Rethinking IoT Security: A Protocol Based on Blockchain Smart Contracts for Secure and Automated IoT Deployments
This addresses security challenges for IoT systems in society, but it is incremental as it builds on existing blockchain and smart contract technologies.
The paper tackles the problem of securing IoT device deployments by introducing a protocol based on blockchain smart contracts to enforce secure management and maintenance, resulting in reduced threats of surveillance and theft and improved operator accountability and trust.
Proliferation of IoT devices in society demands a renewed focus on securing the use and maintenance of such systems. IoT-based systems will have a great impact on society and therefore such systems must have guaranteed resilience. We introduce cryptographic-based building blocks that strive to ensure that distributed IoT networks remain in a healthy condition throughout their lifecycle. Our presented solution utilizes deterministic and interlinked smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain to enforce secured management and maintenance for hardened IoT devices. A key issue investigated is the protocol development for securing IoT device deployments and means for communicating securely with devices. By supporting values of openness, automation, and provenance, we can introduce novel means that reduce the threats of surveillance and theft, while also improving operator accountability and trust in IoT technology.