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Blockchain for IoT Access Control, Security and Privacy: A Review

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Blockchain for IoT Access Control, Security
and Privacy: A Review

Pradnya Patil, M. Sangeetha &

Vidhyacharan Bhaskar

Wireless Personal Communications

An International Journal

ISSN 0929-6212

Wireless Pers Commun

DOI 10.1007/s11277-020-07947-2

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Wireless Personal Communications
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-020-07947-2

Blockchain for IoT Access Control, Security and Privacy:

A Review

Pradnya Patil1 · M. Sangeetha1 · Vidhyacharan Bhaskar2

Accepted: 29 October 2020

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020

Abstract
In modern era, blockchain technology is gaining a major attention among researchers and
scientists for different scopes such as access control, data security, privacy and decentrali-
zation of the wireless networks. Though blockchain offers several benefits like peer to peer
technology, anonymity, increased capacity, better security; the main cause behind being the
first choice is its immutable structure. To abolish the role of the reliable third-party within
interconnected networks, blockchain can be used as a key technology because of its distrib-
uted nature. Hyperledger fabric, IBM Blockchain, Ethereum, Ripple, R3 Corda, multichain
are the most prominent blockchain platforms available for implementation. Aforemen-
tioned review paper describes and analyzes the existing blockchain based security tech-
niques pertaining to IoT access control, vehicular ad hoc networks, healthcare, and supply
chain. The comprehensive survey of use cases of blockchain will serve as a state-of-the-art
for the researchers to carry out cutting edge research work in the pursuance of blockchain
technology in various fields.

Keywords Access control · Blockchain · Consortium block chain · Data security · Internet
of things (IoT) · Privacy

1 Introduction

Among all technologies available for data security and privacy, blockchain is the most
efficient one because of its properties like immutability and irreversibility. The block-
chain is defiant to modification of data [1]. Whenever there is a change in the ledger using

* Vidhyacharan Bhaskar
[email protected]
Pradnya Patil
[email protected]
M. Sangeetha
[email protected]
1
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, SRM Institute of Science
and Technology, Kattankulathur, Kancheepuram Dt., Tamilnadu 603203, India
2
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, San Francisco State University, 1600
Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA

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transactions, changes are distributed to all the nodes to verify and update their particular
transcript of the ledger. Once the transaction is verified from all the nodes in the network, it
is not possible to change the transaction without altering the later and previous blocks. So,
blockchain transactions are irreversible and their data is constantly appended. Each block is
connected with a link also known as a chain. Subsequent block incorporates hash of the
preceding block to visit the chain in the reverse chronological order.
Blockchain uses both decentralized and distributed structure along with cryptographic
properties, which makes it work in a unique way. Blockchain technology is preferable
where security and confidentiality of the information is the first priority of the network. In
IoT, access control can be achieved more efficiently by implementing blockchain [2], which
is discussed in the later part of this paper. Further, from literature, it is clear that the use of
blockchain will offer many superior results for other use cases like Vehicular Ad hoc Net-
work (VANET), Healthcare, and Supply chain.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: Sect. 2 discusses the fundamentals
and functioning of the blockchain. Section 3 presents the overview of IoT access control
techniques using blockchain. A brief survey on the adoption of blockchain in privacy and
security for the use cases mentioned above is provided in Sect. 4. Finally, Sect. 5 presents
the conclusion.

2 Basics of Blockchain

2.1 Definition of Blockchain

A blockchain is a time stamped sequence of rigid transactions which is managed by a group

of computers using special algorithms. Each computer that participates in this group is
called a node and each node shares the same copy of data, which is called as digital ledger.
Each node maintains the records of transactions in multiple consecutive blocks and uses
the same algorithm to reach common agreement. These transactions are saved on every
node in a distributed Peer to Peer (P2P) network. Figure 1 shows the general structure of a
blockchain with basic block components [3].
Each block consists of version information, nonce value, hash value of the previous block,
timestamp, merkle root and transactions. Version number of blockchain is used to maintain
changes and updates during the whole duration of the protocol. Nonce is an arbitrary number
to which miners will come across as a component of mining. Nonce is a part of cracking the
mathematical puzzle first in order to mine the block. Hash is a cryptographic function used

Fig. 1  General structure of blockchain

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to secure the chain. Timestamp is used to understand when a particular transaction has been
occurred. Merkle Root is obtained by hashing the transaction hashes again. Transaction list
refers to the different transactions included in the particular block.

