Secure IoT Data Using Blockchain?

Aishwarya Dhatrak1 , Mingwei Gong2 , Ranesh Naha3 , and Aniket Mahanti1

1
University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
2
Mount Royal University, Calgary, Canada
3
The University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Abstract. Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of physical objects

with embedded systems that are able to communicate with each other via
the Internet. It leads to a distributed network of devices which can com-
municate with human and objects. Implementation of IoT will provide
benefits, but it also raises security issues to affect data integrity and pri-
vacy for the companies. In order to overcome security issues, blockchain
technology is used. The paper is based on up-to-date research on the
blockchain as well as IoT with the purpose to study the blockchain as
potential solutions to secure IoT data. Both, Blockchain as well as IoT,
are new research areas into existing research, which support the use of a
qualitative research method. The results are indicated that blockchain is
used to secure data management, but it is not a complete solution. Most
of the security issues are related to devices, and blockchain technology
handles information, secures identities, stock traceability, transactions
which are made without human interaction and automated storage man-
agement. There are still some barriers to creating benefits work into
reality. This paper is focused on investigating the integration of IoT and
blockchain to analyze and improve security issues.

Keywords: Blockchain · Internet of Things · Data Integrity · Privacy ·

Transactions · Interaction · Automated Storage Management.

1 Introduction

The blockchain is a distributed ledger technology gains attention in areas beyond

cryptocurrency roots since more and less 2014. In this particular thesis paper,
the main focus should be on security on IoT and how blockchain can be the
solution to it. In IoT context, security is a primary challenge and blockchain
is a way to secure IoT. Park et al. [24] defined that IoT is interconnection
via the internet of the computing devices embedded into objects, enabled them
to send as well as receiving of data. Malviya [19] stated that blockchain is an
encrypted and distributed filing system designed to permit the creation of real-
time records. The security issues are the most compelling reasons to use of
?
Cite this article: Dhatrak, A., Gong, M., Naha, R., Mahanti, A. (2022). Secure IoT
data using blockchain. In Emerging Real-World Applications of Internet of Things
(pp. 1-20). CRC Press.
2 A. Dhatrak et al.

blockchain technology into the organization. At present, failure to IoT system

exposed to various devices, amount of highly personal data and supply chain
partners. The security flaws are revolved of three areas such as authentication,
transaction as well as connections. By use of the blockchain technology, it is
required to manage access to the data from the IoT devices.
Hassan, Aslam and Jang [14] analyzed that IoT adoption is continued to ac-
celerate, with the analysts are forecasted nearly $15 trillion in the investment of
IoT by the year 2025. 74% of the respondents have adopted these technologies
and claimed that digital transformation is not possible without it. The blockchain
model is based on cryptographically protected furthermore distributed ledger
technology could improve IoT frameworks with automatic optimization of re-
sources in addition to safety. The blockchain enabled IoT deployment is im-
proved entire data integrity by allowing the IoT devices to validate themselves
against the network. Novo [22] concluded that applying of blockchain model into
IoT could solve the real world digital businessrelated challenges. A new type of
blockchain platform is involved into IoT deployment is required, with capabilities
that can extend beyond the conventional models.
The IoT and blockchain are two topics which are caused a great deal of ex-
citement in the field of technology and the wider business world. This topic has
been selected to gain more knowledge and skills related to blockchain technol-
ogy. There are various benefits to an idea for building smart machines which
are able to interact and function via blockchain technology.With the use of en-
cryption, the data is trusted by the parties for involving into supply chain [22].
This topic is selected for the research as blockchain is offering prospectives to
improve the entire security of IoT environment. The data which are generated
by IoT is personal; as the smart devices have access to close details about daily
life. Allowing access to the data from the IoT devices to manage throughout
blockchain would become an additional layer of security. It is sometimes possi-
ble that blockchain, as well as IoT convergence, is becoming necessity at some
point. Both, Blockchain as well as IoT technologies, become a promise to be
kept in an existing world [13]. Combination of both technologies would minimize
security risks that are caused due to technological changes.

