Blockchain technology as a solution to address security and privacy issues in IoT

Abstract

Nowadays, smart applications are becoming part of small-scale to large-scale industries. Smart applications are making farming, tourism and hospitality, energy sector healthcare, supply chain, and so on smarter than ever. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), which is also called Industry 4.0, is the new evolution in the industrial sector that includes automation and smart applications. Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the major pillars of Industry 4.0. IoT devices that collect real-time data from the environment and exchange data among themselves. However, the security and privacy of IoT devices are a major concern as data transmission happens over public networks. To handle the issues, blockchain technology (BCT) can be one of the solutions. The blockchain proved its potential in enhancing the security and privacy of Internet data with various applications. In this regard, the chapter provides an overview of the idea of incorporating blockchain in IoT to overcome the security issues of IoT systems. The main objective of this chapter is to how blockchain features overcome the security and privacy threat in IoT system. Initially, the chapter focuses on several security and privacy concerns in IoT. We associate the features of the BCT with the challenges faced in IoT with respect to security and privacy issues. Some of the applications of blockchain in IoT have also been discussed that primarily target security and privacy issues of IoT. The chapter also focuses on challenges and future works in blockchain integrated with IoT infrastructure.