Blockchain for securing Industrial IoT Infrastructure

Using Blockchain for securing the transactions in the Industrial IOT resilient energy network.

Recently, the advent of Internet of Things (IOT) has only got bigger, more complex, and less well managed. It is very much mandatory to understand how the network is used. An interesting trend contributing to the growth of the IOT is the shift from the consumer-based IPv4 Internet of tablets and laptops, that is, Information Technology (IT), to an Operational Technology (OT)-based IPv6 Internet of Machine-to- Machine interactions. This includes sensors, smart objects and clustered systems (for example, Smart Grid). However, the IoT opens a completely new dimension to security. The IoT is where the Internet meets the physical world. The term "Industry 4.0" originates from a project in the high-tech strategy of the German government, which promotes the computerization of manufacturing. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is reshaping various industrial sectors, such as manufacturing, logistics, transportation, healthcare, energy and utilities. IIoT consists of various smart objects distributed throughout the whole industrial system to collect massive ambient data, which can be used to identify performance bottlenecks, troubleshoot faults and detect malicious behaviors consequently enforcing effective control to the physical world. This has some serious implications on security as the attack threat moves from manipulating information to controlling actuation (in other words, moving from the digital to the physical world). Consequently, it drastically expands the attack surface from known threats and known devices, to additional security threats of new devices, protocols, and workflows. Many operational systems are moving from closed systems (for example: SCADA, Modbus, CIP) into Intrusion prevention based systems which further expands the attack surface.   

We propose to secure the Industrial IoT infrastructure using blockchain technology. The blockchain technology is transforming industries by enabling anonymous and trustful transactions in decentralized and trustless environment. As a result, blockchains help to reduce system risks, mitigate financial fraud and cut down operational cost. The convergence of IIoT and blockchains can potentially overcome the deficiencies of IIoT consequently resulting in the realization of IIoT in industrial sectors. Both industry practitioners and academic researchers aim at realizing general, scalable and deployable blockchain-based IIoT platforms in various application domains while there are a number of challenges like distributed consensus algorithms and data analytics with privacy-preservation in IIoT systems. We secure the transactions by adding the own minted coins in the system. The coins added have a certain value which gets increased after the transaction is validated. For every Illegal transaction, the other coin which bets more than this malicious coin wins thereby securing the system.  

The solution will definitely be useful to the mankind in the future. By using blockchain technology, we can prevent various attacks on the decision boundaries on the network system. Various attacks like Man in the middle, denial of service, false data injection in system, and other protocol attacks which tamper and disrupt the system can be eliminated by the blockchain technology. Blockchains which are useful for financial need, can also effectively secure the transactions on large basis in the Industrial Protocols.

Blockchains are being used from past many years for the payments and banking systems. This was mainly done for securing the transactions. But, only few thoughts were given on implementing the blockchain for securing the Industrial IoT infrastructure. The blockchain can not only secure the transactions but can also facilitate the transactions at a greater rate of exchange. Our solution proposes a new consensus protocol in blockchain other than the regular proof of work and proof of stake which can help in securing the network with high efficiency.

We are using a disruptive technology like Blockchains to disrupt the malicious activities in the network thereby safeguarding the system. The technology used for building the consensus protocol is facilitated by the ethereum smart contracts on the solidity platform. The solution proposed can be even used to later evade the various problems like handling fake news, or classifying the anomalous agent in the batch. It has been even proven to be more efficient than the artificial intelligence and integrating the artificial intelligence models with blockchain can even prove superior in the future. 

We have proposed the consensus protocol. In next 2 months, we plan to implement it in real time basis on the smart grid prototype test bed. Later, we will integrate the blockchain with Artificial intelligence models in real time basis to provide more security and effectiveness.

There have been various attacks on the Industrial IOT infrastructure like STUXNET and Blackenergy 3 which has destroyed many industrial plants and human lives. By applying this blockchain technology, safeguarding the lives can prove vital solution for the future generations. In next few years, we plan to create a product out of the idea proposed.

We will be implementing the solution on few Industrial Plants initially. We will then target the Industrial community in the next few years once the solution is successfully tested.

Solve can give us the opportunity to stand and showcase our solution to the audience and rest of the world and would also provide us with funding. Thus, by applying to Solve, we can advance our work more faster. Implementing blockchain on Industial IoT networks is a niche area that has seldom been tread on before, we believe Solve will give us the required exposure to leading Indutrial IoT technology, which will help us to grow our solution further. 

In a nutshell, our solution uses blockchain on IoT technology. For our solution to grow, it is best to implement it on different types of IoT networks. We believe that preforming well in Solve will get us the recognition required to avail said technology from reputed leaders of the same, which will help us to grow our solution further.