Biblio

With the advent of cloud storage services many users tend to store their data in the cloud to save storage cost. However, this has lead to many security concerns, and one of the most important ones is ensuring data integrity. Public verification schemes are able to employ a third party auditor to perform data auditing on behalf of the user. But most public verification schemes are vulnerable to procrastinating auditors who may not perform auditing on time. These schemes do not have fair arbitration also, i.e. they lack a way to punish the malicious Cloud Service Provider (CSP) and compensate user whose data has been corrupted. On the other hand, CSP might be storing redundant data that could increase the storage cost for the CSP and computational cost of data auditing for the user. In this paper, we propose a Blockchain-based public auditing and deduplication scheme with a fair arbitration system against procrastinating auditors. The key idea requires auditors to record each verification using smart contract and store the result into a Blockchain as a transaction. Our scheme can detect and punish the procrastinating auditors and compensate users in the case of any data loss. Additionally, our scheme can detect and delete duplicate data that improve storage utilization and reduce the computational cost of data verification. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that our scheme is provably secure and does not incur overhead compared to the existing public auditing techniques while offering an additional feature of verifying the auditor’s performance.

Systems for relative localization in multi-robot systems based on ultra-wideband (UWB) ranging have recently emerged as robust solutions for GNSS-denied environments. Scalability remains one of the key challenges, particularly in adhoc deployments. Recent solutions include dynamic allocation of active and passive localization modes for different robots or nodes in the system. with larger-scale systems becoming more distributed, key research questions arise in the areas of security and trustability of such localization systems. This paper studies the potential integration of collaborative-decision making processes with distributed ledger technologies. Specifically, we investigate the design and implementation of a methodology for running an UWB role allocation algorithm within smart contracts in a blockchain. In previous works, we have separately studied the integration of ROS2 with the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain, and introduced a new algorithm for scalable UWB-based localization. In this paper, we extend these works by (i) running experiments with larger number of mobile robots switching between different spatial configurations and (ii) integrating the dynamic UWB role allocation algorithm into Fabric smart contracts for distributed decision-making in a system of multiple mobile robots. This enables us to deliver the same functionality within a secure and trustable process, with enhanced identity and data access management. Our results show the effectiveness of the UWB role allocation for continuously varying spatial formations of six autonomous mobile robots, while demonstrating a low impact on latency and computational resources of adding the blockchain layer that does not affect the localization process.

The blockchain network is often considered a reliable and secure network. However, some security attacks, such as eclipse attacks, have a significant impact on blockchain networks. In order to perform an eclipse attack, the attacker must be able to control enough IP addresses. This type of attack can be mitigated by blocking incoming connections. Connected machines may only establish outbound connections to machines they trust, such as those on a whitelist that other network peers maintain. However, this technique is not scalable since the solution does not allow nodes with new incoming communications to join the network. In this paper, we propose a scalable and secure trust-based solution against eclipse attacks with a peer-selection strategy that minimizes the probability of eclipse attacks from nodes in the network by developing a trust point. Finally, we experimentally analyze the proposed solution by creating a network simulation environment. The analysis results show that the proposed solution reduces the probability of an eclipse attack and has a success rate of over 97%.

In the PKI-CA system with a traditional trust model based on trust chain and centralized private key management, there are some problems with issuing certificates illegally, denying issued certificates, tampering with issuance log, and leaking certificate private key due to the excessive power of a single CA. A novel distributed CA system based on blockchain was constructed to solve the problems. The system applied blockchain and smart contract to coordinate the certificate issuing process, and stored the issuing process logs and information used to verify certificates on the blockchain. It guaranteed the non-tamperability and non-repudiation of logs and information. Aiming at the disadvantage of easy leakage of private keys in centralized management mode, the system used the homomorphism of elliptic encryption algorithm, CPK and transformation matrix to generate and store user private keys safely and distributively. Experimental analysis showed that the system can not only overcome the drawbacks of the traditional PKI-CA system, but also issue certificates quickly and save as much storage as possible to store certificate private keys.