2 Research Motivation

The problem of trust over the information system is difficult when there is no
confirmation, as well as any such audit mechanism, is provided to deal with
the sensitive information like financial transactions with the existing currencies.
As a solution to security challenges, this paper evaluates the concept of Bitcoin
as virtual cryptocurrency sustains value without maintaining from the financial
entity [23]. The blockchain is such a mechanism which allows the transactions to
verify a group of unreliable actors. Operational issues are also considered when
the blockchain solution is taken as part of an existing business. The securities, as
well as privacy policies, are based on encryption which is difficult to implement
into IoT environment. Even though the blockchain technology can solve those
 Secure IoT Data Using Blockchain 3

problems, it also faces critical challenges for application into IoT environment.
IoT networks are predicted to include a more substantial number of nodes as well
as a rapidly increasing rate such that blockchain technology scales poorly as there
is an increase into a number of nodes into network [24].This technology protocols
are created network traffic flow that is becoming a disaster for communication
into IoT devices. The main role of this paper is to suggest blockchain technology
for the IoT entities. The performance of this method is adequately analyzed.

3 Related Work

Zhang and Jiangtao Wen [32] stated that blockchain technology is a revolution
into the system for records. This technology is still quite early into develop-
ment, and use cases are hypothetical. Most important application of blockchain
technology is Bitcoin; it is a virtual currency implemented in the year 2009
that introduced blockchain technology. Novo [22] argued that blockchain is a
data structure. This term is used to refer to a social phenomenon. Other names
which are suggested to blockchain are digital ledger system. The technology is
database structure which can modify by various parties at the same time and
corrects state.While there are challenges of blockchain technology, still it is in-
troduced as a solution to problems. It is required to understand the type of
blockchain applications does fit with the study.
This section is focused on security on IoT and how blockchain can be the
solution to it. The study describes the characteristics and features of blockchain
technology. It identifies in addition to analyzing different ways to integrate of
IoT along with blockchain technology. There are various benefits in the financial
service industry due to the adoption of blockchain in IoT. Mainly, there are
security challenges into the industry, and therefore blockchain can be a solution
to that problem. Blockchain-IoT applications are reviewed into this paperwork.
Blockchain can be described as a decentralized technology that makes use
of a worldwide network of computers for supervision the database of records.
According to Zheng et al. [33], blockchain has excellent credibility for construc-
tion of prospect internet system. The blockchain is a decentralized technology
by nature. It stores a growing list of records which is termed as blocks. These
blocks of data are linked together to form a chain of records which is termed
as blockchain. The blocks of data are linked together with the help of cryptog-
raphy to ensure secure data connection. Blockchain enables entry of a record
of information in the blockchain network which is controlled by a community
of users [9]. The blockchain is, therefore, an undeniably ingenious invention. A
closer look at the architecture of blockchain reveals that a blockchain network
consists of a constant sequence of blocks that are linked together.
Each block in a blockchain network has a parent block with which it is linked.
The first block of the blockchain network is a called a genesis block as it does
not comprise any parent block. A block header in a blockchain possesses block
version, Merkle Tree, Time-stamp, nbits, Nonce in addition to parent block.
The block body of blockchain is composed of a transaction counter along with a
4 A. Dhatrak et al.

number of contacts [4]. The blocks in a blockchain network are linked together
with asymmetric cryptography, and each transaction in a blockchain is validated
by asymmetric cryptography. The transactions in an untrustworthy environment
are validated by the use of the digital signature.
Decentralization is one of the key characteristics of blockchain technology [33].
Unlike conventional and centralized transaction system, where each transaction
is required to be authenticated by an expected agency, there is no need of a third
party in the blockchain.
Persistency is another feature of a blockchain network. Transactions can be
validated quickly in blockchain as it is basically impractical to roll back a transac-
tion in blockchain [30]. The data persistence feature of the blockchain, therefore,
enables rapid identification of an unacceptable transaction.
Immutability is of the best features of the Blockchain. Blockchains are de-
signed to be immutable. A block, once written to a blockchain, cannot be
changed. One cannot add, edit or delete the block once entered in a blockchain.
The above-discussed points represent the main features of blockchain technol-
ogy. There are a number of applications of blockchain technology which include
bitcoin, smart contract ethereum and so on. The technology of blockchain can
be integrated with IoT to increase the security of the same [20]. There are a
number of ways for integration of IoT and blockchain which are needed to be
identified.

