Securing IoT Networks using Blockchain
Internet of Things (IOT) and Blockchain individually are very new and buzzword technologies that have recently gained popularity in the world. However, they are currently limited in their implementation as their applications are in uncharted waters. IoT faces blatant criticism due to its inability to secure thousands of devices connected to the hostile internet and its privacy concerns. We will see how Blockchain is the answer to this problem but first let’s understand what these technologies are and how do they work.
IoT — Simply put, IoT is basically connecting any device that has sensors and generates data to the internet so they can communicate and perform better. The “Things” can be consumer grade devices like cell phones, coffee makers, washing machines, headphones, lamps, wearable devices etc to security cameras and robotics in factories.
Blockchain — A blockchain is a decentralized, distributed and public digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers so that any involved record cannot be altered retroactively, without the alteration of all subsequent blocks. The block-chain ledger is immutable that makes it very secure and robust in its application.
The Problem with IoT — It’s not a big deal when your smart speaker or smart lights temporarily loses connectivity, but it would be a catastrophe if a fleet of self-driving cars lost signal even for a moment. Handling vast amounts of data generated simultaneously by many devices is difficult by itself and securing that data makes the task even more daunting. There is a lack of standards for authentication and authorization of IoT edge devices. Hackers only need one unprotected device or node to bring down the entire network. IoT networks need to be protected from Denial-of-service attacks (DoS) to Denial-of-sleep attacks that drain batteries. One example of such attack was in late 2016 when the world witnessed the sheer disruptive power of Mirai, a powerful botnet strain fuelled by Internet of Things devices like DVRs and IP cameras that were put online with factory-default passwords and other poor security settings. In a traditional IoT application all the devices are connected to a central cloud which makes communication between devices expensive as the messages have to go through insecure internet even if they are five feet apart. This also makes the cloud a single point of failure.
Enter Blockchain, the answer to the problem — Decentralizing an IoT network would solve many problems, that’s where Blockchain comes in. This “distributed ledger” technology is designed to be secure, transparent, highly resistant to outages, audit-able, and efficient. IoT in its definition is a system of distributed devices so it’s the perfect application for a distributed ledger-based technology to secure it.
How can it be done? — In an IoT network, the blockchain can keep an immutable record of the history of smart devices. The messages exchanged between the devices can thus be treated as transactions. Each transaction is then verified by the devices on the network and the history of the transaction will be stored as a block attached to the chain.
Benefits of integrating Blockchain in IoT Networks — This enables autonomous functioning of smart devices without the need for centralized authority. This removes single point of failure. New devices can be added securely and removing devices does not compromise the integrity of the system. An outage in one part of the network does not affect the rest of the network. The system can function with the remainder of the network. The ledger being tamper proof provides secure, trust-less messaging between devices in an IoT network. A decentralized approach makes the network immune to man-in-the-middle attacks.
IoT and Blockchain are codependent on each other. IoT needs Blockchain’s security and Blockchain needs an opportunity for its implementation. Together these two have a lot for us in the future.