The access control mechanism of most consortium blockchain is implemented through traditional Certificate Authority scheme based on trust chain and centralized key management such as PKI/CA at present. However, the uneven power distribution of CA nodes may cause problems with leakage of certificate keys, illegal issuance of certificates, malicious rejection of certificates issuance, manipulation of issuance logs and metadata, it could compromise the security and dependability of consortium blockchain. Therefore, this paper design and implement a Certificate Authority scheme based on trust ring model that can not only enhance the reliability of consortium blockchain, but also ensure high performance. Combined public key, transformation matrix and elliptic curve cryptography are applied to the scheme to generate and store keys in a cluster of CA nodes dispersedly and securely for consortium nodes. It greatly reduced the possibility of malicious behavior and key leakage. To achieve the immutability of logs and metadata, the scheme also utilized public blockchain and smart contract technology to organize the whole procedure of certificate issuance, the issuance logs and metadata for certificate validation are stored in public blockchain. Experimental results showed that the scheme can surmount the disadvantages of the traditional scheme while maintaining sufficiently good performance, including issuance speed and storage efficiency of certificates.

We propose DecCert, a decentralized public key infrastructure designed as a smart contract that solves the problem of identity attestation on public blockchains. Our system allows an individual to bind an identity to a public blockchain address. Once a claim of identity is made by an individual, other users can choose to verify the attested identity based on the evidence presented by an identity claim maker by staking cryptocurrency in the DecCert smart contract. Increasing levels of trust are naturally built based upon the amount staked and the duration the collateral is staked for. This mechanism replaces the usual utilization of digital signatures in a traditional hierarchical certificate authority model or the web of trust model to form a publicly verifiable decentralized stake of trust model. We also present a novel solution to the certificate revocation problem and implement our solution on the Ethereum blockchain. Further, we show that our design solves Zooko’s triangle as defined for public key infrastructure deployments.

The distributed energy resources (DERs) have significantly stimulated the development of decentralized energy system and changed the way how the energy system works. In recent years, peer-to-peer (P2P) trading has drawn attention as a promising alternative for prosumers to engage with the energy market more actively, particular by using the emerging blockchain technology. Blockchain can securely hold critical information and store data in blocks linking with chain, providing a desired platform for the P2P energy trading. This paper provides a detailed description of blockchain-enabled P2P energy trading, its essential components, and how it can be implemented within the local energy market An analysis of potential threats during blockchain-enabled P2P energy trading is also performed, which subsequently results in a list of operation and privacy requirements suggested to be implemented in the local energy market.

The architecture and functioning of the electricity markets are rapidly evolving in favour of solutions based on real-time data sharing and decentralised, distributed, renewable energy generation. Peer-to-peer (P2P) energy markets allow two individuals to transact with one another without the need of intermediaries, reducing the load on the power grid during peak hours. However, such a P2P energy market is prone to various cyber attacks. Blockchain technology has been proposed to implement P2P energy trading to support this change. One of the most crucial components of blockchain technology in energy trading is the consensus mechanism. It determines the effectiveness and security of the blockchain for energy trading. However, most of the consensus used in energy trading today are traditional consensus such as Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT). These traditional mechanisms cannot be directly adopted in P2P energy trading due to their huge computational power, low throughput, and high latency. Therefore, we propose the Block Alliance Consensus (BAC) mechanism based on Hashgraph. In a massive P2P energy trading network, BAC can keep Hashgraph's throughput while resisting Sybil attacks and supporting the addition and deletion of energy participants. The high efficiency and security of BAC and the blockchain-based energy trading platform are verified through experiments: our improved BAC has an average throughput that is 2.56 times more than regular BFT, 5 times greater than PoW, and 30% greater than the original BAC. The improved BAC has an average latency that is 41% less than BAC and 81% less than original BFT. Our energy trading blockchain (ETB)'s READ performance can achieve the most outstanding throughput of 1192 tps at a workload of 1200 tps, while WRITE can achieve 682 tps at a workload of 800 tps with a success rate of 95% and 0.18 seconds of latency.