4 Blockchain and IoT

4.1 Integration of IoT and Blockchain

Internet of things or IoT is a network of physical devices or home appliances

that are embedded with electronics enabling appropriate data exchange. The
applications of IoT are distributed in nature similar to the blockchain technology,
and therefore it can be integrated with blockchain to achieve better security [34].
This is possible since blockchain is designed on the basis of the applications
that are associated with transactions and interactions. Interaction is essential for
IoT devices, and therefore, the possibility of integration of blockchain with IoT
should be evaluated. This is needed since the technology of blockchain is able
to improve the security, cost efficiency and features of the blockchain. IBM has
already been implementing this technology has it extended its private blockchain
network into its cognitive IoT. Thus it is possible that the integration of IoT
along with blockchain will prove to be beneficial across the industries. There are
a number of reasons for the need for the addition of IoT with blockchain. One
of the main reasons for the need for integration of IoT with blockchain is that
the use of IoT has been increasing in recent years [31]. According to the research
report of Gartner, there have been around 8 billion connected devices across
the world. Majority of the devices include consumer grade electronics including
smart home technology. However, ensuring security in the IoT devices is neces-
sary as one of the main concerns associated with the blockchain technology is
 Secure IoT Data Using Blockchain 5

Fig. 1. IoT Architecture

its security. The urgency of finding a viable solution of ensuring security in IoT
gives rise to the need for a combination of IoT with Blockchain. The architecture
of blockchain is the main reason behind its security. Each blockchain wallet is
ruled by the use of private and public key and every message in the transaction is
encrypted. This increases the security of blockchain. There is an increasing need
to secure IoT devices since IoT defines the infrastructure of the organization [1].
Since the fundamental flaw of unsecured IoT devices can be eliminated with its
integration with blockchain, which is a distributed digital ledger and is secure
as well. The need for security of the IoT devices resides in the fact that IoT has
been converting more and more offline assets online.
Another reason behind the need of integration of IoT with blockchain lies in
the fact that IoT is needed to be fast and reliable [10]. For that, the internet
of things needs to expand its capabilities for ensuring fast and reliable connec-
tion all the times. This can easily be achieved by integrating the same with the
blockchain platform. Thus in a number of ways, the blockchain and IoT are found
to be perfect. Two of the most widely used applications of blockchain include a
transaction of cryptocurrency and smart contract. The embedded smart contract
and its decentralization nature can be a solution to the security problems asso-
ciated with the use of IoT. Furthermore, the use of blockchain can undoubtedly
ensure continual connectivity that is needed for providing the services. Currently,
the technology of blockchain is segregated among a number of companies and
platforms. Developing connection between the blockchain and IoT will allow effi-
cient use of IoT devices. IoT and Blockchain are growing together, and therefore
6 A. Dhatrak et al.

Fig. 2. Benefits of Integrating IoT with Blockchain

the collaboration of IoT and blockchain will be advantageous. IoT mostly needs
the features of blockchain so that the IoT services can be improved. There are
a number of ways by which the technology of blockchain can be integrated with
IoT.

4.2 Ways of Integration of IoT with Blockchain

The integration of IoT with the cloud has proven to be priceless. However, the
integration of blockchain with IoT can provide a number of advantages apart
from security. Dorri [11] argued that these advantages or benefits include de-
centralization and scalability. This is removing the central points, failures, and
bottlenecks. The integration of IoT with blockchain will further help the partic-
ipants of the IoT in easy identification of the different devices in the blockchain.
The use of blockchain in IoT will furthermore help in empowering the next gen-
eration application features in IoT such as autonomy. With the integration of
IoT with blockchain, each transaction can be made reliable which is not possible
as of now.
Blockchain can possibly enrich or integrated with IoT by making use of
trusted sharing service. This will increase the information reliability. With this
integration, data sources can be easily recognized at some instance. Data leak
in any part of an IoT network could slow down the process, and therefore in-
tegration of IoT with blockchain can help in addressing this problem. Thus the
use integration of IoT with blockchain can be beneficial in certain areas includ-
ing smart cities, smart cars and so on. The three ways of integrating IoT and
blockchain are as follows.