2.2 Functioning of the Blockchain

To implement Blockchain technology, a P2P network needs to be created with the devices
(users) that are interested to communicate through blockchain. Each participating device is
referred to as a node. Two keys are generated for each node: namely, public and private. As
the name implies, public key is acknowledged to all and private key is undisclosed, and is used
by a user to produce a signature. In short, asymmetric cryptography is used to accomplish the
security demand of the information. Private keys need to be kept protected to avoid possible
misuse or tampering of data on a blockchain.
A node initiates the transaction and after signing it with private key, publishes it in the
network for getting verified by the peer nodes. These verification methods used are known as
consensus algorithms, and vary in different blockchain platforms, depending upon the design
objectives. After verification from peers, miner collects the transaction to create a block and
that block gets appended to the blockchain with timestamp and unique ID (i.e. hash) to avoid
further alterations. Newly added block gets linked up with the earlier block using its hash and
upcoming block will establish link with this block and so on [4]. Figure 2 given below depicts
the general workflow of blockchain stand on above description.

2.3 Consensus Algorithms

Consensus algorithm is the heart of Blockchain technology since they maintain the integrity
and security of the blockchain network. It is a protocol by which network nodes of the block-
chain arrive to a standard agreement on current records state of the ledger. Different block-
chain platforms use different algorithms to reach the consensus and off course all of them
differ in their operation and execution. Figure 3 shows the list of most popular consensus algo-
rithms used in different blockchain platforms.
Basic working principle behind these algorithms is as given below:

i. Proof of Work (PoW) In PoW, nodes with more computing power administers the
network.
ii. Proof of Stake (PoS) In PoS, nodes with more money administers the network.
iii. Proof of Authority (PoA) In PoA, arbitrary chosen trustworthy nodes administers the
network.
iv. Proof of Elapsed Time (PoET) In PoET, nodes who have finished specific waiting
period administers the network.
v. Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) In DPoS, Nodes elected by delegates through voting
administers the network.

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Fig. 2  General workflow of blockchain

Fig. 3  Most popular consensus algorithms

3 Blockchain Based IoT Access Control Methods

The surge of growing objects in communications and networking technology has caused
a huge growth in IoT research. Interconnecting different smart devices over the Internet
offers many advantages like data sharing, ease of access, and remote monitoring [5]. One

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of the major issues faced by IoT is its centralized structure i.e. the client–server model.
Lack of trust between different participating devices may cause failure of the entire net-
work, and so a credible solution is needed to avoid this issue. In recent years, several
approaches have been proposed, in which blockchain is gaining popularity due to its prop-
erties like decentralized structure, security, and immutability.

3.1 Attribute Based Access Control (ABAC)

Attribute Based Access Control (ABAC) design is proposed to make access management
simpler in IoT [6]. In this work, blockchain technology is implemented to append and pre-
serve the distribution of attributes that includes user attributes, resource attributes and
object attributes based on user’s requirement. ABAC extracts uniqueness or representations
into a set of attributes which are published by attribute authority. Each set of attributes is
represented by Boolean formulae which defines different access policies. These access pol-
icies are used for valid and authorized access. It eliminates the stress of allocating roles or
making access control list for all devices in the system. The performance analysis given in
this paper shows that the ABAC scheme provides high degree of confidentiality, resiliency,
flexibility and scalability.
In [7], authors have proposed Attribute bases Access Control method consisting of five
main components namely Consortium Blockchain Network, Authority Nodes (AN), IoT
Devices, Chaincode and Public Ledger and Access Tree. Authority nodes are part of Con-
sortium Blockchain Network and are responsible for handling all the interactions with the
Blockchain Network on behalf of IoT Devices. When requester sends access request to the
target it gets forwarded to the AN by that target. Chaincode is queried by the AN and reg-
istered access credentials are retrieved to check the legitimacy of the requesters’ unique-
ness and the target’s access rule. After that the access tree is constructed by AN to make
authorization. Blockchain is used to record final access information with the authorization
result followed by which results are sent to the requester by AN.
Here, attribute based Access Control is achieved by maintaining three closely related
key-value database including Device database, Attribute database, and Access database.
Attribute name is given to the Attribute after its registration and individual owner lists are
maintained for each attribute when that is assigned to any device. Performance analysis
shows that presented scheme is lightweight as well as efficient due to reduced storage and
computation overhead.

3.2 Fair Access

To facilitate the users to have control on their own data, a completely pseudonymous tech-
nique without central governance is introduced in [8]. To achieve pseudonymity, bitcoin
resembling addresses are used for identification of all interacting entities and access con-
trol policies are defined in the smart contract and then saved in blockchain. Blockchain
also circulates endorsement tokens which are used as a unique identification, demonstrat-
ing the connection permission for admittance to a specific resource. Transaction integrity
checks and double spending detection mechanism are enforced to detect forgery and reuse
of tokens. The proposed framework relieves the constrained IoT devices from the trouble of
managing a massive load of admittance control data.

