PUFchain: A Hardware-Assisted Blockchain for Sustainable Simultaneous Device and Data Security in the Internet of Everything (IoE)

Abstract

This article presents the first-ever blockchain which can simultaneously handle device and data security, which is important for the emerging Internet-of-Everything (IoE). This article presents a unique concept of blockchain that integrates hardware security primitives called Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) to solve scalability, latency, and energy requirement challenges and is called PUFchain. Data management and security (and privacy) of data, devices, and individuals, are some of the issues in the IoE architectures that need to be resolved. Integrating the blockchain into the IoE environment can help solve these issues and helps in the aspects of data storage and security. This article introduces a new blockchain architecture called PUFchain and introduces a new consensus algorithm called "Proof of PUF-Enabled Authentication" (PoP) for deployment in PUFchain. The proposed PoP is the PUF integration into our previously proposed Proof-of-Authentication (PoAh) consensus algorithm and can be called "Hardware-Assisted Proof-of-Authentication (HA-PoAh)". However, PUF integration is possible in the existing and new consensus algorithms. PoP utilizes PUFs which are responsible for generating a unique key that cannot be cloned and hence provide the highest level of security. A PUF uses the nanoelectronic manufacturing variations that are introduced during the fabrication of an integrated circuit to generate the keys. Hence, once generated from a PUF module, the keys cannot be cloned or generated from any other module. PUFchain uses a PUF and Hashing module which performs the necessary cryptographic functions. Hence the mining process is offloaded to the hardware module which reduces the processing times. PoP is approximately 1,000× faster than the well-established Proof-of-Work (PoW) and 5× faster than Proof-of-Authentication (PoAh). The transaction time reduction compared to PoAh is 79.15%. An optimized ultra low power design of the PUF and hashing module also provides a significant decrease of power consumption.

EasyBand: A Wearable for Safety-Aware Mobility During Pandemic Outbreak

“…without needing blood samples) glucoce level monitoring can have significant impact on the society [11]. We appreciate that security and privacy issues may arise due to EasyBand being part of H-CPS, thus novel solutions like lightweight blockchain and physical unclonable function (PUF) can be integrated in its architecture [12]. The inter-device communication is performed using the BLE stack present inside the wireless unit of the EasyBand.…”

Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs): A New Frontier in Supply Chain Product and Asset Tracking

“…The integration of PUF devices and blockchains has been explored in a number of recent works (Aniello et al, 2020;Negka et al, 2019;Mohanty et al, 2020), with many focusing on supply chains as a driving theme (see Figure 3). This combination of emergent technologies can lay the groundwork for a more holistic approach to supply chain visibility.…”

Hardware Security of Fog End-Devices for the Internet of Things

“…Finally, blockchain technology is a viable option to satisfy data integrity in the IoT network using consensus [ 46 ] strategy between nodes. As a proof of concept, a scheme of blockchain integrated PUFs in IoT is proposed in [ 47 ], using a unique consensus algorithm called “Proof of PUF-Enabled Authentication”.…”