Blockchain and IoT Convergence for Security in various applications in future
Blockchain and IoT are two technologies on the cusp of the new technology adoption curve. Both of them are poised to change and disrupt our perception of the applications of technology in future.
Both the blockchain and IoT emerge as front runners of future possibilities with numerous exciting applications.
There have been several reports and futuristic studies. Information is available freely on the internet. According to one of the studies, there are close to 10 billion IoT devices today, likely to be more than 20 billion by 2020 and more than 500 billion by 2030.
Blockchain and IoT Basics
We shall not discuss much the basics of the blockchain technology, except for that it has features of immutability, distributed ledger, peer to peer transactions. For more details on the blockchain technology, please check my other article:
Blockchain Basics Demystified
As for the IoT or Internet of Things, it is an interrelated system or network devices. These can be mechanical or digital devices. These devices can be identified with their unique ID or codes.
IoT devices have the capability of interacting and transferring data or signals over the network without any human or computer interference.
Simplest examples of IoT devices can be automobiles and home appliances. These devices can contain electronics, sensors, actuators and connectivity circuits/devices.
Blockchain and IoT Convergence
The question is how the blockchain technology will integrate with the IoT applications. Well, blockchain as evident can provide an infrastructure for devices to directly transfer assets with a secure and reliable time stamped contractual handshake. The same can be used in IoT applications.
Internets of Things or IoT applications are distributed. Perhaps, the blockchain which is a distributed ledger technology can play some role in managing the IoT devices’ communication between each other. This can be by keeping information on their interactions.
The IoT applications will vary across multiple industries and business dimensions. It might span from manufacturing to trading, the financial sector to the healthcare sector. The possibilities are endless. The best I can write is, depends on the realms of our imaginations and requirements.
IoT Security and Blockchain
With all the technological advancements, the security shall remain a top issue for the IoT ecosystem. IoT ecosystem exposes multiple devices, huge amounts of data and a whole user community to possible security vulnerabilities and breaches.
The chances of vulnerabilities in IoT itself may vary from industry to industry and application to application. All said security remains a top concern with control over access to data being of most critical importance.
IoT devices require certain authentication standards. We also need a critical infrastructure to prevent hacker penetration and associated damages.
Security of the IoT devices and the data aggregated by them is the most compelling issues for the convergence of the two technologies – Blockchain and IoT.
In the present scenario, the security flaw, revolve around Authentication, Connection and Transaction of the IoT devices. A major concern is an improper verification, connection and data transmission of the devices. The blockchain and IoT convergence can help in building trust, cost reduction and acceleration of the transactions.
Theoretically, the convergence of the blockchain and IoT technologies will create a secure, verifiable and permanent method of recording and processing data. This processing of data may be done with smart machines, create a platform for interconnected devices to interconnect and make decisions without human intervention.
With the use of the blockchain to manage access to data from IoT devices, the potential attacker would have to bypass an additional security layer. This blockchain security layer will be backed by robust encryption levels available to the blockchain.