Nowadays, the messaging system is one of the most popular mobile applications, and therefore the authentication between clients is essential. Various kinds of such mobile applications are using encryption-based security protocols, but they are facing many security threat issues. It clearly defines the necessity for a trustful security procedure. Therefore, a blockchain-based messaging system could be an alternative to this problem. That is why, we have developed a secured peer-to-peer messaging system supported by blockchain. This proposed mechanism provides data security among the users. In a blockchain-based framework, all the information can be verified and controlled automatically and all the transactions are recorded that have been created already. In our paper, we have explained how the users can communicate through a blockchain-based messaging system that can maintain a secured network. We explored why blockchain would improve communication security in this post, and we proposed a model architecture for blockchain-based messaging that retains the performance and security of data stored on the blockchain. Our proposed architecture is completely decentralized and enables users to send and receive messages in an acceptable and secure manner.

Energy trading in small groups or microgrids is interesting to study. The energy market may overgrow in the future, so accessing the energy market by small prosumers may not be difficult anymore. This paper has modeled a decentralized P2P energy trading and exchange system in a microgrid group. The Islanded microgrid system is simulated to create a small energy producer and consumer trading situation. The simulation results show the increasing energy transactions and profit when including V2G as an energy storage device. In addition, blockchain is used for system security because a peer-to-peer marketplace has no intermediary control.

Security in the communication systems rely mainly on a trusted Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Certificate Authorities (CAs). Besides the lack of automation, the complexity and the cost of assigning a signed certificate to a device, several allegations against CAs have been discovered, which has created trust issues in adopting this standard model for secure systems. The automation of the servers certificate assignment was achieved by the Automated Certificate Management Environment (ACME) method, but without confirming the trust of assigned certificate. This paper presents a complete tested and implemented solution to solve the trust of the Certificates provided to the servers by using the blockchain platform for certificate validation. The Blockchain network provides an immutable data store, holding the public keys of all domain names, while resolving the trust concerns by applying an automated Blockchain-based Domain Control Validation (B-DCV) for the server and client server verification. The evaluation was performed on the Ethereum Rinkeby testnet adopting the Proof of Authority (PoA) consensus algorithm which is an improved version of Proof of Stake (Po \$S\$) applied on Ethereum 2.0 providing superior performance compared to Ethereum 1.0.

Vehicular networks are vulnerable to large scale attacks. Blockchain, implemented upon application layer, is recommended as one of the effective security and privacy solutions for vehicular networks. However, due to an increasing complexity of connected nodes, heterogeneous environment and rising threats, a robust security solution across multiple layers is required. Motivated by the Physical Layer Security (PLS) which utilizes physical layer characteristics such as channel fading to ensure reliable and confidential transmission, in this paper we analyze the impact of PLS on a blockchain-enabled vehicular network with two types of physical layer attacks, i.e., jamming and eavesdropping. Throughout the analysis, a Full Duplex Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (FD-NOMA) based vehicle-to-everything (V2X) is considered to reduce interference caused by jamming and meet 5G communication requirements. Simulation results show enhanced goodput of a blockckchain enabled vehicular network integrated with PLS as compared to the same solution without PLS.

In the smart grid, the sharing of power data among various energy entities can make the data play a higher value. However, there may be unauthorized access while sharing data, which makes many entities unwilling to share their data to prevent data leakage. Based on blockchain and ABAC (Attribute-based Access Control) technology, this paper proposes an access control scheme, so that users can achieve fine-grained access control of their data when sharing them. The solution uses smart contract to achieve automated and reliable policy evaluation. IPFS (Interplanetary File System) is used for off-chain distributed storage to share the storage pressure of blockchain and guarantee the reliable storage of data. At the same time, all processes in the system are stored in the blockchain, ensuring the accountability of the system. Finally, the experiment proves the feasibility of the proposed scheme.

