Generally scarce computational and memory resource availability is a well known problem for the IoT, whose intrinsic volatility makes complex applications unfeasible. Noteworthy efforts in overcoming unpredictability (particularly in case of large dimensions) are the ones integrating Knowledge Representation technologies to build the so-called Semantic Web of Things (SWoT). In spite of allowed advanced discovery features, transactions in the SWoT still suffer from not viable trust management strategies. Given its intrinsic characteristics, blockchain technology appears as interesting from this perspective: a semantic resource/service discovery layer built upon a basic blockchain infrastructure gains a consensus validation. This paper proposes a novel Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) based on a semantic blockchain for registration, discovery, selection and payment. Such operations are implemented as smart contracts, allowing distributed execution and trust. Reported experiments early assess the sustainability of the proposal.
Many of civilization’s most nagging imperfections could become the domain of blockchain’s killer apps. For developers, designers, and product managers, there’s no better time to begin prototyping applications for the Ethereum network. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Adán Sánchez de Pedro Crespo, Luis Iván Cuende García
A method for timestamping, anchoring and certification of a virtually unlimited amount of data in one or more blockchains, focusing on scalability and cost-effectiveness while ensuring existence, integrity and ownership by using cryptographic proofs that are independently verifiable by anyone in the world without disclosure of the original data and without the intervention of the certifying party.
The internet of things (IoT) enabled a common operating picture (COP) across the various applications of modern day living. The COP is achieved through the advancements seen in wireless sensor network devices that were able to communicate through the network thereby exchanging information and performing various analysis. In IoT, the exchange of information and data authentication is only done through the central server there by leading to the security and privacy concerns. Chances of device spoofing, false authentication, less reliability in data sharing could happen. To address such security and privacy concerns, a central server concept is eliminated and blockchain (BC) technology is introduced as a part of IoT. This paper elaborates the possible security and privacy issues considering the component interaction in IoT and studies how the distributed ledger based blockchain (DLBC) technology contribute to it. Applications of BC with respect to focused sectors and category were clearly studied here. Various challenges specific to IoT and IoT with BC were also discussed to understand blockchain technology contribution.
The Internet of Things has a number of well-publicised security flaws, resulting in numerous recent attacks.In this paper we lay out a framework for looking at how distributed ledgers and Blockchain technology can be used to enhance the security, privacy and manageability of IoT devices and networks.A significant concern is the inability to process blockchains on small devices.We propose an architecture for IoT security and privacy based on blockchains that addresses this and other issues.We look at related work and propose areas of further research.
Jan 1, 2017·AJIS. Australasian journal of information systems/AJIS. Australian journal of information systems/Australian journal of information systems
The fourth industrial revolution, which will alter the globe, is commonly referred to as Blockchain technology. Blockchain technology provides a decentralized, distributed, and central authority-free environment. Since Bitcoin launched Blockchain, research has been continuing on non-financial use cases to extend their applicability. Healthcare is an industry with a significant influence on the Blockchain. Healthcare has penetrated the enthusiasm for the changing nature of Blockchain technology. Blockchain is frequently viewed as the most necessary and optimal healthcare technology to handle sophisticated and complex security and interoperability concerns. More significantly, the “value” and trust-based system’s smart contract mechanism can offer automatic action and reaction. Healthcare, on the other hand, is a complex system. In this paper, we introduce the blockchain and its properties, as well as the significance of the blockchain in healthcare. It also provides blockchain administration, adjudication of claims, interoperability, and application. While in several situations, we observed blockchain technology, the use of blockchain in health care was highly addressed in this paper and the reason why blockchain should be utilized. We introduce the advantages of blockchain as well. Furthermore, we examined the difficulties and prospects for the future and how they may be implemented in more healthcare industries. The paper also discusses the current level of Blockchain application development for healthcare and its limits and topics for further research. This paper aims to demonstrate how Blockchain technologies may be utilized in healthcare and what problems this technology may face in the future and what the Blockchain’s prospects are.
