A Blockchain Model for Trustworthiness in the Internet of Things (IoT)-Based Smart-Cities

Abstract

Our traditional Internet is extended into the Internet of Things (IoT) by connecting physical world devices and objects (things) to it. The diversity of applications of IoT range from mission-critical applications, such as smart-grid, smart-transportation system, smart-surveillance, and smart-healthcare to business applications, such as smart-industries, smart-logistics, smart-banking, smart-insurance, etc. In the IoT revelation, with the assistance of sensors and actuators, conventional devices become smart and autonomous. In coming years, for the predicted huge evolution of the IoT, it is important to provide confidence in this enormous collection of information. Today’s advances in the technology are turning IoT revelation into a reality. However, there are still challenges to address, especially for data reliability and security. There is a necessity for inclusive support of privacy and security in IoT for its mission-critical as well as business applications. Numerous frameworks are proposed to enable trustworthiness in the IoT. Academic and industrial researchers are continuously working to propose frameworks for security and privacy in IoT. At the same time, another technology, blockchain has emerged as a key technology that transforms the way in which we share information. Since the time it emerged, this technology has shown auspicious application scenarios. Blockchain builds trust in a distributed atmosphere without the need of central authorities. From the preliminary cryptography to the current smart contracts, blockchain has been functional in many fields. Blockchain as a technological advance has the extreme potential to change many industries, and IoT can be one of them. A blockchain stores all the processed information (known as a transaction in the blockchain terminologies) in sequential order, in a set of memory blocks that are tamper-free to adversaries. All nodes share these processed transactions. The information to these transactions is published as a public ledger that cannot be modified, and every node in the network retains the same ledger. In this way, a blockchain creates a distributed trustworthiness in the network. There have been many studies on the privacy and security issues of blockchain and IoT fusion, however, there lacks a systematic framework on the fusion of blockchain and IoT for trustworthiness. In this chapter, we overview blockchain as a model for IoT trustworthiness. We propose a novel blockchain-based framework for trustworthiness in IoT-based smart-cities. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.