IoT-IoT: This approach is one of the fastest approaches of a combination of IoT

with blockchain. This will make the IoT devices able to communicate with each
 Secure IoT Data Using Blockchain 7

other. In this approach, the only element of the chosen IoT data is accumulated
in blockchain while the interactions between the different devices of a blockchain
network can take place without making use of blockchain technology [26]. This
approach of integration of IoT with blockchain can only work in case of presence
of a reliable IoT data. Furthermore, to ensure that this interaction works, the
IoT interaction should take place with low latency.

IoT-Blockchain: Swan [28] stated that in this approach of integration of IoT

with Blockchain, all interactions associated with blockchain network can go
through blockchain that will enable a permanent record of interactions. This can
be considered as the most viable option for integration of IoT with Blockchain.
This is possible because this approach of integration will rightly ensure that all
the interactions in IoT are traceable. However, there are definite issues connected
with the recording of all the interactions in blockchain as it will need an increase
in the bandwidth furthermore data. If this approach in combination of IoT and
blockchain is chosen, the transactional data is needed to be stocked up in the
blockchain network.

Hybrid Approach: This is another proposed approach of integration of IoT

with blockchain. In this approach, only a part of the interaction of IoT devices
will take place via blockchain while rest of them can be straightly shared between
the present IoT devices in the network. One of the issues related with the choice
of this approach for amalgamation of IoT with blockchain is that it is difficult
to choose which transactions should go to blockchain and which transaction
should not [5]. However, making use of this approach is considered to the best for
integration of both of the technologies since it allows leveraging of the blockchain
technology along with the use of real tome IoT interactions. In this approach of
combination of IoT in addition to the blockchain, the employ of fog computing
can certainly help in addressing the limitations associated with blockchain and
IoT.
However, since in a typical IoT deployment, incomplete resource devices are
used send notes. Ouaddahet al. [13] expressed that endnotes are used to converse
with a gateway accountable for forwarding the messages. If IoT can be integrated
with blockchain, the endnotes will have to communicate with blockchain. This
will help in integrating the cryptographic functionalities with IoT thus achieving
the desired results. Thus these three approaches can be used for integration of
IoT with blockchain. However, there are certain challenges associated with the
integration of IoT with blockchain which is needed to be addressed.

4.3 Challenges in blockchain–IoT integration

The main challenges that are associated with IoT- blockchain integration are
needed to be addressed for secure deployment. The integration of blockchain
with IoT is not trivial. Since the blockchain transactions are digitally signed,
there are not many issues associated with the technology [15]. However, the
8 A. Dhatrak et al.

integration of IoT with blockchain is challenging. Certain challenges that can

possibly affect the integration of IoT with blockchain are as follows:

Storage capacity and scalability: Since the storage capacity in a blockchain

network in under debate. The limitation of capacity and scalability can make
the technology of blockchain unsuitable for IoT application. However, there are
certain processes by which these limits can be eliminated. The blockchain is not
designed for storing a large amount of data. Integration of IoT with blockchain
might require extra storage space. Thus the integration of blockchain with IoT
should deal with these challenges.

Security: The applications in IoT might need to deal with specific security
problems at a different level. Liao et al. [14] discussed that the integration of IoT
with blockchain, therefore, might result in the increase in risks in the blockchain.
With the enlarge in the number of attacks in the IoT network, blockchain can be
an explanation to the problems. One of the processes that increase data security
in blockchain is that the data quality is checked before a transaction is entered
into blockchain [8]. However, the reliability of the data gained from IoT cannot
be guaranteed. It is the capability of blockchain to identify the immutable data.
In case of a corrupted data entering into the blockchain system, the data will
remain corrupted throughout. Thus it is a significant issue associated with the
integration of IoT with blockchain, and thus it is needed to be addressed.

Anonymity and data privacy: IoT applications mainly work with private
data, and therefore, the integration should also tackle the problem associated
with data privacy and anonymity [5]. The problem associated with the preser-
vation of privacy is that the data privacy in public blockchain is needed to be
analyzed. The problems associated with ensuring the privacy of data in the
blockchain makes it more challenging to integrate IoT with blockchain.

