Abstract

Document Sections

I. Introduction

II. Major Security Risks in IoT

III. Characteristics of Blockchain-Embedded IoT

IV. Classification of Security in IoT

V. Blockchain-Based IoT Attacks

VI. Blockchain-Based Information Sharing Security Mechanism for IoT

VII. IoT Security Scenarios Under Blockchain

VIII. Research Challenges and Future Trends

IX. Conclusion

Abstract:

In recent years, the Internet of Things (IoT) has made great progress. The interconnection between IoT and the Internet enables real-time information processing and transaction implementation through heterogeneous intelligent devices. But the security, the privacy, and the reliability of IoT are key challenges that limit its development. The features of the blockchain, such as decentralization, consensus mechanism, data encryption, and smart contracts, are suitable for building distributed IoT systems to prevent potential attacks and to reduce transaction costs. As a decentralized and transparent database platform, blockchain has the potential to raise the performance of IoT security to a higher level. This article systematically analyzes state of the art of IoT security based on the blockchain, paying special attention to the security features, issues, technologies, approaches, and related scenarios in blockchain-embedded IoT. The integration and interoperation of blockchain and IoT is an important and foreseeable development in the computational communication system.

I. Introduction

At present, the Internet of Things (IoT) is an enormous ecosystem. Its timeliness, convenience, inclusiveness, scalability, integration, and interoperability make IoT an unparalleled prospect for further development. Its applications extend to a wide range of fields, such as agriculture and food traceability, remote medicare and hospitality, location and navigation, logistics and operations, manufacturing and automation, smart city and home use, etc. At the same time, more and more security vulnerabilities have arisen—urgent issues that need to be solved. During the first half of 2017, the number of attacks on IoT devices increased by 280%. By 2021, corporate spending on information security related to IoT is projected to increase from the current 83.5 billion to 119.9 billion. Based on the architecture of IoT itself, many effective paradigms and protocols have been used to prevent or to eliminate potential security risks. But these have not been enough. IoT requires the assistance of appropriate technology and mechanisms to improve its overall security level. With the rapid development of the blockchain, its security functions have been revealed, and they have become potential approaches for IoT security, with a special focus on its decentralized and transparent system, as well as on its consensus mechanisms and privacy protocols, encrypted data and management, and smart contract agreement [1]–[۴].