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3.3 Distributed Access Control

Oscar Novo [9] proposed a new approach which provides decentralized access control
method linked to geographically distributed sensor networks. It is a combination of Wire-
less Sensor Networks, Manager Nodes, Agent node, Smart contract, Blockchain network
and Management hubs.

i. Wireless Sensor Networks It is a group which consists of different IoT equipments and
can be linked to the blockchain system over the management hub.
ii. Manager Nodes Managers are lightweight nodes which are liable to administrate the
access control regulations.
iii. Agent Node Particular node bound to set up the smart contract in blockchain network
which is the possessor of the smart contract through the life span of the access control
system.
iv. Smart Contract It is a piece of code deployed in blockchain network which determines
each and every operation related to access management.
v. Blockchain network Private block-chain network is used to save and handle admittance
regulation policies.
vi. Management hubs It is a link which modifies Constrained Application Protocol
(CoAP) messages initiated by the IoT equipments to JavaScript Object Notation
Remote Procedure Call (JSONRPC) protocol messages recognizable by the block-
chain nodes. IoT devices can request data access from the blockchain using manage-
ment hub.

In this approach, authors have exercised blockchain for storage and distribution of
access control information. An exclusive and non-destroyable single smart contract is
used to describe all the actions certified in admittance regulatory system. Smart contracts
are contacted by the managers to describe the admittance rules of the structure. The main
advantage in this approach is its increased scalability since multiple systems can be linked
to the blockchain set-up simultaneously using special nodes called management hubs.
Hwang, D. et al. in [10] proposed a method for interchanging information between
geographically distant IoT devices. Instead of sending information request directly to the
particular device, it is sent to the management hub which in turn checks for the access
permission stored in blockchain. If the request is granted, management hub accesses the
information from that device and sends it to the requesting device. This method is suit-
able for distant devices, where direct communication between devices is not feasible. Also,
dynamic policy generation is proposed for the devices whose access control policies are
not registered. Improved scalability has been achieved as an upshot of this scheme.

3.4 Distributed Key Management

For privacy oriented IoT systems, distributed key management design based on blockchain
is proposed in [11]. Based on the deployment fields different side blockchain are formed
in the fog layer to quicken the verification and to save storage space. Fog computing is
included to cut down waiting time and collective blockchains are implemented in cloud
layer to achieve cross-domain access. Compared to hierarchical schemes, extensibility is
found higher along with higher communication and computational overhead.

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3.5 Token Based Access Control

Access control by means of tokens using smart contract is presented by Fotiou, N. [12]
to build an extensive event-based Internet of Things (IoT) control structure. Mapping
between device operations and functions is included in smart contracts. Whenever any
function is called by a client, smart contract generates a relative blockchain event. The
corresponding IoT gateways receive the events which gradually results in an action in
the suitable IoT equipment access. Fluctuating monetary cost and transaction delays
are the issues faced by this method. It can be improved by direct interaction between
client and IoT gateways.
Smart contract based blockchain solution using Ethereum is used [13] to provide suc-
cessful access to the IoT devices for legitimate client. Access control and authentication
scheme consists of smart contract which authenticates the client by means of his/her
ethereum wallet address. Access token and ethereum address of the sender is published
by smart contract, only if client is legitimate. This published information is received by
the client and IoT equipments. The client develops a combination which encloses the
ethereum public key, user Internet Protocol (IP) address, access token, and access dura-
tion. This combination is endorsed by ethereum private key followed by transmission
of the related public key. Endorsement of the combination is essential in this setting to
protect the integrity. When the IoT equipment obtains this information, after verifica-
tion, it assigns the admittance to the client against the sender’s IP address for the inter-
val stated. The appeal or enquiry is abandoned when any of the verification check fails.
Improved availability and scalability has been observed from the evaluation of proposed
system.
Permission authorization method for IoT data by means of trusted oracles and block-
chain is presented by Albreiki, H. et al. [14]. Oracles are used as gateways which act as
an interface between blockchain, service providers, and remote clients. Multiple smart
contracts are used which governs the interaction and right to use the IoT data. They also
provide reputation count and enrollment of new oracles. Users send request to smart
contract for accessing IoT data. Right of access to IoT data is validated by smart con-
tracts after verifying the access control policies. After verification smart contracts issue
Access tokens to the oracles and end-users to confirm the right of access. Access control
based on oracles supports heterogeneous storage and offers distributed access control
with dynamic policy management.

3.6 Control Chain

Control Chain [15] architecture which is a combination of four different blockchains is

introduced for IoT access authorizations. Public recommendation and dealings of the
entire individuals are stored within relationship blockchain. Context blockchain is used
to store environmental information like refined data, physical inputs, and sensor reports
which is useful for taking decisions about authorization. Confirmation regarding accept-
ance or rejection of admittance is stored in accountability Blockchain. Endorsement
regulations specified by owners to their device or by device to themselves are stored
in blockchain which is dedicated for rules. This architecture is more scalable, user-
transparent and well-suited through wide variety of admittance control representations
engaged in IoT.

