disposable), make them susceptible to multifaceted thefts. In response, we introduce "SafeNFT Mart," an NFT marketplace architecture devised to thwart counterfeiting and uphold both asset and ownership integrity. We leverage Zero Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) for ownership verification and integrate a stringent punishment protocol to deter illicit activities. Our design draws from the design science research (DSR) approach. Expert interviews were conducted to fortify our findings, focusing on relevance, adaptability, and technological viability in tandem with real-world and strategic implications. An initial analytical model is provided to gauge the efficacy of our punitive mechanism. This research culminates with future work, outlining the further development and refinement of the proposed marketplace solution.
Open access
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is the network of medical devices, software applications, and healthcare information systems used for remote monitoring and delivery of healthcare services. Despite the several advantages of IoMT for today smart healthcare, security issues are growing due to the inadequate computation, limited storage and insufficient self-protection capabilities of IoMT devices. Authentication of IoMT devices is the main requirement to secure IoMT systems. Although, the recent authentication schemes based on tamper-proof decentralized architecture of blockchain technology are robust and enjoy a high level of security, yet they require high computation, more storage, and long authentication time. These issues lead to reduced scalability and time efficiency, which are necessary for large-scale, time-sensitive IoMT systems. To this end, this paper proposes a novel group authentication framework for IoMT Systems. The group authentication scheme is implemented through a four-phase process, including setup, registration, secret construction, and authentication. To enhance both efficiency and scalability, the proposed group authentication framework employs a combination of elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), Shamir’s secret sharing (SSS) algorithm, and blockchain-based fog computing technologies. We simulated the proposed framework through the Ethereum platform and Solidity language and its performance is evaluated using the Hyperledger Caliper tool. The simulation experiments of the proposed framework showed that the average latency of authenticating IoMT devices was 0.5 second and the throughput was 400 transactions per second. Our analysis of the proposed framework’s performance against other cutting-edge blockchain-based authentication techniques showed that it outperformed them in terms of latency and throughput. A security analysis of the proposed framework was conducted using the widely accepted Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications (AVISPA) tool. The formal and informal security analysis demonstrated that the proposed framework is secure and resistant to potential authentication-related attacks. We also noted that the average latency of the proposed framework maintains a fairly narrow range when the number of submitted transactions rises, indicating that it supports the scalability of the IoMT system.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become increasingly popular in recent years and are applied in various fields, from commercial and scientific to military and humanitarian operations. However, their usage presents many challenges, including limited resources, scalability issues, insecure communication, and inefficient solutions. We developed a secure and scalable registration protocol to address these issues using LoRa technology. Our solution involves the usage of the physical unclonable function (PUF) and blockchain technology for key exchange. PUF also ensures security against physical tampering, and blockchain is applied to share the symmetric key among the base stations. After the registration, the later communication messages are encrypted with AES-GCM to provide authentication and confidentiality between the parties. We conducted a security analysis of the registration protocol using the ProVerif tool, and our solution meets the security requirements, including the mutual authentication of entities, key freshness, key secrecy and also key confirmation properties. Besides the Proverif-based analysis, an informal security analysis is also provided that shows that the registration is protected against a variety of well-known active and passive security attacks. As drone resources are limited, we also prepared a proof of concept to test our solution under real-life conditions, focusing on efficiency and lightweight operations.
Open access
User Authentication and Security Systems
Advanced Authentication Protocols Security
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
Cloud computing is a cost-effective way for organizations to access and use IT resources. However, it also exposes data to security threats. Authentication and authorization are crucial components of access control that prevent unauthorized access to cloud services. Organizations are turning to identity management solutions to help IT administrators face and mitigate security concerns. Identity management (IDM) has been recognized as a more robust solution for validating and maintaining digital identities. Identity management (IDM) is a key security mechanism for cloud computing that helps to ensure that only authorized users have access to data and resources. Traditional IDM solutions are centralized and rely on a single authority to manage user identities, which makes them vulnerable to attack. However, existing identity management solutions need to be more secure and trustworthy. Blockchain technology can create a more secure and trustworthy cloud transaction environment. Purpose: This paper investigates the security and trustworthiness of existing identity management solutions in cloud computing. Comparative results: We compared 14 traditional IDM schemes in cloud systems to explore contributions and limitations. This paper also compared 17 centralized, decentralized, and federated IDM models to explain their functions, roles, performance, contribution, primary metrics, and target attacks. About 17 IDM models have also been compared to explore their efficiency, overhead consumption, effectiveness to malicious users, trustworthiness, throughput, and privacy. Major conclusions: Blockchain technology has the potential to make cloud transactions more secure and reliable. It featured strong authentication and authorization mechanisms based on smart contracts on the Ethereum platform. As a result, it is still regarded as a reliable and immutable solution for protecting data sharing between entities in peer-to-peer networks. However, there is still a large gap between the theoretical method and its practical application. This paper also helps other scholars in the field discover issues and solutions and make suggestions for future research.
