BLOFF: A Blockchain based Forensic Model in IoT
This addresses the problem of evidence integrity in IoT forensics for investigators, but it appears incremental as it applies blockchain to a known issue.
The authors tackled the challenge of conducting forensic investigations in IoT systems due to their heterogeneous nature and reliance on service providers, which can lead to evidence contamination, by proposing a blockchain-based model that prevents tampered logs from being admitted as evidence.
In this era of explosive growth in technology, the internet of things (IoT) has become the game changer when we consider technologies like smart homes and cities, smart energy, security and surveillance, and healthcare. The numerous benefits provided by IoT have become attractive technologies for users and cybercriminals. Cybercriminals of today have the tools and the technology to deploy millions of sophisticated attacks. These attacks need to be investigated; this is where digital forensics comes into play. However, it is not easy to conduct a forensic investigation in IoT systems because of the heterogeneous nature of the IoT environment. Additionally, forensic investigators mostly rely on evidence from service providers, a situation that can lead to evidence contamination. To solve this problem, the authors proposed a blockchain-based IoT forensic model that prevents the admissibility of tampered logs into evidence.