Blockchain-enabled access control to prevent cyber attacks in IoT: Systematic literature review

Abstract

Internet of Things (IoT) enables communication among objects to collect information and make decisions to improve the quality of life. There are several unresolved security and privacy concerns in IoT due to multiple resource constrained devices, which lead to various cyber attacks. The conventional access control techniques depend on a central authority that further poses privacy and scalability issues in IoT. Various problems with access control in IoT can be resolved to prevent various cyber attacks using the decentralization and immutability properties of the blockchain. This study explored the current research trends in blockchain-enabled secure access control mechanisms and also identifies their applicability in creating reliable access control solutions for IoT. The basic properties of blockchain, such as decentralization, auditability, transparency, and immutability, act as the propulsion that provides integrity and security, disregarding the participation of an external entity. Initially, the application of blockchain was created only for cryptocurrencies but with the introduction of Ethereum, which allows the writiting and execution of smart contracts, applications other than cryptocurrencies are also being created. As various research articles have been written on the usage of different types of blockchains for creating secure access control solutions for IoT, this study intends to find and examine such primary researches as well as come up with a systematic review of various findings. This study perceives the most frequently utilized blockchain for creating blockchain-based access control solutions to prevent various cyber attacks and also discusses the improvement in access control mechanisms using blockchain along with smart contracts in IoT. The present study also discusses the obstacles in building decentralized access control solutions for IoT systems as well as future research areas. For new researchers, this article is a nice place to start and a strong reference point.

Keywords: Internet of Things; access control; blockchain; cyber attacks; privacy; security; smart contract.