Date of Award

8-2024

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Master of Science in Information Systems and Technology

Department

Information and Decision Sciences

First Reader/Committee Chair

Dr William Butler

Abstract

Blockchain and The Internet of Things (IoT) is a significant paradigm which has gained traction in today’s digital age as two complimentary technologies. The combination of IoT's connectivity with blockchain's security creates new opportunities and solves problems associated with centralized systems. This culminating project aims to delve deeper into the integration of blockchain technology in IoT applications based on select use cases to uncover potential benefits and significant challenges of blockchain integration across different sectors. The research objectives to be addressed are: (RO1) How emerging vulnerabilities manifest in the implementation of blockchain within current IoT ecosystems. (RO2) How current opportunities and challenges are influencing the successful integration of blockchain in IoT ecosystems. The findings from the case studies are: (RO1) Significant vulnerabilities exist within core blockchain features such as smart contracts which could lead to cascading failures and widespread system disruption within an IoT ecosystem. Additionally, difficulty in quickly patching smart contract vulnerabilities due to blockchain immutability further exacerbates this risk. (RO2) The successful integration of blockchain in IoT has the potential to provide enhanced trust, performance and security however significant bottlenecks such as interoperability challenges between various IoT devices and blockchain protocols, effective consensus mechanisms suited for resource constrained IoT devices and scalability challenges must be navigated to achieve a seamless integration of the technologies The conclusions are: (RO1) IoT-blockchain convergence introduces new potential attack vectors that must be analyzed and secured, especially at the intersection of resource-constrained IoT devices and computationally intensive blockchain protocols. (RO2) Blockchain integration in IoT requires specific considerations related to the heterogenous nature of IoT devices, resource limitations for traditional IoT ecosystems, scalability of blockchain solutions in the diverse nature of IoT ecosystems and standardization and compatibility of different blockchain platforms across IoT applications. Areas of further study include researching minimum security requirements in software development of IoT devices which can support complex computational requirements needed for successful integration of blockchain in IoT applications and improving blockchain security against quantum attacks. Public-key cryptography, a cornerstone of blockchain security, is particularly susceptible to such threats.

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