Blockchain-Enabled Secure, Fair, and Scalable Data Sharing in Zero-Trust Edge-End Environment

In edge computing, the Zero-Trust Security Model (ZTSM), as a key enabling technology for next-generation networks, plays a crucial role in providing authentication for addressing data sharing concerns, such as frequent data breaches, data misuse, and cyberattacks. However, due to the complexity and diversity of edge environments, ZTSM struggles to meet the security requirements of data sharing frameworks solely through enhanced authentication. Consequently, such frameworks with ZTSM still face challenges in ensuring data integrity, evaluating various node behaviors, and coping with the increasing complexity of node attributes. To address these issues, we propose a blockchain-enabled secure, fair and scalable data sharing framework in a zero-trust edge-end environment in this paper. Specifically, we first propose a Merkle forest-based data storage model for the classified storage of loosely coupled data, consequently enhancing the scalability of the model. Then, we design a node behavior-based reputation assessment mechanism to ensure fairness during data sharing. Moreover, a data sharing protocol supervised by smart contract is proposed, working with the aforementioned storage and assessment schemes, to ensure the security of data sharing. Finally, comprehensive security analysis validates the security, fairness and scalability of the proposed framework. Extensive experimental results show that, as transaction volume grows, the time cost of data traversal in the storage model becomes progressively more efficient. Additionally, when the size of the smart contract is increased tenfold, the maximum time cost of the data sharing protocol rises by only 4.98 times.