A Secure Framework for Authenticating and Controlling Access to IoT Devices Integrated with Blockchain

The Internet of Things (IoT) enables autonomous communication among devices, improving human life but posing security risks. The main challenges to IoT systems' security are unauthorized access, data tampering, and the inability of central access control mechanisms to cope with scalability and privacy. Therefore, robust authentication and access control mechanisms are crucial for secure data sharing across IoT devices. This paper combines Hyperledger Fabric (HLF) blockchain with IoT for enhanced access control to establish trust in authentication and identification of devices along with secure communication. Hyperledger components are implied for developing an Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) model, including certification authorities, endorsers, and membership service providers. The system is implemented using HLF source code, Docker images, and IBM Cloud Kubernetes services, with an interface via Node-Red for device registration, authentication, blockchain data storage, and ledger retrieval. Experimental results demonstrate effective attack mitigation and better efficiency in terms of time complexity and energy consumption.