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3.7 Attribute Update Oriented Access Control

Immutable nature of the blockchain is the biggest challenge faced for embracement of
Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) in fine grained access control due to its conflict with
attribute updates or revocation of ABE. Novel multilayer blockchain based IoT system
with Chameleon Hash algorithm is proposed in [16] to facilitate the attribute updates in
fine grained access control. This scheme is capable of preventing revoked members or
miners from stepping into the upcoming data as well as the precedent data without vio-
lating the integrity of the blockchain.

3.8 Ripple Protocol Consensus Algorithm (RPCA) Based Access Control

To resolve the security and privacy concerns in Internet of Drones (IoD) network,
access control scheme with blockchain implementation is designed by Basudeb Bera
[17]. It provides two types of access control: First is among two nearby drones in the
same flying area and secondly within the drone and its Ground Station Server (GSS).
GSS collects the real time data from the drones and create blocks containing the trans-
actions. These blocks are then forwarded to the cloud server. Cloud server which acts
as leader amongst all cloud servers will verify the block and add it to the blockchain
using Ripple Protocol Consensus Algorithm (RPCA). Proposed scheme is protected for
“replay” and “man in the middle” attacks together as per the simulation reports.

3.9 Multiple Smart Contracts Based Access Control

Authorized access control along with the permission based sharing of services is
achieved using Ethereum blockchain by Tanzeela Sultana [18]. Three types of smart
contracts named Access Control Contract (ACC), Register Contract (RC) and Judge
Contract (JC) are framed to offer proficient access control administration. Secure shar-
ing of services is accomplished by setting several permission levels to provide permis-
sioned access rights for IoT users. Results show that, the system is cost efficient and
less complex for access control and data sharing between the IoT devices. Summary of
Blockchain based IoT access control methods and its performance analysis are given in
Table 1 and 2 respectively.

4 Blockchain for Other Use Cases

4.1 Vehicular Ad‑Hoc Networks (VANET)

VANET is a breed of Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks (MANET) formed with moving automo-
biles. VANET facilitate a broad collection of functions, essentially avoidance of crashing,
security, sightless crossings and dynamic traffic supervision. It also provides Internet affin-
ity to automobiles. Critical security requirements of VANET includes authentication of a
sender node, non-repudiation and uprightness of the messages sent from the nodes in the
network. Different methods have been proposed in literature to resolve the security related
concerns of VANET. Some of them are discussed below (Table 3).

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 Table 1  Summary of blockchain based IoT access control methods
Study Research interest Solution Remarks
Blockchain platform adopted Testing tool

[6] Data Tampering & single point failure Hyperledger Fabric AVISPA Secure scheme for practical applications and it is useful and compe-
tent to implement stringent access control in IoT
[7] Flexible and fine-grained authorization Hyperledger Fabric Hyperledger Caliper Insubstantial and suitable scheme for aceess control with less stor-
age overhead
[8] Security and privacy of data Bitcoin [as implementation Regtest Users control over their personal data is achieved by encrypting it
of the bitcoin protocol] with keys which just client holds and governs
[9] Distributed access control and scalability Ethereum CoAPBench Fully decentralized scheme which provides an expandable, broad,
and smoothly governable access control system for IoT
[11] Auditability, scalability, extensibility Not Applicable OMNeT ++ 5.4.1 An efficient approach for IoT access control is proposed by combin-
and privacy ing blockchain with cloud computing and fog computing
[12] Security and resilience Ethereum Ropsten Access control using tokens with ethereum blockchain is imple-
Rinkeby mented which is convenient and with less overhead
Blockchain for IoT Access Control, Security and Privacy: A Review

[13] Authentication and secure communication Ethereum Mythril Effective approach of aunthication for secure communication and
also overcomes drawbacks of conventional authentication mecha-
nisms
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[14] Decentralized control and trusted Ethereum Remix IDE Blockchain and trusted oracles are implemented for decentralized
management access control. Heterogeneous storage is an added advantage of
this approach
[16] Update/Revocation aligned access control Not Applicable Python-based testbed Blockchain based access control method to stop the revoked users
from accessing future data as well as past data is designed for the
first time
[17] Security and privacy of Internet of Drones Not Applicable AVISPA Improved security and privacy for IoD environment along with
(IoD) environment efficient access control is proposed using blockchain
[18] Secure data sharing and access control Ethereum Remix IDE Cost effiecient access control with less complexity

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Table 2  Performance analysis of blockchain based IoT access control methods

Study Scalability Decentraliza- Privacy Extensibility Reduced
tion computational
overhead

[6] ✓ ✓ ✓ N/A ✓
[7] ✓ ✓ ✓ N/A ✓
[8] ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ N/A
[9] ✓ x x N/A N/A
[11] ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ x
[12] x ✓ x ✓ x
[13] ✓ ✓ ✓ x N/A
[14] x ✓ x x N/A
[15] ✓ ✓ x x ✓
[16] ✓ ✓ ✓ N/A ✓
[17] x ✓ ✓ N/A ✓
[18] x ✓ ✓ N/A N/A

