Rethinking IoT Security: A Protocol Based on Blockchain Smart Contracts for Secure and Automated IoT Deployments

TL;DR

This paper proposes a blockchain-based protocol using Ethereum smart contracts to enhance security, automation, and trust in IoT device management, addressing vulnerabilities and ensuring system resilience.

Contribution

It introduces a novel protocol leveraging smart contracts for secure IoT deployment and maintenance, emphasizing openness, automation, and provenance.

Findings

Secure IoT management via Ethereum smart contracts

Reduced surveillance and theft risks

Improved operator accountability and trust

Abstract

Proliferation of IoT devices in society demands a renewed focus on securing the use and maintenance of such systems. IoT-based systems will have a great impact on society and therefore such systems must have guaranteed resilience. We introduce cryptographic-based building blocks that strive to ensure that distributed IoT networks remain in a healthy condition throughout their lifecycle. Our presented solution utilizes deterministic and interlinked smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain to enforce secured management and maintenance for hardened IoT devices. A key issue investigated is the protocol development for securing IoT device deployments and means for communicating securely with devices. By supporting values of openness, automation, and provenance, we can introduce novel means that reduce the threats of surveillance and theft, while also improving operator accountability and trust in IoT technology.