A Blockchain-Based Audit Mechanism for Trust and Integrity in IoT-Fog Environments

TL;DR

This paper proposes a blockchain-based system to ensure trust, integrity, and proper monetization in IoT-fog environments, addressing security and honesty issues among fog nodes in smart city applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel blockchain framework that enables mutual authentication, service audit, and incentive mechanisms for fog nodes in IoT ecosystems.

Findings

Enhanced security and trust in IoT-fog interactions

Effective detection and deterrence of malicious fog node behavior

Streamlined monetization of fog services

Abstract

The full realization of smart city technology is dependent on the secure and honest collaboration between IoT applications and edge-computing. In particular, resource constrained IoT devices may rely on fog-computing to alleviate the computing load of IoT tasks. Mutual authentication is needed between IoT and fog to preserve IoT data security, and monetization of fog services is needed to promote the fog service ecosystem. However, there is no guarantee that fog nodes will always respond to IoT requests correctly, either intentionally or accidentally. In the public decentralized IoT-fog environment, it is crucial to enforce integrity among fog nodes. In this paper, we propose a blockchain-based system that 1) streamlines the mutual authentication service monetization between IoT and fog, 2) verifies the integrity of fog nodes via service audits, and 3) discourages malicious activity and promotes honesty among fog nodes through incentives and penalties.