Reputation system based on blockchain to access data creditability of the message

is proposed by Yang Z. [19]. Reputation of a particular node is calculated from the rat-
ing generated by a provisional core node whichever is nominated as a miner by using
specific rules. Ratings are the representation of consensus of all vehicular nodes on
each vehicle reputation. Vehicles will judge arriving messages as either correct or fake,
depending on sender’s reputation rate. The ratings are packed into a block by a miner
after winning an election and broadcasted to all vehicular nodes in a network for their
consensus. If miner qualifies some predefined equation, then vehicles will allow the
arriving block and appends it to the blockchain. Here, blockchain is implemented to
store the score which is used to compute the reputation value of the sender and in turn
trustworthiness of the communication.
In [20] blockchain is used to stock up trust values of moving automobiles. Bayesian
inference model is used for validation of received messages from neighboring vehicles.
Depending upon the validation result each vehicle will receive some rating. Trust values
are calculated from these ratings and packed into blocks to store in the blockchain.
Use of public blockchain in VANET is proposed in [21] to accumulate node reliabil-
ity and communication reliability. Record of safety incident messages alongside the confi-
dence rank of the vehicles is stored within blockchain in this approach to protect communi-
cation distribution in VANET.
Blockchain-based Anonymous Reputation System (BARS) for privacy of vehicle’s
identity is presented by Lu Z. [22]. Utilization of three types of blockchain is proposed for
different purposes. Blockchain named MesBC is used to store all messages broadcasted by
vehicles. CerBC is used to store the issued certificates and RevBC is a blockchain which
serves as a public ledger for each and every revoked public key.
The consortium blockchain system is proposed in [23] for information safety contribu-
tion and efficient storage system. The proposed scheme is enhanced for extensive record
storage in VANET, and the disseminated protection is implemented to tackle the safety
impositions induced through a centralized database. Sharma P.K., [24] presented vehicu-
lar network design built on blockchain called Block-VN to improve the performance of

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 Table 3  Summarized literature review for blockchain based VANET
Study Approach Proposed technique Performance metrics Limitations

[19] Reputation based trust management Blockchain with Distributed consensus MDA: Message Detection Accuracy Security analysis is not done
RTH: Reputation Threshold
[20] Reputation based trust management Blockchain with PoW and PoS Storage overhead Privacy preservation along with trust
management is not considered
[21] Node as well as message trustworthi- Blockchain with PoW Storage overhead Real time critical event message dissemi-
ness Block generation time nation is absent
[22] Reputation based trust management Blockchain with PoW Storage overhead Use of two Blockchain increases the
Time consumption for authentication complexity of the system.
[23] Distributed data storage and security Blockchain with pBFT(practical Byzan- Verification delay Absence of real time message authentica-
tine Fault Tolerance Transcation confirmation time tion
Blockchain for IoT Access Control, Security and Privacy: A Review

[26] Secure message communication and Blockchain and Sea Lion Explored- Rejection ratio Two level evaluation process is used
node reputability prediction Whale Optimization Algorithm Accuracy which leads to system complexity
[27] Revocable message authentication Blockchain and cuckoo filter and node Computation and communication cost System is more complex due to combina-
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selection algorithm KUNodes Execution time tion of different techniques

[28] Secure data sharing and trust manage- Blockchain with PoA (Proof of Author- Average trust rate Less-efficient in terms of expenditure as
ment ity) Gas consumption cost it increases with size of the data
[29] Optimal content catching Blockchain with PoU (Proof of Utility) Block verification time Communication time increase linearly
and Deep Reinforcement Learning % successful content catching with remoteness between vehicle and
PoU chosen leader