Legal Issues: Unregulated blockchain gives rise to specific legal issues. Thus
the integration of IoT with blockchain can involve specific legal issues as well.
With most of the existing laws becoming obsolete, the lack of regulation can
act as a significant disadvantage of integration of IoT and blockchain [17]. The
legal regulations are therefore expected to have an authority on the integration
of blockchain and IoT, and therefore this challenge is needed to be addressed as
well.
However, there are a number of benefits integration of IoT and blockchain
can offer [7]. One of which is the increased security and speed of IoT devices.
The interactions between the IoT devices will be improved by following these
processes which is a significant advantage of this process.
 Secure IoT Data Using Blockchain 9

4.4 Benefits of Integration of blockchain with IoT

The reason behind the need for integration of the IoT with blockchain is needed
to be evaluated. There are a number of reasons behind the anticipation of inte-
gration of the technology of blockchain with IoT.
Decentralization is one of the significant benefits of integration of IoT with
blockchain. With the integration of IoT with blockchain, a bulk of the partic-
ipants in IoT must verify the transactions. In blockchain, a single authority
cannot approve the transactions. Integration of IoT and blockchain will help in
achieving decentralization.
The integration of the blockchain technology with IoT will ensure faster
processing power and time. In an IoT network, a number of devices are present
that have different computing capabilities. Integration of all the IoT devices with
Blockchain will enable easier data processing thereby reducing the computational
time [9]. However, many of the IoT devices may not work according to the
computational power of blockchain, which might be an issue. The integration
of IoT with blockchain is expected to improve the reliability of the data that
is being stored or processed in an IoT network. This can be achieved mainly
because of the fact that blockchain ensures data quality check before storing
data in a network. This is an advantage as it will help in evaluating the data
authenticity.
With the integration of IoT with blockchain, it is possible to deploy the
IoT network securely. This can be achieved by making use of the secure and
immutable storage as offered by the blockchain network [17]. Increase in the
traceability of each of the IoT device is another significant advantage of the
integration of IoT with blockchain. This is possible since the participants in a
blockchain network can easily identify every single device.

4.5 Blockchain platforms for IoT

The blockchain platforms, as well as applications, are emerged from diverse areas
due to the benefits of blockchain technology. This section analyzed blockchain
applications and platforms. The blockchain technology is recognized as such a
disruptive technology which affect the financial services industry. The total num-
ber of platforms is so high, and with regular changes, it is not possible to analyze
every platform sufficiently [1]. Bitcoin is the cryptocurrency and blockchain plat-
form which provides a method to conduct monetary transactions in a reliable
way that is included into applications as a protected payment system.
Based on IoT domain, the automated devices are used of Bitcoin to perform
of micro-payments. Smart contracts are such a solution which is required at the
time to integrate of blockchain with IoT. The financial service sector is offering
use cases for the blockchain technology, although the application is proliferating
in other industries. Dorri et al. [11] stated that there is a number of areas where
the company is used of blockchain applications for financial services. The appli-
cations are used in domestic as well as international fund transfers. Into finances,
there is an emergence of alternative cryptocurrency which builds a new market
10 A. Dhatrak et al.

furthermore facilitated new forms of payments. The new market is led to form
of new applications for the payment, swap over as well as trading infrastructures
for new currencies. Malviya [19] argued that blockchain could raise autonomy of
the devices as it is easier to interact and coordinate by offering distributed open
ledger where IoT devices have trusted information. Aigang is used for insurance
network for IoT assets. This application is created custom virtual currency. It
offers investment chances in various goods with various risk points. The smart
contracts are connected intelligent devices with the assurance policies. With the
addition of Oracles to the account events, the claim handling is mechanically
handled.
MyBit is planned to construct an ecosystem for the services where IoT assets
are owned by people and revenues are to be shared. Within the IoT devices, it
generates of income the investors have received a split of profits to possession
stake. Hassan, Aslam and Jang [14] discussed that smart contract is accountable
for control, and updating the IoT platform. This platform is defined of various
asset types in addition to IoT devices are being connected to the assets, once
installed it is sent along with request information through the use of API. Ora-
cles are used for connection of devices to the network. The blockchain of things
is provided with a secured open communicational platform for the industrial
IoT integrations. Swan [28] examined that it is proposed of Catenis, web service
layer for the paid integration of blockchain technology with end-to-end encryp-
tion. In Catenis, IoT devices are represented as a virtual device into gateways.
Each of the virtual devices is managed by a host of Catenis services for IoT de-
vices.Those blockchain-IoT applications are examined to complete this research
study and offered with a completed overview of interaction among blockchain
technology as well as IoT paradigm. The blockchain ledger is provided security
to the Internet of Things. With billions of devices linked together, the cyber-
security experts are worried about how the distributed information system is
stayed secured. Huh [15] discussed that the blockchain ledger system ensures
that the information is established as well as unconfined to the trusted parties.
This system is a management platform for examining a variety of amounts of
data.
This section summarized that blockchain is a decentralized way to record a
list of digital transactions. It is best known as digital currencies like Bitcoin. This
currency is valued higher as even before. Due to the use of advanced technology,
there are many challenges into the industry, but the integration of blockchain can
overcome those security challenges. Because of increase into a number of attacks
into the IoT network, the technology can increase data security in blockchain is
that the data quality check is processed. Integration of IoT with the blockchain
is expected to make improvement into the reliability of the data. It is possible
to deploy the IoT network securely. It is analyzed that the challenges which
are associated with protection of the privacy are that privacy of data into the
technology is to be analyzed. The benefits of decentralization are a benefit to
integrating IoT into the blockchain technology. Integration of this particular
technology ensures the faster processing of time.
 Secure IoT Data Using Blockchain 11