The concept of a microgrid has emerged as a promising solution for the management of local groups of electricity consumers and producers. The use of end-users' energy usage data can help in increasing efficient operation of a microgrid. However, existing data-aggregation schemes for a microgrid suffer different cyber attacks and do not provide high level of accuracy. This work aims at designing a privacy-preserving data-aggregation scheme for a microgrid of prosumers that achieves high level of accuracy, thereby benefiting to the management and control of a microgrid. First, a novel smart meter readings data protection mechanism is proposed to ensure privacy of prosumers by hiding the real energy usage data from other parties. Secondly, a blockchain-based data-aggregation scheme is proposed to ensure privacy of the end-users, while achieving high level of accuracy in terms of the aggregated data. The proposed data-aggregation scheme is evaluated using real smart meter readings data from 100 prosumers. The results show that the proposed scheme ensures prosumers' privacy and achieves high level of accuracy, while it is secure against eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle cyber attacks.

Managing electricity effectively also means knowing as accurately as possible when, where and how electricity is used. Detailed metering and timely allocation of consumption can help identify specific areas where energy consumption is excessive and therefore requires action and optimization. All those interested in the measurement process (distributors, sellers, wholesalers, managers, ultimately customers and new prosumer figures - producers / consumers -) have an interest in monitoring and managing energy flows more efficiently, in real time.Smart meter plays a key role in sending data containing consumer measurements to both the producer and the consumer, thanks to chain 2. It allows you to connect consumption and production, during use and the customer’s identity, allowing billing as Time-of-Use or Real-Time Pricing, and through the new two-way channel, this information is also made available to the consumer / prosumer himself, enabling new services such as awareness of energy consumption at the very moment of energy use.This is made possible by latest generation devices that "talk" with the end user, which use chain 2 and the power line for communication.However, the implementation of smart meters and related digital technologies associated with the smart grid raises various concerns, including, privacy. This paper provides a comparative perspective on privacy policies for residential energy customers, moreover, it will be possible to improve security through the blockchain for the introduction of smart contracts.

This article describes an analysis of the key technologies currently applied to improve the quality, efficiency, safety and sustainability of Smart Grid systems and identifies the tools to optimize them and possible gaps in this area, considering the different energy sources, distributed generation, microgrids and energy consumption and production capacity. The research was conducted with a qualitative methodological approach, where the literature review was carried out with studies published from 2019 to 2022, in five (5) databases following the selection of studies recommended by the PRISMA guide. Of the five hundred and four (504) publications identified, ten (10) studies provided insight into the technological trends that are impacting this scenario, namely: Internet of Things, Big Data, Edge Computing, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain. It is concluded that to obtain the best performance within Smart Grids, it is necessary to have the maximum synergy between these technologies, since this union will enable the application of advanced smart digital technology solutions to energy generation and distribution operations, thus allowing to conquer a new level of optimization.

The proliferation of linked devices in decisive infrastructure fields including health care and the electric grid is transforming public perceptions of critical infrastructure. As the world grows more mobile and connected, as well as as the Internet of Things (IoT) expands, the growing interconnectivity of new critical sectors is being fuelled. Interruptions in any of these areas can have ramifications across numerous sectors and potentially the world. Crucial industries are critical to contemporary civilization. In today's hyper-connected world, critical infrastructure is more vulnerable than ever to cyber assaults, whether they are state-sponsored, carried out by criminal organizations, or carried out by individuals. In a world where more and more gadgets are interconnected, hackers have more and more entry points via which they may damage critical infrastructure. Significant modifications to an organization's main technological systems have created a new threat surface. The study's goal is to raise awareness about the challenges of protecting digital infrastructure in the future while it is still in development. Fog architecture is designed based on functionality once the infrastructure that creates large data has been established. There's also an in-depth look of fog-enabled IoT network security requirements. The next section examines the security issues connected with fog computing, as well as the privacy and trust issues raised by fog-enabled Internet of Things (IoT). Block chain is also examined to see how it may help address IoT security problems, as well as the complimentary interrelationships between block-chain and fog computing. Additionally, Formalizes big data security goal and scope, develops taxonomy for identifying risks to fog-based Internet of Things systems, compares current development contributions to security service standards, and proposes interesting study areas for future studies, all within this framework