Open access
13 source records
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
In recent decades, the ad hoc network for vehicles has been a core network technology to provide comfort and security to drivers in vehicle environments. However, emerging applications and services require major changes in underlying network models and computing that require new road network planning. Meanwhile, blockchain widely known as one of the disruptive technologies has emerged in recent years, is experiencing rapid development and has the potential to revolutionize intelligent transport systems. Blockchain can be used to build an intelligent, secure, distributed and autonomous transport system. It allows better utilization of the infrastructure and resources of intelligent transport systems, particularly effective for crowdsourcing technology. In this paper, we proposes a vehicle network architecture based on blockchain in the smart city (Block-VN). Block-VN is a reliable and secure architecture that operates in a distributed way to build the new distributed transport management system. We are considering a new network system of vehicles, Block-VN, above them. In addition, we examine how the network of vehicles evolves with paradigms focused on networking and vehicular information. Finally, we discuss service scenarios and design principles for Block-VN.
Pradip Kumar Sharma, Saurabh Singh, Young‐Sik Jeong, Jong Hyuk Park
The rapid increase in the number and diversity of smart devices connected to the Internet has raised the issues of flexibility, efficiency, availability, security, and scalability within the current IoT network. These issues are caused by key mechanisms being distributed to the IoT network on a large scale, which is why a distributed secure SDN architecture for IoT using the blockchain technique (DistBlockNet) is proposed in this research. It follows the principles required for designing a secure, scalable, and efficient network architecture. The DistBlockNet model of IoT architecture combines the advantages of two emerging technologies: SDN and blockchains technology. In a verifiable manner, blockchains allow us to have a distributed peer-to-peer network where non-confident members can interact with each other without a trusted intermediary. A new scheme for updating a flow rule table using a blockchains technique is proposed to securely verify a version of the flow rule table, validate the flow rule table, and download the latest flow rules table for the IoT forwarding devices. In our proposed architecture, security must automatically adapt to the threat landscape, without administrator needs to review and apply thousands of recommendations and opinions manually. We have evaluated the performance of our proposed model architecture and compared it to the existing model with respect to various metrics. The results of our evaluation show that DistBlockNet is capable of detecting attacks in the IoT network in real time with low performance overheads and satisfying the design principles required for the future IoT network.
Since the start of Bitcoin in 2008[1], blockchain technology emerged as the next revolutionary technology. Though blockchain started off as a core technology of Bitcoin, its use cases are expanding to many other areas including finances, Internet of Things (IoT), security and such[2]. Currently, many private and public sectors are diving into the technology[3]. Aside from that, as software and hardware improve, we would see the beginning of IoT. And those IoT devices need to communicate and synchronize with each other. But in situations where more than thousands or tens of thousands of IoT devices connected, we expect that using current model of server-client may have some limitations and issues while in synchronization. So, we propose using blockchain to build IoT system. Using blockchain, we can control and configure IoT devices. We manage keys using RSA public key cryptosystems where public keys are stored in Ethereum and private keys are saved on individual devices. Specifically, we choose Ethereum as our blockchain platform because using its smart contract, we can write our own Turing-complete code to run on top of Ethereum. Thus, we can easily manage configuration of IoT devices and build key management system. Even though we can simply use account as a key management system, which most of blockchain platform supports, we decide to use Ethereum because we can manage the system in a more fine-grained way. For the proof of a concept, we use a few IoT devices instead of a full system of IoT system, which consists of thousands of IoT devices. But in our later study, we would like to build a fully scaled IoT system using blockchain.
Zhetao Li, Jiawen Kang, Rong Yu, Dongdong Ye · 6 authors
In industrial Internet of things (IIoT), peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading ubiquitously takes place in various scenarios, e.g., microgrids, energy harvesting networks, and vehicle-to-grid networks. However, there are common security and privacy challenges caused by untrusted and nontransparent energy markets in these scenarios. To address the security challenges, we exploit the consortium blockchain technology to propose a secure energy trading system named energy blockchain. This energy blockchain can be widely used in general scenarios of P2P energy trading getting rid of a trusted intermediary. Besides, to reduce the transaction limitation resulted from transaction confirmation delays on the energy blockchain, we propose a credit-based payment scheme to support fast and frequent energy trading. An optimal pricing strategy using Stackelberg game for credit-based loans is also proposed. Security analysis and numerical results based on a real dataset illustrate that the proposed energy blockchain and credit-based payment scheme are secure and efficient in IIoT.
