Blockchain-based PKI within a Corporate Organization: Advantages and Challenges

TL;DR

This paper explores the use of blockchain technology for decentralized PKI within organizations, highlighting its security benefits, challenges, and legal considerations compared to traditional PKI systems.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of blockchain-based PKI versus conventional PKI, emphasizing advantages like decentralization and security, and discusses legal and implementation challenges.

Findings

Blockchain PKI decentralizes trust anchors.

Enhanced security and tamper resistance.

Legal frameworks impact deployment feasibility.

Abstract

This research investigates the potential use of a blockchain-based Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) within an organization and compares it to conventional PKI systems. The goal is to assess the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches in order to determine the feasibility of employing blockchain technology for a decentralized PKI. The study will also evaluate the impact of current legal frameworks, such as the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and NIS-2 Directive. The study will examine various implementations of blockchain PKIs based on factors such as security, performance, and platform. The results indicate that blockchain-based PKIs can overcome the limitations of conventional PKIs by decentralizing the trust anchor, providing greater security. Blockchain technology allows for the immutable and transparent management of certificates, making tampering significantly more challenging. Additionally, blockchain-based PKIs offer enhanced mechanisms for identifying and addressing certificate misconduct.