5 Blockchain as a solution
Cocco, Pinna, and Marchesi [8] stated that blockchain technology is foreseen by
the industry as a disruptive technology which plays a crucial role to manage,
control and secure IoT devices. The security factors for the use of bitcoin are
introduced in this section. This chapter is analyzing the use of blockchain tech-
nology as solutions into various industries so that the researcher can analyze its
usage Dudek [12] the real time to determine its benefits into various market-
places. Kane [17] argued that blockchain as a solution to the challenges included
of intellectual property, art as well as contracts while reducing the paperwork
and speed up with the transactions and lower the cost.

5.1 Analyzing the use of blockchain in different industries

The blockchain is one of the advanced solutions to the challenges in various
industries. With the use of blockchain, digital currency is probable to change
the way about money and transaction on the business level. Following are the
industries where blockchain technology is used as a solution:

Insurance industry: Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) banking group have
announced of blockchain solutions which aim to improve efficiency into the in-
surance industry. Working with the tech giant IBM as well as financial services
of New Zealand, Australia and New Zealand banking group is built of blockchain
based platform aim to easiness the data transfer as well as premium payments
among the brokers [20]. The planned solutions stem from the proof of concept
which can demonstrate the potential of blockchain to solve inefficiencies into
the reconciliation of statements [2]. Proof of concept is built with fabric, the
blockchain based platform developed by the “Linux Foundation-backed Hyper-
ledger consortium.” ANZ is involved with a number of blockchain projects in-
cluded of achievement of the trial efforts in the year 2017, intended to digitize
bank guarantee processes for the property leasing.

Information services industry: Due to an increase in the use of the internet,

mobile phones are used to access the fingerprints, the users can seek access to
the websites. Google Company is decided to incorporate of the speed of website
into algorithm ranking factors. The search engine of this company is considered
a page to slow if it is taking longer than 1.5 seconds to load. Blemus [7] stated
that due to the use of blockchain technology, it is believed that blockchain is
transforming global internet infrastructure [12]. The problems related to low
internet availability as well as pace into digital content progress because of higher
content delivery costs are minimized with the use of blockchain as a solution. A
single transaction is being automated only due to smart contracts enabled by the
blockchain technology. Andreev [3] believed that blockchain is power into web
3.0 by offering of faster speed as well as decentralized to develop at the internet
age.
12 A. Dhatrak et al.

Real estate industry: Due to the participation of buyers, brokers, sellers,

and real estate agents, the processes of the industry become too slow. There is
also a transfer of information from one point to other, which causes the data
privacy issues. The blockchain reduces the risks and also increases of trust [6].
With the home purchases, people are relied on the companies to verify the real
estate transactions as well as ownership. This technology is used to conduct
transactions by use of cryptocurrency in an international real estate market.
It demonstrated for an option to buy homes with the digital assets citeDudek.
The technology eliminates the need for a trusted party to conduct the digital
transactions, allowing the transactions to be done in use of distributed and peer-
to-peer network. It makes the transactions more secured.

