Secure Internet of Things network using light‐weighted trust and blockchain‐powered PoW framework

Abstract

Blockchain technology comprises security algorithms that work efficiently on battery powered devices. Low energy and delay indicate the effectiveness of any security mechanism. However, it is challenging for the algorithms to achieve low energy and delay because of various attacks. To identify and protect against various kinds of IoT attacks, a light-weighted trust, and blockchain-powered PoW framework are proposed in this article. A proof of work (PoW) consensus is utilized on the router side to validate the block before the blockchain accepts it. The flexibility of block design is the main benefit of PoW powered blockchain, so it can modify based on IoT applications.Moreover, trust is one of the major issues in IoT networks. Trust can be established among users during node processing and communication between nodes. This trust is significant for transferring the data from source to destination and the uncertainty of service availability in IoT applications. A trust evaluation between participating nodes and the blockchain mechanism are integrated into this work to cover authorization and authentication. The efficiency of the proposed trust model is evaluated in terms of trust evolution and trustworthy network and compared with the existing trust models. In the experimental analysis, the efficiency of the proposed blockchain-powered network is analyzed in terms of energy, delay and processing time. The experimental outcomes proved that the proposed lightweight trust and blockchain-powered PoW are more efficient than other approaches.