Alexander Varfolomeev, Liwa H. Al-Farhani, Liwa H. Al-Farhani
This paper presents a proposal for an authentication scheme for smart building systems and environments based on blockchain, its positive features, and fog computing. The most important feature that can be distinguished in the submitted proposal is its adoption of the principle of decentralization in contrast to traditional centralized documentation protocols, i.e. the proposed authentication system in which users and smart devices are implemented in a distributed and decentralized manner on the blockchain, that will provide a solution to a significant problem of low overall efficiency of the authentication process caused by a bottleneck in such important areas as computing capacity as well as centralized storage of a single authentication authority in the traditional model. There are also benefits from adding fog computing, and because it has higher computing and storage capabilities, it makes the data processing process more efficient, faster, more streamlined, and in line with the common necessities of the real-time IoT environment. The proposed scheme also provides solutions to protect the privacy of user data and increase the level of confidentiality, protection, and security, since a mysterious extractor was used to increase the confidentiality of the proposed model of the authentication system. Comparing a set of security schemes and conducting a security and performance analysis of the proposed scheme, the comparisons showed that the scheme can be characterized as having a good security level and an important efficiency level. The paper focused on specific aspects design of the authentication system, such as the registration and authentication process of all network entities, regardless of the specifics of the implementation of blockchain smart contracts.
The development of the industrial Internet of Things and smart grid networks has emphasized the importance of secure smart grid communication for the future of electric power transmission. However, the current deployment of smart meters and wireless communication methods presents several security concerns that must be addressed to ensure sustainable and resilient smart grid networks for Industry 5.0, with a focus on consumer-centric technologies. In this context, we propose a privacy-focused authentication solution for secure consumer-centric demand response management in smart grid networks, incorporating consumer electronics. Our proposed protocol utilizes blockchain-based authentication to enhance resistance against potential attacks and ensure the integrity of demand response data. Additionally, we have incorporated a PUF to prevent physical attacks. We have conducted informal and formal security analyses to verify the effectiveness of our proposed protocol against various threats and to confirm the session key security. Our comparison study has demonstrated that our protocol provides superior security and added functionalities, with lower computation and communication costs compared to similar protocols. Furthermore, we have measured the computational time for implementing the blockchain component of our protocol while considering the impact of varying numbers of block additions and transactions per block.
Syed Anas Ansar, Shruti Aggarwal, Swati Arya, Mohd Asim Sayeed · 6 authors
As the world enters the 21st century, the imperative of safeguarding cybersecurity has intensified. Considering the expanding dependence on information technology (IT) systems for a broad spectrum of military operations, the stakes have never been higher for thwarting successful cyberattacks. Conventional security protocols have become increasingly precarious in the face of evolving cyber threats. This necessitates the adoption of avant-garde and nascent technologies to bolster the military's cybersecurity stance. The paper delves into an array of incipient technologies that proffers the prospect of enhancing cybersecurity in the realm of defence. These include artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), blockchain, and quantum computing. AI can be leveraged to automate numerous cybersecurity functions, such as threat detection and response. ML can augment the precision of threat detection and response systems. Blockchain, a distributed ledger technology, can safeguard data and transactions. Quantum computing, a nascent technology, harbours the potential to revolutionize computation. It could be utilized to breach present-day encryption standards, thereby rendering data vulnerable to attackers. Moreover, the paper appraises the exigencies and possibilities in defence cyber security and scrutinizes the policy and practice ramifications of these emergent technologies and best practices.
Abstract A considerable number of people worldwide start their second lives in the digital world soon. The 3D Internet reflects the digital world. Metaverse, the most famous example of the 3D Internet, is very popular and practical in people’s daily lives. However, combining Metaverse with newly-emerging technologies (e.g., blockchain) provides new user-friendly features such as autonomy, accessibility, removing central authorities, etc. Despite the mentioned attractive features, blockchain-based metaverses suffer various challenges, such as one user with multiple identities, certificate issuing for users in Metaverse, authentication-related issues, and arresting malicious users. Generally, identity management in a distributed environment where no central authority exists is a challenging issue. This study focuses on the challenge of distributed identity management in Metaverses to strike a balance between users’ privacy and regulation. The study proposes the use of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) as a tool for managing identities in metaverses, as they are considered an excellent choice for this purpose. In addition to explaining the importance of this idea, this paper identifies its challenges, including distributed identity management, authentication issues, and security and privacy aspects. It then proposes possible solutions (e.g., using cryptographic tools). Despite existing challenges, there are many opportunities in the popularization of Metaverse, such as relying on blockchain technology, emerging many Metaverse-related jobs, in-Metaverse investments for huge revenues, and applying digital twins to provide realistic senses. This study also highlights the critical role of artificial intelligence (AI) in metaverses.
Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
User Authentication and Security Systems
Advanced Steganography and Watermarking Techniques
Mobile IoT, a pioneering IoT facet, enhances data acquisition. Mutual authentication ensures device validity in mobile IoT. Unlinkable authentication needs for mobile IoT data nodes during device validation. Current methods have issues: Certificate Authority (CA) faces computational load, and blockchain deals with storage and throughput. In this paper, BUA, a blockchain-based unlinkable authentication scheme, applies vector commitment for CA reduction and blockchain data compression. A binary tree auxiliary index, minimizes redundancy in vector commitment verification. This scheme fulfills security goals and boosts performance by 13.24%, surpassing similar proposols.
Although combining the Internet of Things (IoT) and industrial scenarios has brought about a technological revolution, it has also caused equipment security issues. Due to the characteristics of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices with a wide distribution, complex application scenarios, considerable differences in node performance, and device heterogeneity, spoofing attacks and third-party attacks are common. Identity authentication for IIoT devices can solve this dilemma. However, most existing authentication technologies involve a tradeoff between traditional centralized certificate issuance and sacrificing device storage resources, resulting in lower efficiency of IIoT device authentication, and the process is complicated. Therefore, ensuring the security and trustworthiness of device identities in the IIoT is imminent. In this article, we propose an IIoT device authentication scheme based on an editable blockchain, that can solve the problem of the device’s low energy while satisfying the usage needs of large-scale scenarios. In particular, we created a suite of secure, efficient, and innovative technical solutions for this protocol. First, to solve the problem of the authentication difficulty between industrial devices, we propose a lightweight identity authentication protocol called BLMA. Moreover, we propose the validate-practical Byzantine fault tolerance algorithm and introduce the online and offline signature algorithm to reduce communication overhead and resource consumption between devices. Finally, considering the top security and dynamics of the IIoT environment, we use the chameleon hash function to build a hash chain of authentication results. Extensive simulation and experimental results demonstrate the reliability of our protocol.
Zijian Bao, Debiao He, Huaqun Wang, Min Luo · 5 authors
With the proliferation of vehicular networking and data in the era of Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs), ensuring privacy-preserving authentication and data privacy during analysis has emerged as a pivotal research focus. In this paper, we propose a blockchain-assisted privacy-preserving authentication protocolBapwith user-controlled data unlinkability for VANETs. We leverage Pointcheval-Sanders (PS) signatures to design a privacy-preserving authentication protocol that supports user traceability and revocation of malicious users. Additionally, we introduce an auxiliary data processor (DP) in our model to analyze VANET data with explicit and implicit linkability. The DP is capable of linking messages on the same or different topics, enabling minimal privacy disclosure during Big Data analysis. We provide a detailed proof and demonstrate that our scheme satisfies the required properties. Finally, performance evaluations demonstrate the efficiency of our proposed scheme. While supporting the mentioned functionalities, the gas cost is limited to a small range, and the signature size is only 354 bytes.
With the increasing reliance on digital infrastructure and the transmission of sensitive information online, the necessity for robust cybersecurity measures has become urgent. This research paper explores the effectiveness of employing honeypots and the MITRE ATT&CK framework to detect adversary behaviors in the context of email and cryptocurrency attacks. Through the deployment of honeypots, a diverse range of attack data was captured, enabling the identification of recurring patterns such as phishing and scamming in email, as well as account hijacking in cryptocurrency. By mapping this data to the MITRE ATT&CK framework, we were able to identify the Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTP) utilized by adversaries, which can guide security strategies and mitigate future attacks. Our analysis underscores the value of honeypots in detecting and analyzing adversaries’ TTP, emphasizing the need for ongoing research to enhance our comprehension of emerging threats.
Tracing and tracking of the peripheral devices help in terms of manufacturing and providing services to the users. However, most of the current systems which are suggested by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are loT and Hardware-Assisted Tracing data which are being stored as required. The time and effort on duplicating record keeping and third-party validations are wasting of time and effort towards verification process. Record-keeping systems can be attacked by fraud and cyber-attacks whereas Blockchain is ideal for delivering that information securely and in a distributed fashion. This research has proposed a Blockchain based traceability of the Computer Peripherals in Universities scenarios. It is well-known that the Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network. Smart contract is a good feature for maintaining this kind of peripheral data. In addition to providing quality information, the proposed traceability system enables transparency, safety, and security. We have done security analysis also.
