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Procedia Computer Science 191 (2021) 337–342

The 2nd International Workshop on Artificial Intelligence & Internet of Things (A2IOT)
The 2nd International Workshop on Artificial Intelligence & Internet of Things (A2IOT)
August 9-12, 2021, Leuven, Belgium
August 9-12, 2021, Leuven, Belgium
IoT and Blockchain combined: for decentralized security
IoT and Blockchain combined: for decentralized security
Younes ABBASSIa*, Habib Benlahmeraa
a
Younes ABBASSI , Habib Benlahmer
a*
Computer Sciences Department Hassan 2 University Casablanca, Morocco
a
Computer Sciences Department Hassan 2 University Casablanca, Morocco

Abstract
Abstract
Blockchain technology, a version of distributed ledger technology, has been grabbing a huge amount of attention in fields
Blockchain
beyond technology,
its roots a version ofblockchain
in crypto-currencies: distributedandledger technology,
finance, has been
blockchain grabbingblockchain
and logistics, a huge amountand theof Internet
attentionofinThings
fields
(IoT), blockchain
beyond its roots inand cybersecurity, and
crypto-currencies: the list goes
blockchain andon. Blockchain
finance, (there and
blockchain are actually
logistics,many blockchains,
blockchain and theandInternet
it's not of
limited
Thingsto
(IoT), blockchainthat
the technology andpowers
cybersecurity,
bitcoin),and thebeen
has list goes on. Blockchain
mentioned (thereevery
by virtually are actually
researchmany blockchains,
study firm as a and it's not
rapidly limited to
accelerating
the technology
evolution, that
and it's notpowers bitcoin),
just about has services
financial been mentioned
companies, bythe
virtually
domainevery research
in which study
we first firm asblockchain
discussed a rapidlyoutside
accelerating
of its
evolution, and roots
cryptographic it's not justFinTech
(i.e., about financial services
or financial companies,
technologies). Thetheconverging
domain inofwhich we firstand
blockchain discussed blockchain
the Internet of Thingsoutside of its
is actually
cryptographic
on the table forroots
many (i.e., FinTechand
companies or financial
there aretechnologies). The converging
existing deployments, solutionsofand
blockchain andinthe
initiatives Internet
several areasofoutside
Things of is actually
IoT and
on the table
financial for many
services companies
as well. Combine andblockchain
there are existing
and IoT,deployments,
and you have solutions and initiatives in several
two bigger-than-Internet areasthat
businesses outside
need of
eachIoTother
and
for many services
financial reasons that we explain
as well. Combine in this IoT blockchain
blockchain and IoT,overview.
and you have two bigger-than-Internet businesses that need each other
for many reasons that we explain in this IoT blockchain overview.
© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
© 2021
This The
is an Authors.
open accessPublished by Elsevier
article under the CC B.V.
BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)
This is an
Peer-review open access
under article under
responsibility of the
the CC BY-NC-ND
Conference
Peer-review under responsibility of the Conference Programlicense
Program (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Chairs.
Chair.
Peer-review under responsibility of the Conference Program Chairs.
Keywords: IoT; Blockchain; Register; Shared Ledger; Smart Contracts;
Keywords: IoT; Blockchain; Register; Shared Ledger; Smart Contracts;

1. Main text
1. Main text
The Internet of Things (IoT) has recently moved closer to the Blockchain topic and new use cases combining the
Thetechnologies
two Internet of Things
appear (IoT) has recently
in several moved
industries closeroftoapplication.
or fields the Blockchain topic
Before and new the
presenting use overall
cases combining the
value of this
two technologies
innovative appear itinisseveral
combination, industries
important or some
to recall fieldsofofthe
application. Before
fundamental presenting
definitions the and
on IoT overall value of both
Blockchain, this
innovative
the combination,
vocabulary is specificit and
is important to these
precise in recalltwo
some of the
areas. Thefundamental
second partdefinitions on IoT
of this paper willand Blockchain,
describe both
blockchain
the vocabulary is specific and precise in these two areas. The second part of this paper will describe blockchain

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +212 6 66 72 74 89;
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +212 6 66 72 74 89;
E-mail address: younes.abbassi@univh2c.ma
E-mail address: younes.abbassi@univh2c.ma
1877-0509 © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open
1877-0509 access
© 2021 Thearticle under
Authors. the CC BY-NC-ND
Published license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
by Elsevier B.V.
Peer-review under
This is an open responsibility
access of the Conference
article under CC BY-NC-NDProgram Chairs.
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the Conference Program Chairs.

1877-0509 © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)
Peer-review under responsibility of the Conference Program Chair.
10.1016/j.procs.2021.07.045
338 Younes Abbassi et al. / Procedia Computer Science 191 (2021) 337–342
2 Younes ABBASSI / Procedia Computer Science 00 (2021) 000–000

technology that avoids trusted third parties and protects against single point of failure and other problems. This has
inspired researchers to study the adoption of Blockchain in the IoT ecosystem.

