Security and Privacy Issues in Blockchained IoT

Abstract

Recently, both the Internet of Things (IoT) and Blockchain have gained enormous adaptation and popularity in information-based systems. The inherent problem with IoT is security at each layer. Critics have often touted IoT as the Insecure Internet of Things (IIoT). Rapid growth can be seen in the requirement for designing a secure and robust model for performing regular tasks such as sensing data, processing of sensed data, storage of data or information, and mutual communication. The development of such a model, which involves conquering numerous stumbling blocks, is a little hard. Cybersecurity threats materialize every day, while older threats still linger and wait to be exploited once again. It is an unfortunate truth that IoT is also at risk from these cyber threats. The coupling of both technologies will help to create a robust infrastructure for smart things. Blockchain can be implemented at several levels, such as accessibility, automation, configuration, authentication and data protection. The salient advantages of depleting Blockchain technology in amalgamation with the IoT are constructing conviction, cutting costs, and acceleration in transactions. Secured and reliable IoT can be used in many commercial applications and industries, such as fintech, healthcare, manufacturing, supply chain management, etc. Many industry analysts are saying that Blockchain technology is proving to be a silver bullet for the IoT in terms of fears over security, privacy and reliability. Blockchain technology will not be the holy grail of cybersecurity, but it is a prevalent tool that can help to solidify IoT systems. Blockchain has shown countless prospects for technologies and systems based on IoT, where security issues are disrupting the centralized system with a single point of failure. The use of Blockchain technology in IoT can increase the security aspect and user access management mechanisms, which further leads to a robust mechanism. However, these two fields of IoT and Blockchain are relatively new, and a lot of research is going on in these fields. Moreover, the combination of these two technologies will come up with new challenges also. Therefore, there is a need to review the techniques that are already in place to carry out further scoping, so in this chapter, the researchers have tried to focus on the review of technologies germinating due to the coupling of the IoT with Blockchain technology. Some case studies based on the amalgamation of these two technologies are also discussed in this chapter. The security mechanism is based on three main factors: Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability. These factors have been considered when taking any research in this domain into consideration. Researchers have also proposed a model of the IoT integrated with Blockchain ledger for the dissemination of information with an abstract form of security. There are more than 20 techniques invented by various researchers that have been analyzed based on various attack vectors, and the corresponding reviews are discussed in detail. Ten main attacks are also discussed with respect to the 20 techniques used in the proposed coupled technology. As well as the security challenge, other challenges like scalability, storage, processing power, time complexity, the complexity of hybrid structure, the need for skilled manpower, and many other challenges are also discussed in this chapter. A consolidated review of the research carried out in the domain of various Blockchain-based IoT systems is also discussed in depth.