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large-scale vehicular networks in smart city. This method grants vehicles to determine and
allocate their assets to form a network on which they work jointly to create value-added
benefits.
Intelligent traffic system using blockchain is implemented in [25] for transmission of
data as well as for transfer of lane property rights between vehicles. Peer to Peer network
is used to eliminate the need of central computing authority. Each node can communicate
with every other node directly. In [26], authors have introduced novel trust management
structure in two stages: protected message broadcast and node authenticity calculation.
Data sanitization process combined with privacy preservation model guarantees the secure
message transmission. Key required for sanitization procedure is improved by a new fusion
algorithm termed Sea Lion Explored-Whale Optimization Algorithm, which is the combi-
nation of Whale Optimization Algorithm and Sea Lion Optimization Algorithm, respec-
tively. The blockchain technology is served for the management of the keys originated
from the nodes. Two-level assessment procedure through rule based and machine learning
based approach was used later, to calculate authenticity of the node.
Current practices in certificate-less signature schemes for security and privacy of
the VANET are facing some difficulties owing the use of expensive bilinear pairing and
absence of the efficient revocation mechanism. Resource constrained nature of the On
Board Unit (OBU) is also a major factor which demands the efficient certificateless signa-
ture scheme to improve the message processing in VANETS. Proficient pairing-free online/
offline certificate-less signature scheme is employed in [27] as the core technique for
message verification. To enhance the effectiveness of the message verification procedure
cuckoo filter is used which allows authenticating messages using the notifications from
the RSU without checking each and every signature by itself. Also OBU can conduct the
complex cryptographic operations offline accordingly they can sign the messages whenever
needed using the pre-computed values. Revocation issue is addressed by updating time
keys of the revoked users after certain period. Node selection algorithm named KUNodes
is implemented to reduce the burden of Key Generation Centers (KGC). Implementation
of blockchain is proposed here to store the revocation list in order to enhance transparency
and integrity of the revocation list.
In [28], authors proposed blockchain based VANET for trustworthy data sharing
between normal nodes with limited resources. Edge nodes with added computational
potential are used to handle service provisioning. Normal node vehicles contacts edge node
vehicles for required services after which edge node vehicles connects to the Rode Side
Units (RSU) and responds to the particular request. Using Intelligent Vehicle Trust Point
(IVTP), the trust values of the vehicles are calculated and authenticity of the same is deter-
mined. Ethereum blockchain is implemented to store a list of all the registered vehicles
as well as reviews given by the ordinary node vehicles against services provided to them,
and the whole process is automated using smart contracts without inclusion of the third
party. Application of Interplanetary File System (IPFS) to reserve the large amount of data
generated by nodes and provision of caching facility at edge nodes to store repeatedly used
services are also measurable inputs of the scheme in increasing efficiency of the system.
In [29], authors presented a mixed approach with the integration of permissioned block-
chain and Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) into VANETS for smart and safe con-
tent catching. In proposed permissioned blockchain structure, vehicles act as a catching
requester and catching providers while Base Stations (BS) does the role of verifiers to keep
up the blockchain. To monitor and understand the dynamic network environment DRL
approach has been used; which further helps in scheming finest content catching scheme
among the catching requesters and providers.

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4.2 Healthcare

Existing healthcare systems suffers from ample number of confrontations concerning

privacy, security, efficiency and exchange of data between different healthcare entities.
At present time, designing a smart and secure healthcare system is the foremost intent of
researchers to get rid of above mentioned constraints obligated by conventional health-
care systems. Combination of promising technologies such as blockchain, edge comput-
ing, and artificial intelligence can offer great features to overcome the constraints of the
existing healthcare systems. Some of the research work based on integration of block-
chain with a few additional technologies is presented below.
Reduction in computational and communication overhead is achieved in [30] for
healthcare via isolating the network members in clusters and only one copy of ledger for
each cluster is kept. Blockchain network is implemented using Hyperledger Fabric plat-
form in [31] for storing the collected health records securely and to handle the access
control in order to maintain the patient’s privacy.
Blockchain based framework is developed by Patel V. [32] for cross domain image
distribution without any central authority. This concept can enable secure transfer of
different medical records between various entities under the supervision of patients.
A brief discussion on the crucial role of Electronic Healthcare Record (EHR) man-
agement in healthcare industry and current gaps in EHR management is provided in
[33]. Blockchain based architecture is proposed in [34] which facilitates the storage of
data hash and access policies in blockchain to increase the integrity and accessibility of
the users’ data. Single point failure and Denial of Service (DoS) attack can be avoided
through this approach as per given security analysis. Separate ledgers are used to store
hashes and access policies. Multiple rounds of voting are applied using practical Byz-
antine Fault Tolerance (pBFT) consensus algorithm by all nodes to boost the network
security and efficiency.
In [35], consortium blockchain interconnecting patients, health bureau, healthcare
communities and hospitals, combined with Parallel Healthcare System (PHS) is pro-
posed to offer data integrity, interoperability, scalability, security, with improvement in
the precision diagnosis and efficient treatment. Presneted framework of parallel health-
care systems (PHSs) is based on the Artificial systems, Computational experiments and
Parallel execution (ACP) approach. In this method, Blockchain is employed only to
store the hash value of the data which in turn cuts down the storage space. Delegated
Proof of Stake (DPoS) mechanism is used to reach the agreement among network nodes.
Blockchain based framework labeled as HaBiTs [36] for telesurgery using smart con-
tracts has been proposed by Rajesh Gupta. Interoperability issue in traditional systems
is resolved in this approach by assigning one block for each surgeon where complete
information about surgical procedure executed by the doctors is saved.
A new decentralised record management structure to deal with Electronic Health
Records, using blockchain technology called MedRec is presented in [37]. The system
gives patients an ample, unalterable record and trouble-free right to entry to their medical
reports across providers and treatment sites. MedRec maintains authentication, confiden-
tiality, accountability and data distribution which are essential properties while handling
receptive information. Further parallel effort is attempted in Medicalchain [38] which cam-
paigns the application of blockchain technology in electronic healthcare industry.
To elliminate the drawbacks of conventional Smart Helathcare System (SHS)
authors in [39] proposed a new blockchain based architecture called Secured and Smart

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P. Patil et al.

