A Survey on Emerging Blockchain Technology Platforms for Securing the Internet of Things

Abstract

The adoption of blockchain platforms to bolster the security of Internet of Things (IoT) systems has attracted significant attention in recent years. Currently, there is a lack of comprehensive and systematic survey papers in the literature addressing these platforms. This paper discusses six of the most popular emerging blockchain platforms adopted by IoT systems and analyses their usage in state-of-the-art works to solve security problems. The platform was compared in terms of security features and other requirements. Findings from the study reveal that most blockchain components contribute directly or indirectly to IoT security. Blockchain platform components such as cryptography, consensus mechanism, and hashing are common ways that security is achieved in all blockchain platform for IoT. Technologies like Interplanetary File System (IPFS) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) can further enhance data and communication security when used alongside blockchain. To enhance the applicability of blockchain in resource-constrained IoT environments, future research should focus on refining cryptographic algorithms and consensus mechanisms to optimise performance and security.