This column evaluates blockchain's roles in strengthening security in the Internet of Things (IoT). Key underlying mechanisms related to the blockchain-IoT security nexus are covered. From a security standpoint, the article highlights how blockchain-based solutions could be, in many aspects, superior to the current IoT ecosystem, which relies mainly on centralized cloud servers. Using practical applications and real-world examples, the article argues that blockchain's decentralized nature is likely to result in a low susceptibility to manipulation and forgery by malicious participants. Special consideration is given to how blockchain-based identity and access management systems can address some of the key challenges associated with IoT security. The column provides a detailed analysis and description of blockchain's roles in tracking the sources of insecurity in supply chains related to IoT devices. Using blockchain, it is also possible to contain an IoT security breach in a targeted way after it is discovered. The column also discusses and evaluates initiatives of organizations, interorganizational networks, and industries on the frontlines of blockchain.
Ubiquitous sensing enabled by Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) technologies cuts across many areas of modern day living. This offers the ability to measure, infer and understand environmental indicators, from delicate ecologies and natural resources to urban environments. The proliferation of these devices in a communicating-actuating network creates the Internet of Things (IoT), wherein, sensors and actuators blend seamlessly with the environment around us, and the information is shared across platforms in order to develop a common operating picture (COP). Fuelled by the recent adaptation of a variety of enabling wireless technologies such as RFID tags and embedded sensor and actuator nodes, the IoT has stepped out of its infancy and is the the next revolutionary technology in transforming the Internet into a fully integrated Future Internet. As we move from www (static pages web) to web2 (social networking web) to web3 (ubiquitous computing web), the need for data-on-demand using sophisticated intuitive queries increases significantly. This paper presents a Cloud centric vision for worldwide implementation of Internet of Things. The key enabling technologies and application domains that are likely to drive IoT research in the near future are discussed. A Cloud implementation using Aneka, which is based on interaction of private and public Clouds is presented. We conclude our IoT vision by expanding on the need for convergence of WSN, the Internet and distributed computing directed at technological research community.
Current IoT systems tend to be cloud-centric which in turn introduces network latency and constrained interaction with sensors and actuators. This paper presents the idea of using restful micro-services called Virtual Resources. A Virtual Resource is a software-defined IoT management construct that enables multi-tenancy support and load distribution onto edge hosts. The paper presents a performance analysis of our Golang implementation of Virtual Resources in various settings.
Dec 1, 2016·2016 IEEE 18th International Conference on High Performance Computing and Communications; IEEE 14th International Conference on Smart City; IEEE 2nd International Conference on Data Science and Systems (HPCC/SmartCity/DSS)
Taher M. Ghazal, Mohammad Kamrul Hasan, Haitham M. Alzoubi, Mohammed Al Hmmadi · 8 authors
Recent years have witnessed substantial advancement in the subject of smart cities. The purpose of smart city development is to enhance the quality of life for citizens. This was accomplished via the use of IoT and cloud computing technologies. Another promising technology is blockchain, which has the ability to deliver a myriad of value services to its end users. For virtual assets with value, such as Bitcoin, it is a programmable digital register that is immutable. To properly exploit blockchain technology's services inside smart cities, it is necessary to identify the technology's features, as well as its main needs and research obstacles. As such, this essay will try to define the properties of blockchain technology. Additionally, the critical needs for integrating blockchain technology into smart cities are outlined. A possible use case for blockchain technology is used to show how a smart city could be protected. There is also an overview of how a real-world three-blockchain-based smart city case study works. Finally, a number of critical research issues are highlighted and explored.
