A Lightweight and Attack-Proof Bidirectional Blockchain Paradigm for Internet of Things

Abstract

Diverse technologies, such as machine learning and big data, have been driving the prosperity of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the ubiquitous proliferation of IoT devices. Consequently, it is natural that IoT becomes the driving force to meet the increasing demand for frictionless transactions. To secure transactions in IoT, blockchain is widely deployed since it can remove the necessity of a trusted central authority. However, the mainstream blockchain-based IoT payment platforms, dominated by Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithms, face several major security and scalability challenges that result in system failures and financial loss. Among the three leading attacks in this scenario, double-spend attacks and long-range attacks threaten the tokens of blockchain users, while eclipse attacks target Denial of Service. To defeat these attacks, a novel bidirectional-linked blockchain (BLB) using chameleon hash functions is proposed, where bidirectional pointers are constructed between blocks. Furthermore, a new committee members auction (CMA) consensus algorithm is designed to improve the security and attack resistance of BLB while guaranteeing high scalability. In CMA, distributed blockchain nodes elect committee members through a verifiable random function. The smart contract uses Shamir’s secret-sharing scheme to distribute the trapdoor keys to committee members. To better investigate BLB’s resistance against double-spend attacks, an improved Nakamoto’s attack analysis is presented. In addition, a modified entropy metric is devised to measure eclipse attack resistance across different consensus algorithms. Extensive evaluation results show the superior resistance against attacks and demonstrate high scalability of BLB compared with current leading paradigms based on PoS and PoW.