Healthcare System (S2HS) in which various healthcare data generated by different enti-
ties are encrypted using cryptographic properties of blockchain and stored in decentral-
ized manner instead of centralized database. Only legitmate users can access this stored
data and doctors or clinitians will be granted the access to it only after the patients
consent. All the entities in proposed framework are connected through Wireless Sensor
Network (WSN).
Attribute based signature scheme with attribute revocation facility is proposed in [40] to
protect the patients identity in Blockchain based healthcare systems. Attribute master key
represents the users identity along with attributes set and is capable of resisting atrribute
collusion attacks. Attribute update key is related to the attribute revocation. Users inde-
pendently calculate the attribute signature by combining attribute master key and update
key which in turn avoids the leakage of signature key. Revocation of the attributes is made
effective by means of KUNodes algorithm. This scheme involves relatively few paring
operations and is free from central authority.
Integration of edge computing with blockchain to facilitate the trade of huge amount of
healthcare records produced from different entities is proposed in [41]. Patients privacy is
the main moto behind this work. Priority based secure data sharing scheme is designed by
the authors to reduce the service latency introduced due to blockchain. Table 4 Summer-
izes the work done till date in Blockchain based healthcare system.

4.3 Supply Chain

In supply chain scenario, cooperation between suppliers, manufacturers, carriers, retail-

ers, and customers is necessary for efficient functioning of the system. On another side,
real time product tracking has always been a major challenge in supply chain management
which requires prominent and trustworthy solution to meet the requirement. Blockchain
based solutions for supply chain available in the literature are given below:
In [42], Industrial IoT (IIoT) devices are connected to the blockchain for real time data
recording and supervising of the data which is later stored in the system through smart

Table 4  Summary of blockchain based healthcare systems

Study Type of data Blockchain purpose Blockchain platform used

[30] Personal medical record Data integrity Not applicable

Privacy
[31] Personal medical record from Privacy Hyperledger fabric
wearable and medical devices Data integrity
[32] Medical images Access control Not applicable
Privacy
[34] Personal medical record Access control Not applicable
[35] Personal medical record Data integrity Not applicable
Access control
[36] Personal medical record Security Hyperledger fabric
Privacy
Interoperability
[39] Clinical data from sensors Access control Not applicable
[40] Electronic health record Privacy of the patient’s identity Not applicable
[41] Personal medical record Privacy Private blockchain with DPoS

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Blockchain for IoT Access Control, Security and Privacy: A Review

contracts. The access policies are defined in smart contracts and only those companies sat-
isfying the attributes criteria can have access to the smart contracts and in turn access to
the transactions facilitating secure sharing scheme for supply chain.
Quality of the agriculture products is degrading day by day in today’s era due the use
of uncertified chemicals and artificial mechanisms used to ripen the product. Consider-
ing consumer’s health it is necessary to track the origin of the agriculture products. For
this purpose, blockchain based approach is developed using Ethereum platform in [43].To
assure data sharing and quality control from a supply chain perspective, blockchain-based
Supplier Continuous Quality Improvement (SCQI) framework consisting of four layers
namely data layer, IoT sensor layer, business layer and contract layer as discussed by Chen
S. [44].
Implementation of a supply chain tracking system using smart contract on ethereum
blockchain is demonstrated by S.R. Niya [45]. A platform-independent technique which
adjusts various object combinations and conversions to be tracked is provided by means of
Decentralized Application (Dapp). Integration of the blockchain and Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) systems is implemented using hyperledger composer [46] to automate the
payments between distributers and retailers. Use of smart contract is demonstrated to auto-
mate transactions between distributor and retailer.
A foremost challenges encountered by transport industry are misplacing of cargo and
immense loads in cargo checks for illegitimate movements and possible terrorist offenses.
Blockchain-based cargo management scheme can be used as effective solution against
these threats as suggested by Xu L. [47].
An approach that makes use of the Ethereum blockchain and smart contract to expertly
perform industry dealings for soybean tracking and traceability over the agricultural sup-
ply chain is proposed in [48]. Designed approach terminates the necessity of a faithful
central authority, mediators and produces transactions ledger with higher reliability and
better competence. Smart contracts are executed to handle and organize the entire interac-
tions and dealings between all the members concerned in the supply chain environment. A
food traceability system based on blockchain and IoT is proposed in [49] to incorporate the
employment of fuzzy logic and blockchain-IoT technology into a whole shelf lifespan man-
agement structure to manage faster decaying food. Summary of Blockchain based schemes
in supply chain management is presented in Table 5.