Banking industry: The banking industry in New Zealand is shifted from closed
unilateral systems to the decentralized bank as platform approaches. Deposit,
insurance accounts, exchanges besides crypto holdings are reached with the use
of single interfaces. The industry is used of blockchain to reduce the time needed
to settle the transactions. Rather than based on 1-3 days to verify the fund
transfers, the customers are received of verifications within an hour. As this
technology is used into the banking applications, therefore the transactions oc-
cur in real time. Ishmaev [16] believed that the strengths of blockchain tech-
nology are the elimination of the duplication of data. One of the companies
which have capitalized on the blockchain technology to capture a share of the
banking industry is Ripple that assists the bank with the processing of interna-
tional payments. The real-time gross settlement system (RTGS) is constructed
on a modified blockchain model. Shared ledgers help the banks in transactional
information. The blockchain enables the transactions to complete quicker than
centralized systems. There is less time required to capture information [13]. Two
security keys exist for the transactions such as public key which is available for
each user and private keys are shared only by parties to transactions.

Retail industry: The data which is provided by the blockchain helps the clients
to remain track of each end into the supply chain. For example, when a retail
store is advertising of chocolate cake, then the blockchain data will let to rec-
ognize when and wherever as well as by whom the cake is being ended [30].
It tracks the individual ingredients used to formulate a cake. With the help of
data, the retailers can come to identify whether the company is used of fresh
ingredients with no use of expired ingredients. It helps to offer customers with a
fresh chocolate cake each time without being anxious about agonizing about the
selling of expired cake. The blockchain technology can offer completed confidence
as well as clearness to the clients and also sellers as they can able to prove that
the products are sourced [23]. The technology also helps to deal with stealing
of luxury items as well as resale of stolen items through tracking the owner.
The retailers can able to track goods from dispatch of product to the concluding
shipments in addition to customer delivery. Finally, into the retail industry, it
benefits as it is a trusted means of payments due to bitcoin [7]. It allows retailers
 Secure IoT Data Using Blockchain 13

to agree to cryptocurrencies with digital accounts that assist in reorganize the

refunds as well as return procedures. The companies such as Expedia, Newegg
and others are accepted of bitcoin as payment methods.

Healthcare industry: The digitalization of the healthcare records provides

a significant change in the healthcare sector, but it is criticized on account to
centralize as well as associated with the ethical issues. The blockchain technology
is disrupted of public health by creating a secured as well as flexible ecosystem
to exchange of electronic health records [9]. The technology makes space by
creating provenances for critical drugs, organs, and others. In addition to the
medical licenses on the blockchain technology, fraudulent doctors can prevent
from the working.

Fig. 3. Statistical analysis of industries using IoT in blockchain technology

5.2 Blockchain cryptography solution

Hassan, Aslam and Jang [14] discussed that need off blockchain based identity
management is used into the internet age, in the form of the identity of the
project documents, passports, and there is no such alternative system to secure
online authentication and identity of the digital entities. Blockchain technology
is a solution to the problem by delivering of the secured solution. It is used to
create an identity on the blockchain, makes it easier to manage, control over
the personal information. By a combination of decentralized blockchain with
identity verification, digital ID card is created act as a digital watermark that
is assigned to online transactions.The challenges related to security deployment
are solved by the use of blockchain cryptographic solutions. Integration of IoT
with blockchain is a challenge; therefore among all the blockchain solutions, the
14 A. Dhatrak et al.

cryptographic method is the best solution for all the industries. Following are
the challenges and respective solutions by use of blockchain technology such as:

Storage capacity and scalability: referring to one of the issues with Blockchain,
the number of transactions a bitcoin blockchain can process is limited. The trans-
action processing capacity is 7tx/s maximum, and Ethereum network has 15tx/s.
The confirmation time into the bitcoin network is being fixed and accounted to
10 minutes. The heavily loaded networks have a problem related to the full
blocks that can trigger problems of higher fees. For the bitcoin blockchain, the
proposed solution for the problem is SegWit, a name used for implemented soft
fork change into the transactional format of cryptocurrency bitcoin [24]. This
function is added to support fast off-chain transactions and likelihood to increase
the block size to 4Mb.

