Decentralized Authentication of Distributed Patients in Hospital Networks Using Blockchain
TL;DR: It is shown that the proposed architecture's decentralized authentication among a distributed affiliated hospital network does not require re-authentication, which will have a considerable impact on increasing throughput, reducing overhead, improving response time, and decreasing energy consumption in the network.
Abstract: In any interconnected healthcare system (e.g., those that are part of a smart city), interactions between patients, medical doctors, nurses and other healthcare practitioners need to be secure and efficient. For example, all members must be authenticated and securely interconnected to minimize security and privacy breaches from within a given network. However, introducing security and privacy-preserving solutions can also incur delays in processing and other related services, potentially threatening patients lives in critical situations. A considerable number of authentication and security systems presented in the literature are centralized, and frequently need to rely on some secure and trusted third-party entity to facilitate secure communications. This, in turn, increases the time required for authentication and decreases throughput due to known overhead, for patients and inter-hospital communications. In this paper, we propose a novel decentralized authentication of patients in a distributed hospital network, by leveraging blockchain. Our notion of a healthcare setting includes patients and allied health professionals (medical doctors, nurses, technicians, etc), and the health information of patients. Findings from our in-depth simulations demonstrate the potential utility of the proposed architecture. For example, it is shown that the proposed architecture's decentralized authentication among a distributed affiliated hospital network does not require re-authentication. This improvement will have a considerable impact on increasing throughput, reducing overhead, improving response time, and decreasing energy consumption in the network. We also provide a comparative analysis of our model in relation to a base model of the network without blockchain to show the overall effectiveness of our proposed solution.
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TL;DR: This work introduces a secure authentication model with low latency for drones in smart cities that looks to leverage blockchain technology, and uses a customized decentralized consensus, known as drone-based delegated proof of stake (DDPOS), for drones among zones in a smart city that does not require reauthentication.
Abstract: There is currently widespread use of drones and drone technology due to their rising applications that have come into fruition in the military, safety surveillance, agriculture, smart transportation, shipping, and delivery of packages in our Internet-of-Things global landscape. However, there are security-specific challenges with the authentication of drones while airborne. The current authentication approaches, in most drone-based applications, are subject to latency issues in real time with security vulnerabilities for attacks. To address such issues, we introduce a secure authentication model with low latency for drones in smart cities that looks to leverage blockchain technology. We apply a zone-based architecture in a network of drones, and use a customized decentralized consensus, known as drone-based delegated proof of stake (DDPOS), for drones among zones in a smart city that does not require reauthentication. The proposed architecture aims for positive impacts on increased security and reduced latency on the Internet of Drones (IoD). Moreover, we provide an empirical analysis of the proposed architecture compared to other peer models previously proposed for IoD to demonstrate its performance and security authentication capability. The experimental results clearly show that not only does the proposed architecture have low packet loss rate, high throughput, and low end-to-end delay in comparison to peer models but also can detect 97.5% of attacks by malicious drones while airborne.
122 citations
Cites methods from "Decentralized Authentication of Dis..."
...For using blockchain for authentication, we can mention [20], [22], and [24] where the authors offered a softwaredefined network solution for 5G networks as well as an...
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TL;DR: This article proposes a preventative approach using a novel blockchain-based solution suited for IoFMT incorporated with a gamification component, and uses concepts of a customized Proof-of-Authority consensus algorithm, along with a weighted-ranking algorithm, serving as an incentive mechanism in the gamifying component to determine the integrity of fake news.
Abstract: The concept of Fake Media or Internet of Fake Media Things (IoFMT) has emerged in different domains of digital society such as politics, news, and social media. Due to the integrity of the media being compromised quite frequently, revolutionary changes must be taken to avoid further and more widespread IoFMT. With today’s advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Deep Learning (DL), such compromises may be profoundly limited. Providing proof of authenticity to outline the authorship and integrity for digital content has been a pressing need. Blockchain, a promising new decentralized secure platform, has been advocated to help combat the authenticity aspect of fake media in a context where resistance to the modification of data is important. Although some methods around blockchain have been proposed to take on authentication problems, most current studies are built on unrealistic assumptions with the after-the-incident type of mechanisms. In this article, we propose a preventative approach using a novel blockchain-based solution suited for IoFMT incorporated with a gamification component. More specifically, the proposed approach uses concepts of a customized Proof-of-Authority consensus algorithm, along with a weighted-ranking algorithm, serving as an incentive mechanism in the gamification component to determine the integrity of fake news. Although our approach focuses on fake news, the framework could be very well extended for other types of digital content as well. A proof of concept implementation is developed to outline the advantage of the proposed solution.
