Toward Blockchain-Enabled Supply Chain Anti-Counterfeiting and Traceability

TL;DR

This paper explores how blockchain technology can enhance supply chain anti-counterfeiting and traceability by replacing centralized systems with decentralized, secure, and immutable record-keeping solutions, addressing vulnerabilities and improving trust.

Contribution

It identifies key decentralization mechanisms and develops fundamental system requirements for blockchain-based anti-counterfeiting and provenance management in supply chains.

Findings

Security and threat analyses of NFC-Enabled Anti-Counterfeiting System (NAS)

Proposed blockchain-enabled autonomous anti-counterfeiting framework

Enhanced data integrity and trust in luxury goods provenance

Abstract

Innovative solutions addressing product anti-counterfeiting and record provenance have been deployed across today's internationally spanning supply chain networks. These product anti-counterfeiting solutions are developed and implemented with centralized system architecture relying on centralized authorities or any form of intermediaries. Vulnerabilities of centralized product anti-counterfeiting solutions could possibly lead to system failure or susceptibility of malicious modifications performed on product records or various potential attacks to the system components by dishonest participant nodes traversing along the supply chain. Blockchain technology has progressed from merely with a use case of immutable ledger for cryptocurrency transactions to a programmable interactive environment of developing decentralized and reliable applications addressing different use cases globally. In this research, so as to facilitate trustworthy data provenance retrieval, verification and management, as well as strengthening capability of product anti-counterfeiting, key areas of decentralization and feasible mechanisms of developing decentralized and distributed product anti-counterfeiting and traceability ecosystems utilizing blockchain technology, are identified via a series of security and threat analyses performed mainly against NFC-Enabled Anti-Counterfeiting System (NAS) which is one of the solutions currently implemented in the industry with centralized architecture. A set of fundamental system requirements are set out for developing a blockchain-enabled autonomous and decentralized solution for supply chain anti-counterfeiting and traceability, as a secure and immutable scientific data provenance tracking and management platform in which provenance records, providing compelling properties on data integrity of luxurious goods, are recorded and verified automatically, for supply chain industry.