SSI4IoT: Unlocking the Potential of IoT Tailored Self-Sovereign Identity

TL;DR

This paper explores how Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) can be adapted for IoT, addressing unique challenges and proposing a comprehensive framework for managing digital identities in interconnected devices.

Contribution

It introduces a taxonomy and detailed analysis of SSI application in IoT, focusing on VC lifecycle, trust, interoperability, and optimization techniques.

Findings

Identified key challenges of applying SSI to IoT

Proposed a taxonomy for VCs in IoT context

Addressed VC lifecycle management and optimization

Abstract

The emerging Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) techniques, such as Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and Verifiable Credentials (VCs), move control of digital identity from conventional identity providers to individuals and lay down the foundation for people, organizations, and things establishing rich digital relationship. The existing applications of SSI mainly focus on creating person-to-person and person-to-service relationships, whereas person-to-device and device-to-device interactions have been largely overlooked. In this paper, we close this gap by identifying a number of key challenges of applying SSI to the Internet of Things (IoT) and providing a comprehensive taxonomy and usage of VCs in the IoT context with respect to their validity period, trust and interoperability level, and scope of usage. The life-cycle management of VCs as well as various optimization techniques for realizing SSI in IoT environments are also addressed in great detail. This work is a noteworthy step towards massive adoption of SSI for securing existing and future IoT applications in practice.