5 Conclusion

Automation and data dependency is escalating at a faster pace to conquer the limitations
such as manual operations, trust, security, and privacy. Even though many conventional
state of the art technologies exist, issues like single point failure and tampering of the data
is yet to be resolved. Blockchain technology along with IoT, cloud computing, big data and
machine learning can offer an extended solution for these issues.
This review paper presents diverse blockchain based methods offered in literature for
IoT access control as well as privacy and security enhancement of VANET, healthcare and
supply chain networks. Also it examines available methods for various performance met-
rics such as scalability, privacy, extensibility, accuracy, storage overhead and computation
overhead. At the same time we cannot compare all the methods under common criteria due
to variability of solutions proposed by the researchers. Consortium blockchain along with

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Table 5  Summary of blockchain based supply chain management schemes
Study Objective Contribution Implemented blockchain platform

[42] Access control Privacy and security of the supply chain network is enhanced by combining blockchain, Ethereum
attribute-based encryption and Industrial IoT
[43] Traceability Increased transparency and traceability of the food product in organic food supply chain is Ethereum
achieved using blockchain
[44] Supply chain quality management New framework is proposed for supply chain quality management Not applicable
[45] Supply chain tracking A hardware-and platform-independent technique which adjusts various object combinations Ethereum
and conversions to be tracked is provided by means of Decentralized Application. (DApp)
[46] Payment automation Automatic payment system between distributers and retailers is developed by combining Hyperledger Composer
Blockchain and ERP system
[47] Cargo security Blockchain based cargo management system is proposed to overcome safety threats like cargo Not applicable
mishap and higher burdens in cargo assessments
Author's personal copy

[48] Traceability Designed approach terminates the necessity of a faithful central authority, mediators and Ethereum
produce transactions ledger with higher reliability and better competence
[49] Traceability Effective food traceability system is proposed which combines blockchain, IoT and fuzzy logic Not applicable
to achieve entire traceability for storage life of the food
P. Patil et al.
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Blockchain for IoT Access Control, Security and Privacy: A Review

effective consensus algorithm could be the enhanced solution for different scenarios as per
our study.

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Publisher’s Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
institutional affiliations.

Pradnya Patil has received her Bachelors and Masters degree in Elec-
tronics and Telecommunication engineering from Shivaji University,
Kolhapur, India in 2007 and 2010 respectively. Currently she is pursu-
ing her PhD degree at SRM Institute of Science and Technology,
Chennai. Her current research interests include Blockchain Technol-
ogy, IoT Security, Information Security and Cryptography.

Dr. M. Sangeetha is a senior IEEE member, who received her PhD

degree from S.R.M. University, Kattankulathur, Chennai, India in
2014. She was a gold medalist in her M.Tech degree. Her research
interests include Wireless Chaotic Communications, Signal Processing
application for Wireless Communication Systems, Internet of Things
(IoT) and Machine Learning(ML) algorithms for IoT. Currently, she is
working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Electronics
and Communication Engineering at S.R.M. Institute of Science and
Technology (formerly known as SRM University), Kattankulathur,
India. She has published 18 International Journal papers, presented 15
International Conference papers and presented 5 papers in National
Level Conferences.

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P. Patil et al.

Dr. Vidhyacharan Bhaskar received the B.Sc. degree in Mathematics

from the University of Madras, Chennai, India in 1992, M.E. degree in
Electrical & Communication Engineering from the Indian Institute of
Science, Bangalore in 1997, and the M.S.E. and Ph.D. degrees in Elec-
trical Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in
2001 and 2002, respectively. During 2002–2003, he was a Post Doc-
toral fellow with the Communications research group at the University
of Toronto, Canada, where he worked on the applications of space–
time coding for wireless communication systems. During 2003–2006,
he was an Associate Professor in the Department of Information Sys-
tems and Telecommunications at the University of Technology of
Troyes, France. From Jan. 2007 to May 2014, he was a Full Professor
in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at
S.R.M. University, Kattankulathur, India. Since 2015, he is a Professor
in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at San
Francisco State University, San Francisco, California, USA. His
research interests include MIMO wireless communications, signal pro-
cessing, error control coding and queuing theory. He has published 131 Refereed Journal papers, presented
around 72 Conference papers in various International Conferences over the past 20 years, published a book
on “Adaptive Rate Coding for A-CDMA Systems” in Jan 2011, a book on “Higher-Order s-to-z mapping
functions for digital filters,” in March 2013, and has also co-authored a book on MATLAB in 1998. He has
894 Google scholar citations. He has advised 50 Masters students, 11 Doctoral students, and 3 Senior design
projects. He is an IEEE Senior member (SM-IEEE) and is a member of IET (M-IET, UK). He is a Fellow of
Institute of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (F-IETE), and a Fellow of Institute of Engineers
(F-IE), Kolkata, India. He is also a Life member of the Indian Society of Technical Education (LM-ISTE)
and a member of the Indian Science Congress (M-ISC).

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