Security: Based on the security issues, the cryptographic method is used, and it
is also known as encryption and decryption of information throughout complex
mathematics. Miau and Yang [21] discussed that an example of cryptography is
Caesar cipher. Each of the letter into messages is substituted with letter 3 spaces
to the left of the alphabet; then the keys have encrypted the messages. Sun, Yan,
and Zhang [27] criticized that blockchain technology is used of cryptography to
protect the identities of the users, encrypts the digital transactions and secures
the information in addition to storage of values. Therefore, the blockchain tech-
nology has confidence that something is recorded into the blockchain, and in the
same manner, it is preserved of security. The cryptography method which is used
into the blockchain is named as public key cryptography which is best suited to
associate with technology as compared to systematic key cryptography.

Anonymity and data privacy: The bitcoin blockchain protocols are used
of the cryptographic method for the digital signatures as well as cryptographic
hash functions [25]. The cryptographic algorithm is used of Bitcoin which is
termed as elliptic curve cryptography. It is provided with the same level of the
security such as RSA, it is required of less computation, and also smaller key size,
therefore reduction of storage as well as transmission requirements are required.
Kim and Hong [18] explained that the digital signatures are proved of ownership
of assets and also allows controlling the funds. The digital signature is based on
two functions:
Sign (Message, Private Key) − > Signature
This message was sent to sign as well as the private key; this particular
function produces an innovative digital signature for the messages.
Verify (Message, Public Key, Signature) − > True/False
This message used to verify, the signature as well as the public key, this
particular function provides with binary output based on whether the signature
is authentic or not.
 Secure IoT Data Using Blockchain 15

Legal: The blockchain with its digital ledger function promised to be effective,
secured as well as immutable methods for storing data required for property
rights such as land ownership. The technology is applied not to track the custody
of the documents, but to store of documents. With the use of the digital ledger,
there is a permanent record of the chain of custody while the evidence is digitally
preserved, such that no evidence is thrown out [29]. The legal industry is applied
to blockchain technology to their legal documents and offered timestamps as well
as fingerprints into the media files.

5.3 Disadvantages of blockchain technology

Following are the disadvantages of blockchain technology such as:

Extreme volatile: The virtual currency is based on the blockchain technol-
ogy is subjected to extreme volatile such as there is a fluctuation into the price
of bitcoin. As the blockchain technology is new to the market, therefore extreme
volatility is caused. The price of bitcoin is dropped of around $200 when China
is decided to ban the companies from raising ICO in the year 2017.
Crime: Due to anonymity, illegal transactions are caused. People have used
this platform to perform illegal transactions based on virtual currency.
It is summarized that cryptographic methods are contributed towards the
security of the network by creating it hard for data manipulation along with
providing with personal security for the end users. It enables translucent trans-
actions while retaining the privacy of the individuals. The bitcoin is used of
public key cryptography to reach the project goal. Most of the industries are
used of blockchain ideas into the value-producing network with higher secured
and an open source power of the blockchain platforms. It will reduce the de-
velopment time and backed the operations to support the critical workloads.
Therefore, in order to overcome security issues, blockchain technology is used in
most of the industries.

6 Conclusion

It is concluded that Internet of Things (IoT) is exciting paradigms into the

emerging technology. It has significant problems in its current stage; IoT is in-
feasible and also hazardous. IoT devices are connected with a web of devices
that can operate with minimal computational power along with embedded with
the chips for connectivity purposes. It has significant security flaws, and the re-
searchers can demonstrate capability as well as creativity into breaching of IoT
devices. The hackers can manage to control implanted devices, disable the cars
remotely as well as the launch of the DDoS attacks. It is analyzed that IoT se-
curity flaws are revolved in three areas such as authentication, transaction along
with connection. The distributed ledgers can seem such as there are some minor
changes into IoT networks to consider how physically distributed the systems are
being, and the blockchain is used as killer applications. IoT devices interact with
recognized as well as unrecognized devices. The application is tracking actions
16 A. Dhatrak et al.

of network components that can verify that the record is another big goal for
the IoT. The auditable feature of IoT and blockchain technology improves data
analytics, network performance, as well as the safety of the data. The blockchain
is ideal to create consistent networks. With the use of blockchain applications,
transactions are useful for IoT. It is performed of machine-to-machine interac-
tions; micro-interactions are part to make sure about economic probability as
well as optimality. The blockchain is considered an alternative to track registra-
tions as well as system updating.

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