Dec 1, 2016·2016 IEEE International Conference on Internet of Things (iThings) and IEEE Green Computing and Communications (GreenCom) and IEEE Cyber, Physical and Social Computing (CPSCom) and IEEE Smart Data (SmartData)
Mayra Samaniego, Uurtsaikh Jamsrandorj, Ralph Deters
A blockchain is a distributed and decentralized ledger that contains connected blocks of transactions. Unlike other ledger approaches, blockchain guarantees tamper proof storage of approved transactions. Due to its distributed and decentralized organization, blockchain is beeing used within IoT e.g. to manage device configuration, store sensor data and enable micro-payments. This paper presents the idea of using blockchain as a service for IoT and evaluates the performance of a cloud and edge hosted blockchain implementation.
In this paper, we propose a digital cash system named Blockchain-LI. This is an activity-based micro-pricing system implemented on cryptocurrency technologies. Activity-based micro-pricing is a pervasive technology to influence people's behavior through economic incentives. Implementing activity-based micro-pricing based on cryptocurrency technologies enables us to solve potential technical issues of traditional implementation. The Blockchain-LI architecture adopts a hierarchical currency network containing two types of currencies. The public coin is widely prevalent and has high integrity. The private coins are low integrity digital currencies that connect to the public coin. This approach enables us to solve cryptocurrency problems including scalability and block size. However, to use Blockchain-LI as a social infrastructure system, unresolved problems remain. This paper proposes sustainability, conversion protocols, and security issues as topics for future study.
Adem Efe Gencer, Robbert van Renesse, Emin Gün Sirer
The rise of blockchain-based cryptocurrencies has led to an explosion of services using distributed ledgers as their underlying infrastructure. However, due to inherently single-service oriented blockchain protocols, such services can bloat the existing ledgers, fail to provide sufficient security, or completely forego the property of trustless auditability. Security concerns, trust restrictions, and scalability limits regarding the resource requirements of users hamper the sustainable development of loosely-coupled services on blockchains. This paper introduces Aspen, a sharded blockchain protocol designed to securely scale with increasing number of services. Aspen shares the same trust model as Bitcoin in a peer-to-peer network that is prone to extreme churn containing Byzantine participants. It enables introduction of new services without compromising the security, leveraging the trust assumptions, or flooding users with irrelevant messages.
Moving IoT components from the cloud onto edge hosts helps in reducing overall network traffic and thus minimizes latency. However, provisioning IoT services on the IoT edge devices presents new challenges regarding system design and maintenance. One possible approach is the use of software-defined IoT components in the form of virtual IoT resources. This, in turn, allows exposing the thing/device layer and the core IoT service layer as collections of micro services that can be distributed to a broad range of hosts.
Marco Conoscenti, Antonio Vetrò, Juan Carlos De Martin
In the Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, the block-chain and, in general, Peer-to-Peer approaches could play an important role in the development of decentralized and dataintensive applications running on billion of devices, preserving the privacy of the users. Our research goal is to understand whether the blockchain and Peer-to-Peer approaches can be employed to foster a decentralized and private-by-design IoT. As a first step in our research process, we conducted a Systematic Literature Review on the blockchain to gather knowledge on the current uses of this technology and to document its current degree of integrity, anonymity and adaptability. We found 18 use cases of blockchain in the literature. Four of these use cases are explicitly designed for IoT. We also found some use cases that are designed for a private-by-design data management. We also found several issues in the integrity, anonymity and adaptability. Regarding anonymity, we found that in the blockchain only pseudonymity is guaranteed. Regarding adaptability and integrity, we discovered that the integrity of the blockchain largely depends on the high difficulty of the Proof-of-Work and on the large number of honest miners, but at the same time a difficult Proof-of-Work limits the adaptability. We documented and categorized the current uses of the blockchain, and provided a few recommendations for future work to address the above-mentioned issues.
Blockchain is an information technology solution for distributed digital record. Its main properties are secure, traceable, and transparent. Blockchain was first proposed for bitcoin, a decentralized virtual digital currency. Recently, blockchain draws attentions of researchers, entrepreneurs, and investors, because people found that blockchain technology can revolutionize many business practices. This paper describes the fundamentals of blockchain technology, including data structure, data distribution, and transaction execution and validation. This paper also discusses the representative blockchain protocols and development platforms. In addition, this paper outlines the potential applications of blockchain technology and the broader impact it might bring to industry, business, and beyond.