Reputation Evaluation Using Fuzzy Logic for Blockchain-Based Access Control in an IoT Environment

To develop access control mechanisms, particularly in terms of maintaining effective and secure access control within Internet of Things (IoT) networks. Whereas the sufficient use must be made of blockchain-based access control technology. This is because of the sheer volume of connected devices and the subsequent increase in transactions. This can negatively impact the performance and responsiveness of the networks. Thus, this article proposes a comprehensive approach that evaluates the requester’s reputation with respect to regulating access requests for IoT resources. The proposed approach combines fuzzy reputation with a decay algorithm. It then calculates the quantitative reputation value for each IoT user. This considers multiple variables, such as the Access Request Rate, frequency of requests, etc. This new reputation value serves as the basis for access-control decisions. Extensive simulations and experiments are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed framework. For the simulation, we used a single-board Raspberry Pi. We also used a hybrid blockchain network environment comprising Geth and Hyperledger Fabric. We then analyzed and compared the performance of the proposed framework with that of the existing approaches. The results demonstrated that compared to the mathematical mechanism, the framework provides improved access control in IoT networks. The fuzzy-based reputation framework captures the dynamic nature of IoT environments, and effectively identifies trustworthy and malicious devices, whereas the decay algorithm reflects the most recent user behavior.