Blockchain-Based authentication framework for edge computing
摘要
Edge Devices (ED) are used in most domains to monitor and collect data. Earlier, this collected data was sent to the cloud for analysis purposes, which increased latency, a factor that is not desired for the ED. To reduce the latency, Edge computing was introduced. Edge Servers (ES) are situated closer to the ED compared to the cloud. The ES handles the registration and authentication of the ED. However, the existing system often faces certain challenges such as a single point of failure, centralized systems, unauthorized access, lack of transparency, data leakage, cyberattacks, and so on. To overcome these challenges, a Blockchain-based framework was proposed to establish a secure connection between the ED and ES. The ES will register the ED on the Blockchain. The ED initiates a new connection with the ES. The ES responds with a message that needs to be signed by the ED’s private key. The ED will return the message and the digital signature to the ES. The ES will authenticate the ED by validating the signature and retrieving the signer through the smart contracts. If the signer is found to be a registered ED, the authentication process is successful; otherwise, the ED will not be allowed to connect to the ES. The proposed framework will eliminate single-point failures, centralized dependencies, improved scalability and cost effective. The results demonstrate that this framework can significantly benefit Internet of Thing (IoT) applications, where secure and efficient communication between devices and servers is essential.