Towards Secure Industrial IoT: Blockchain System With Credit-Based Consensus Mechanism

Abstract

Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) plays an indispensable role for Industry 4.0, where people are committed to implement a general, scalable, and secure IIoT system to be adopted across various industries. However, existing IIoT systems are vulnerable to single point of failure and malicious attacks, which cannot provide stable services. Due to the resilience and security promise of blockchain, the idea of combining blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT) gains considerable interest. However, blockchains are power-intensive and low-throughput, which are not suitable for power-constrained IoT devices. To tackle these challenges, we present a blockchain system with credit-based consensus mechanism for IIoT. We propose a credit-based proof-of-work (PoW) mechanism for IoT devices, which can guarantee system security and transaction efficiency simultaneously. In order to protect sensitive data confidentiality, we design a data authority management method to regulate the access to sensor data. In addition, our system is built based on directed acyclic graph-structured blockchains, which is more efficient than the Satoshi-style blockchain in performance. We implement the system on Raspberry Pi, and conduct a case study for the smart factory. Extensive evaluation and analysis results demonstrate that creditbased PoW mechanism and data access control are secure and efficient in IIoT.

Blockchain-Based Transaction Validation Protocol for a Secure Distributed IoT Network

“…Here, the authors dealt with estimation latency in transferring data from the IIoT to the cloud, and vice versa. The authors in [20] presented a secure IIoT and blockchain system by proposing a credit based Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism. This can guarantee the security and efficiency of TXs, simultaneously.…”

A Cost Analysis of Internet of Things Sensor Data Storage on Blockchain via Smart Contracts

“…They also proposed a lightweight mining process designed for their scheme. Huang et al [41] proposed a credit-based consensus mechanism for industrial IoT systems. In their work, they propose a credit-based proof-of-work (PoW) mechanism which can guarantee system security and transaction efficiency simultaneously.…”

“…In their work, they propose a credit-based proof-of-work (PoW) mechanism which can guarantee system security and transaction efficiency simultaneously. They also designed a data authority management method to regulate access to sensor data to protect the confidentiality of sensitive data [41].…”

Blockchain Enabled Industrial Internet of Things Technology

“…Despite of the aforementioned potentials, the IIoT is also facing a number of challenges [9], [10], [11], [12], including interoperability, devices security and privacy, silo mentality, standardization, etc. The complicated IIoT system exposes industrial control system (ICS), process control systems, and other operational technologies to potential cyber attacks, hacktivism, employment sabotage and other security risks.…”