Anand K. Bapatla, Deepak Puthal, Saraju P. Mohanty, Venkata P. Yanambaka · 5 authors
The Internet of Everything (IoE) is a bigger picture that tries to fit the Internet of Things (IoT) that is widely deployed in smart applications. IoE brings people, data, processes, and things to form a network that is more connected and increases overall system intelligence. A further investigation of the IoE can really mean creating a distributed network focusing on edge computing instead of relying on the cloud. Blockchain is one of the recently distributed network technologies which by structure and operations provide data integrity and security in trust-less P2P networks such as IoE. Blockchain can also remove the need for central entities which is the main hurdle for the wide adoption of IoT in large networks. IoT “things” are resource-constrained both in power and computation to adopt the conventional blockchain consensus algorithms that are power and compute-hungry. To solve that problem, this paper proposes EasyChain, a blockchain that is robust along with running on a lightweight authentication-based consensus protocol that is known as Proof-of-Authentication (PoAh). This blockchain based on the lightweight consensus protocol replaces the power-hungry transaction, blocks validation steps, and provides ease of usage in resource-constrained environments such as IoE. The proposed blockchain is designed using the Python language for an easy understanding of the functions and increased ease of integration into IoE applications. The designed blockchain system is also deployed on a single-board computer to analyze its feasibility and scalability. The latency observed in the simulated and experimental evaluations is 148.89 ms which is very fast compared to the existing algorithms.
The insufficient trustworthiness of fog nodes in fog computing leads to new security and privacy problems in communication between entities. Existing authentication schemes rely on a trusted third party, or assume that fog nodes are trustworthy, or the authentication overhead is high, which is inconsistent with the characteristics of fog computing. To solve the problem of secure communication in the fog computing environment, we propose an efficient blockchain-based secure remote authentication protocol for the fog-enabled Internet of Things (BSRA). Specifically, blockchain is introduced to construct distributed trust for the fog computing environment. Only lightweight cryptographic primitives, such as physical unclonable functions (PUFs) and cryptographic hash functions, are exploited to design the authentication scheme. In addition, we use temporary identities and the authentication-piggybacking-synchronization to ensure the anonymity and effectiveness of the authentication scheme. We conduct security analysis to demonstrate that BSRA can provide guarantees against various known attacks. We also evaluate the performance of BSRA from several aspects, and the results show that BSRA is effective.
Wireless body area network (WBAN) is a new technology trend that uses wearable sensors linked to the Internet-of-Things (IoT) network to provide remote tracking and data collection for patient healthcare records. IoT technologies have the potential to change our everyday lives, but they also pose significant security concerns. However, in untrusted wireless environments, the majority of WBAN–IoT data is shared between computationally restricted devices. As a result, protecting sensitive data in WBAN–IoT becomes a crucial challenge. The algorithm had to be lightweight due to the limited computing resources in WBAN sensors or IoT devices. However, significant issues in cloud-based IoT systems must be resolved to recognize the authority of communicators during contact sessions over vulnerable networks like the Internet. To eliminate unauthorized access in IoT applications, a safe authentication, confidentiality, and integrity protocol are highly desirable. Under the hard problem assumptions, our protocol is provably reliable and meets all security criteria, including session key security. In addition, our proposed lightweight secure session key protection, mutual authentication, and access control IoT (LSSMAC-IoT) is considerably greater than the fastest ones shown by the performance evaluation, based on an already existing safe, mutual authentication (MA) process based on heavy homomorphic encryptions and zero-knowledge proof.
Jingnan Dong, Guangxia Xu, Chuang Ma, Jun Liu · 5 authors
In Industrial Internet, mutual authentication between enterprises is a prerequisite for establishing reliable upstream and downstream relationships. Existing authentication methods suffer from complicated certificate management and key escrow problems. Moreover, many authentication mechanisms cannot resist common security attacks and have high computational overhead and communication costs. Therefore, this paper proposes a blockchain-based certificate-free cross-domain authentication mechanism for Industrial Internet. By establishing an Ethereum consortium blockchain as the trusted cornerstone among different regions, industrial enterprises in each region generate the user’s private key with the key generation center in the region, thus avoiding the key escrow problem. This consortium blockchain adopts the proof of authority consensus mechanism for scalability and throughput. Industrial enterprises in different regions invoke smart contracts and query other industrial enterprises for mutual authentication and key negotiation. SVO logic proves the proposed scheme achieves the intended authentication goal, and the automated formal verification tool Scyther proves the scheme’s security. In addition, compared with seven related schemes in the last three years, the experimental results show that the proposed scheme has low communication overhead and computational cost in the authentication key negotiation phase. The experiments on the Ethereum consortium blockchain built by Raspberry Pi prove the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. Finally, the comparative analysis of common security properties proves the reliability of the scheme.