The Network Security and Risk (NSR) management team in an enterprise is responsible for maintaining the network which includes switches, routers, firewalls, controllers, etc. Due to the ever-increasing threat of capitalizing on the vulnerabilities to create cyber-attacks across the globe, a major objective of the NSR team is to keep network infrastructure safe and secure. NSR team ensures this by taking proactive measures of periodic audits of network devices. Further external auditors are engaged in the audit process. Audit information is primarily stored in an internal database of the enterprise. This generic approach could result in a trust deficit during external audits. This paper proposes a method to improve the security and integrity of the audit information by using blockchain technology, which can greatly enhance the trust factor between the auditors and enterprises.

The integration of the Internet-of-Vehicles (IoV) and fog computing benefits from cooperative computing and analysis of environmental data while avoiding network congestion and latency. However, when private data is shared across fog nodes or the cloud, there exist privacy issues that limit the effectiveness of IoV systems, putting drivers' safety at risk. To address this problem, we propose a framework called PPIoV, which is based on Federated Learning (FL) and Blockchain technologies to preserve the privacy of vehicles in IoV.Typical machine learning methods are not well suited for distributed and highly dynamic systems like IoV since they train on data with local features. Therefore, we use FL to train the global model while preserving privacy. Also, our approach is built on a scheme that evaluates the reliability of vehicles participating in the FL training process. Moreover, PPIoV is built on blockchain to establish trust across multiple communication nodes. For example, when the local learned model updates from the vehicles and fog nodes are communicated with the cloud to update the global learned model, all transactions take place on the blockchain. The outcome of our experimental study shows that the proposed method improves the global model's accuracy as a result of allowing reputed vehicles to update the global model.

Blockchain and artificial intelligence are two technologies that, when combined, have the ability to help each other realize their full potential. Blockchains can guarantee the accessibility and consistent admittance to integrity safeguarded big data indexes from numerous areas, allowing AI systems to learn more effectively and thoroughly. Similarly, artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to offer new consensus processes, and hence new methods of engaging with Blockchains. When it comes to sensitive data, such as corporate, healthcare, and financial data, various security and privacy problems arise that must be properly evaluated. Interaction with Blockchains is vulnerable to data credibility checks, transactional data leakages, data protection rules compliance, on-chain data privacy, and malicious smart contracts. To solve these issues, new security and privacy-preserving technologies are being developed. AI-based blockchain data processing, either based on AI or used to defend AI-based blockchain data processing, is emerging to simplify the integration of these two cutting-edge technologies.

KYC or Know Your Customer is the procedure to verify the individuality of its consumers & evaluating the possible dangers of illegitimate trade relations. A few problems with the existing KYC manual process are that it is less secure, time-consuming and expensive. With the advent of Blockchain technology, its structures such as consistency, security, and geographical diversity make them an ideal solution to such problems. Although marketing solutions such as KYC-chain.co, K-Y-C. The legal right to enable blockchain-based KYC authentication provides a way for documents to be verified by a trusted network participant. This project uses an ETHereum based Optimised KYC Block-chain system with uniform A-E-S encryption and compression built on the LZ method. The system publicly verifies a distributed encryption, is protected by cryptography, operates by pressing the algorithm and is all well-designed blockchain features. The suggested scheme is a novel explanation based on Distributed Ledger Technology or Blockchain technology that would cut KYC authentication process expenses of organisations & decrease the regular schedule for completion of the procedure whilst becoming easier for clients. The largest difference in the system in traditional methods is the full authentication procedure is performed in just no time for every client, regardless of the number of institutions you desire to be linked to. Furthermore, since DLT is employed, validation findings may be securely distributed to consumers, enhancing transparency. Based on this method, a Proof of Concept (POC) is produced with Ethereum's API, websites as endpoints and the android app as the front office, recognising the viability and efficacy of this technique. Ultimately, this strategy enhances consumer satisfaction, lowers budget overrun & promotes transparency in the customer transport network.