2. Blockchain

2.1. Definition

Blockchain is a system that manages transactions between partners in a distributed network. [1] When we talk
about the notion of transaction, it can be a transfer of assets, currencies, exchanges, writing statements in a register,
or traceability to operate on actions such as purchases, sales, tracking or movement of objects, acts of manufacture
or distribution.
As soon as a transactional act between several the principles of veracity, security, sharing or traceability are at
stake, so the study and eventual implementation of a Blockchain network makes sense.
The key principle is based on the notion of trust collective [2], as opposed to the presence of a trusted third party,
centralized. Indeed, in a Blockchain system, there is no third party auditors or central control bodies such as those of
found in financial systems From a technical point of view, the implementation of the of a Blockchain system is
based on a sequence of records chained and stored in a database of distributed data integrating an innovative
mechanism of replication.
A Blockchain preserves the anonymity of its users based on cryptographic keys. In order to similar, the signing of
transactions and their verification use asymmetric cryptography. [3]
The principle always remains the same: a private key can be used to calculate a public key, but the reverse is not
possible. This principle already used in other secure systems is taken up in the Blockchain.
Finally, the mechanism for generating the key pairs (private key and public key) needed to sign transactions is
provided natively by the Blockchain's core.
Corrupting a group of nodes to obtain consensus therefore becomes difficult and costly. On the other hand,
modifying a record would not affect security of the global recording chain because it would be necessary to go back
up at the origin of the creation of the network to reconstitute a transaction.
Apart from security, there are two other founding concepts underlie the Blockchain, namely the notion of Registry
Distributed (Shared Ledger) related to consensus and the notion of Contract (Smart Contract). [4]

Fig. 1. The World of Blockchain: A Distributed Network

2.2. Shared Ledger: Register

The replicated and distributed registry is tamper-proof and contains all the transaction history in the form of
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Younes ABBASSI / Procedia Computer Science 00 (2021) 000–000 3

individual records chained to each other and time-stamped.

A Blockchain type network is therefore a register distributed and distributed offering a high level of security, based
on very specific encryption algorithms, and containing all the transactions made since the origin of the creation of
the network. All participants who each have a local copy through the replication mechanism share it [5].
The network is managed by rights and permissions, so that each participant sees only the appropriate transactions.
In traditional approaches, such a registry would be synchronized by APIs (Application Programming Interface) in
point-to-point mode as shown in Fig. 2. below.

Fig. 2. Traditional principles of managing a distributed registry

This approach poses difficulties when the number of points of integration increases:
- the overall vulnerability increases in terms of security, and one of the nodes can often be used to corrupt
everything the network.
- Global end-to-end supervision becomes difficult to produce real-time monitoring reports and to anticipate at the
earliest possible stage of potential problems.
- Maintenance costs are often prohibitive to ensure the dissemination of up-to-date and relevant information to the
actors of the chain in a reasonable time.
In a Blockchain approach, the registry is therefore distributed, synchronized and duplicated, providing the same
consistent, up-to-date and secure view to all network participants [6]. In a Blockchain network, there is a single
location to determine the ownership of an asset or transaction: this is the role of the Shared Ledger. Indeed, the
participants share the same state of the register, updated with each transaction through Peer-to-Peer replication
mechanisms.
In terms of security, cryptography is used to ensure that each participant sees only the data relevant to him. In
addition, each participant is aware of the origin of the transaction or asset as well as of any possible changes in the
ownership of the asset.
Finally, an essential point in the Blockchain is that no participant cannot sign or modify a transaction once it has
been validated. If a transaction generates an error, a new transaction must be initiated and the whole thing is visible
to everyone participants.
As for the contract that defines the terms of the transaction or transfer of the asset, it is embedded in the
transaction-replicated database.
The network participants agree on the conditions for verification of the transaction by applying each at their own
level the rules of the contract.
A consensus mechanism based on a calculation complex process of selecting participants allows for validate the
transaction and start the chaining act of Blockchain network registration (commit): replication starts, the records are
updated and the transaction is started is validated.
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Fig. 3. Distributed management of shared and replicated registers in Blockchain

2.3. Smart Contract: Contract

The contract or Smart Contract is the second founding concept after the register. A contract in the Blockchain
sense of the term contains the Business Rules, which define the conditions application to be respected and verified
for a transaction where the transfer conditions to be applied for an asset.
The contract also contains the rules that define the ownership of the asset, its conformity, condition or safety. The
contract is embedded in the Blockchain and its rules are executed during the trade by each participant in the
application level. It is verifiable and one must be able to sign it [7]. Contracts must be developed in a language of
appropriate programming at the level of each local application connected to the Blockchain.
From a practical point of view, it is often necessary to modify the client applications connected to the Blockchain
network. These applications are then loaded to implement and check the list of rules written in the contract.
A contract can include any type of type of rules with an applicative and business meaning during the transfer of
the asset or during the execution of the transaction.

