Endorsement-Driven Blockchain SSI Framework for Dynamic IoT Ecosystems

TL;DR

This paper introduces a blockchain-based SSI framework for IoT that enables decentralized credential issuance and revocation by any trusted individual, enhancing flexibility and scalability in dynamic IoT ecosystems.

Contribution

It presents a novel layered architecture with endorsement-based trust and blockchain integration, allowing decentralized identity management in IoT environments.

Findings

Feasible implementation with minimal overhead

Supports dynamic and resource-constrained IoT environments

Enhances decentralization and scalability of identity management

Abstract

Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) offers significant potential for managing identities in the Internet of Things (IoT), enabling decentralized authentication and credential management without reliance on centralized entities. However, existing SSI frameworks often limit credential issuance and revocation to trusted entities, such as IoT manufacturers, which restricts flexibility in dynamic IoT ecosystems. In this paper, we propose a blockchain-based SSI framework that allows any individual with a verifiable trust linkage to act as a credential issuer, ensuring decentralized and scalable identity management. Our framework incorporates a layered architecture, where trust is dynamically established through endorsement-based calculations and maintained via a hierarchical chain-of-trust mechanism. Blockchain serves as the Verifiable Data Registry, ensuring transparency and immutability of identity operations, while smart contracts automate critical processes such as credential issuance, verification, and revocation. A proof-of-concept implementation demonstrates that the proposed framework is feasible and incurs minimal overheads compared to the baseline, making it well-suited for dynamic and resource-constrained IoT environments.