Swarm robotics is a network based multi-device system designed to achieve shared objectives in a synchronized way. This system is widely used in industries like farming, manufacturing, and defense applications. In recent implementations, swarm robotics is integrated with Blockchain based networks to enhance communication, security, and decentralized decision-making capabilities. As most of the current blockchain applications are based on complex consensus algorithms, every individual robot in the swarm network requires high computing power to run these complex algorithms. Thus, it is a challenging task to achieve consensus between the robots in the network. This paper will discuss the details of designing an effective consensus algorithm that meets the requirements of swarm robotics network.

Food supply chain is a complex but necessary food production arrangement needed by the global community to maintain sustainability and food security. For the past few years, entities being a part of the food processing system have usually taken food supply chain for granted, they forget that just one disturbance in the chain can lead to poisoning, scarcity, or increased prices. This continually affects the vulnerable among society, including impoverished individuals and small restaurants/grocers. The food supply chain has been expanded across the globe involving many more entities, making the supply chain longer and more problematic making the traditional logistics pattern unable to match the expectations of customers. Food supply chains involve many challenges like lack of traceability and communication, supply of fraudulent food products and failure in monitoring warehouses. Therefore there is a need for a system that ensures authentic information about the product, a reliable trading mechanism. In this paper, we have proposed a comprehensive solution to make the supply chain consumer centric by using Blockchain. Blockchain technology in the food industry applies in a mindful and holistic manner to verify and certify the quality of food products by presenting authentic information about the products from the initial stages. The problem formulation, simulation and performance analysis are also discussed in this research work.

Blockchain has the potential to enhance supply chain management systems by providing stronger assurance in transparency and traceability of traded commodities. However, blockchain does not overcome the inherent issues of data trust in IoT enabled supply chains. Recent proposals attempt to tackle these issues by incorporating generic trust and reputation management methods, which do not entirely address the complex challenges of supply chain operations and suffers from significant drawbacks. In this paper, we propose DeTRM, a decentralised trust and reputation management solution for supply chains, which considers complex supply chain operations, such as splitting or merging of product lots, to provide a coherent trust management solution. We resolve data trust by correlating empirical data from adjacent sensor nodes, using which the authenticity of data can be assessed. We design a consortium blockchain, where smart contracts play a significant role in quantifying trustworthiness as a numerical score from different perspectives. A proof-of-concept implementation in Hyperledger Fabric shows that DeTRM is feasible and only incurs relatively small overheads compared to the baseline.

We have several issues in most current supply chain management systems. Consumers want to spend money on environmentally friendly products, but they are seldomly informed of the environmental contributions of the suppliers. Meanwhile, each supplier seeks to recover the costs for the environmental contributions to re-invest them into further contributions. Instead, in most current supply chains, the reward for each supplier is not clearly defined and fairly distributed. To address these issues, we propose a supply-chain contribution management platform for fair reward distribution called ‘Advanced Ledger.’ This platform records suppliers' environ-mental contribution trails, receives rewards from consumers in exchange for trail-backed fungible tokens, and fairly distributes the rewards to each supplier based on the contribution trails. In this paper, we overview the architecture of Advanced Ledger and 11 technical features, including decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) based contribution verification, contribution concealment, negative-valued tokens, fair reward distribution, atomic rewarding, and layer-2 rewarding. We then study the requirements and candidates of the smart contract platforms for implementing Advanced Ledger. Finally, we introduce a use case called ‘ESG token’ built on the Advanced Ledger architecture.