3. IoT: Internet of Things

The IoT, a mature subject for 4 years now, is transforming itself inexorably from a technology status to a
technology status disruptive (data and service platform vision) to an essential gas pedal of digital transformation
experienced by companies [8]. Beyond the fact that objects and products are becoming more and more talkative and
generate considerable volume of information, leading the market to offer platforms for data collection and services
based on Analytics, IoT now has another strategic role to play. The IoT is clearly the means by which ensure digital
continuity (Digital Continuity) between the production tool (Manufacturing), studies and engineering (System
Engineering & Sofware Development) and distribution (Supply Chain). In order to ensure a strong link between the
world of planning, models and forecasts and the world physics of manufacturing, engineering and distribution of
products or services, it is necessary to implement two concepts, namely the Digital Twin and the Cyber Physical
System (CPS).

4. BIoT: Blockchain and IoT

Sensors that equip or augment physical products generate data and events that are retrieved in processes by
partners within their software applications. Objects, increasingly intelligent and connected, embedding analytics and
cognitive, are indeed capable of collecting environmental data, self-diagnosis, generating new information about
themselves or performing complex analytical processing approaching autonomous decision making in the case of
robotics. This is known as "Device Democracy".
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True, but how much confidence can be placed in the "Device Democracy"? What confidence should we place in
these new processes from the IoT where information is modified, shared, used, transformed and permanently
exposed ? [2]
As explained in the definition, Blockchain is a system that manages transactions in an innovative way.
These can be financial as with the Bitcoin but of any other nature as well, such as by example notification of parcel
movements that pass from zone to zone, information on how to obtain a diploma or certificate, the assumption of an
insurance policy for a business or the sharing of customer information between partners.
The nature of the transactions is de facto very varied. If one were to push the line to the extreme, one could say
that any transaction could be entered into a Blockchain system.
Technically, this is still true, but logically, it is necessary to find a measurable interest and value, whether from a
business, legal, societal or other point of view.
One of the objectives of the connected objects is to collect various data from the field in order to create a
consolidated and coherent vision. The need to process data in a decentralized way is motivated by an increased level
of performance in real-time decision-making (pre-processing of data locally...), the guarantee of traceability of data
sources.
A clear distinction of roles emerges:
• The IoT is positioned on the hardware layer (to capture information) and the application layer (to process
information), as shown in Fig. 4. below.
• The Blockchain is positioned more at the level of the transmission protocol and information security, as
shown in Fig. 5. below.

Roles become clearer:

• The connected objects, positioned at the application level, become here the responsible for creating
transactions on the Blockchain. Through cryptographic mechanisms, each object holds a private key, with
which it signs transactions.
• The Blockchain has the objective of validating the transaction, entering it in the chain linked to the object
and guaranteeing the ownership of the information, linked to the ownership of the connected object.

In addition to guaranteeing the veracity of information, this architecture aims to support a fundamental principle of
the Blockchain: respect for privacy. This is guaranteed by the link between the person and their connected object.

Fig. 4. Three-layer architecture of the IoT system. Fig. 5. Architecture of IoT with blockchain.

Indeed, thanks to cryptography, only the individual decides what information to make public and possibly the
conditions of exposure (monetization...).
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5. Comparison of BIoT and the IoT without blockchain

IoT still presents some problems that stand like a wall against the promised spread of IoT objects. Among these
problems is the lack of trust. The current centralized model of IoT uses a third-party central authority that has full
control over the collection and processing of data from various IoT objects without any clear restrictions on the use
of the collected data. Therefore, the central authority is like a block box for IoT users, which is a compelling
situation for most IoT device owners.
On the other hand, blockchain technology provides a decentralized, autonomous, trustless, and distributed
environment. As opposed to the centralized model, which has several challenges associated with single point of
failure, trust, and security, blockchain uses a decentralized design to use processing capabilities of all contributing
users, which provides greater efficiency and eliminates the single point of failure. In addition, blockchain offers
better security and data integrity due to its tamper-proof and immutable characteristics. There are numerous
similarities and variances between IoT and blockchain. Table 1 provides a comparison between IoT and blockchain.

Table 1. A comparison between IoT and blockchain.

Items IoT Blockchain
Privacy Lack of privacy Ensures the privacy of the
participating nodes
Bandwidth IoT devices have limited High bandwidth consumption
bandwidth and resources
System Structure Centralized Decentralized
Scalability IoT considered to contain a Scales poorly with a large
large number of devices network
Resources Resource restricted Resource consuming
Latency Demands low latency Block mining is time-consuming
Security Security is an issue Has better security

The integration of the Blockchain and the IoT thus takes on its full meaning, by proposing complementary roles.
The objective is to compensate for the "lack of security" often reproached to the IoT by creating a secure network
that guarantees the privacy of individuals. [9]
What if all the data collected by our IoT systems (Nest, Alexa, etc.) could only be used by us, according to our
restrictions and ensuring our privacy?

References

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