113 citations
01 Dec 2020
TL;DR: A Blockchain Technology (BCT) based solution to improve the security and privacy of VC based device data by implementing an IoT based application in a virtual vehicle monitoring system and the results justify the efficiency and security aspects of the proposed approach.
Abstract: The utility of virtual circuit (VC) based devices - UAVs, Drones, and similar other IoT based devices have gained immense momentum in the present day and age. These devices are predominantly used for aerial surveying in sensitive and remote areas. It is alarming that issues pertaining to stalking and information control have increased with the growth of technology. This paper presents a Blockchain Technology (BCT) based solution to improve the security and privacy of VC based device data. The proposed design is evaluated by implementing an IoT based application in a virtual vehicle monitoring system. The technical information about the instructions to the vehicle (devices), authentication, integrity, and vehicle reactions are stored in a cloud platform wherein Pentatope based Elliptic curve cryptography and SHA are used to ensure privacy in data storage. The data is later stored in an Ethereum based public blockchain to enable seamless BCT transactions. This system uses the Ganache platform for BCT that ensures data protection and privacy. Furthermore, metamask wallet for E t h balance is required to perform transactions over BCT. The proposed methodology thus helps to protect data from stalkers, plaintext attacks as well as ciphertext attacks. The results, when compared with the state-of-the-art, justify the efficiency and security aspects of the proposed approach.
91 citations
TL;DR: This work highlighted the motivations of employing blockchain technology in the healthcare industry and discussed potential future challenges such as scalability and storage capacity, blockchain size, universal interoperability and standardisation.
87 citations
TL;DR: A new decentralized health architecture is proposed, called BEdgeHealth that integrates MEC and blockchain for data offloading and data sharing in distributed hospital networks and a data sharing scheme which enables data exchanges among healthcare users by leveraging blockchain and interplanetary file system.
Abstract: The healthcare industry has witnessed significant transformations in e-health services by using mobile-edge computing (MEC) and blockchain to facilitate healthcare operations. Many MEC-blockchain-based schemes have been proposed, but some critical technical challenges still remain, such as low Quality of Services (QoS), data privacy, and system security vulnerabilities. In this article, we propose a new decentralized health architecture, called BEdgeHealth that integrates MEC and blockchain for data offloading and data sharing in distributed hospital networks. First, a data offloading scheme is proposed where mobile devices can offload health data to a nearby MEC server for efficient computation with privacy awareness. Moreover, we design a data-sharing scheme, which enables data exchanges among healthcare users by leveraging blockchain and interplanetary file system. Particularly, a smart contract-based authentication mechanism is integrated with MEC to perform decentralized user access verification at the network edge without requiring any central authority. The real-world experiment results and evaluations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed BEdgeHealth architecture in terms of improved QoS with data privacy and security guarantees, compared to the existing schemes.
82 citations
References
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25 Jun 2017
TL;DR: An overview of blockchain architechture is provided and some typical consensus algorithms used in different blockchains are compared and possible future trends for blockchain are laid out.
Abstract: Blockchain, the foundation of Bitcoin, has received extensive attentions recently. Blockchain serves as an immutable ledger which allows transactions take place in a decentralized manner. Blockchain-based applications are springing up, covering numerous fields including financial services, reputation system and Internet of Things (IoT), and so on. However, there are still many challenges of blockchain technology such as scalability and security problems waiting to be overcome. This paper presents a comprehensive overview on blockchain technology. We provide an overview of blockchain architechture firstly and compare some typical consensus algorithms used in different blockchains. Furthermore, technical challenges and recent advances are briefly listed. We also lay out possible future trends for blockchain.
2,642 citations
Additional excerpts
...Blockchain overview [17]....
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TL;DR: The blockchain taxonomy is given, the typical blockchain consensus algorithms are introduced, typical blockchain applications are reviewed, and the future directions in the blockchain technology are pointed out.
Abstract: Blockchain has numerous benefits such as decentralisation, persistency, anonymity and auditability. There is a wide spectrum of blockchain applications ranging from cryptocurrency, financial services, risk management, internet of things (IoT) to public and social services. Although a number of studies focus on using the blockchain technology in various application aspects, there is no comprehensive survey on the blockchain technology in both technological and application perspectives. To fill this gap, we conduct a comprehensive survey on the blockchain technology. In particular, this paper gives the blockchain taxonomy, introduces typical blockchain consensus algorithms, reviews blockchain applications and discusses technical challenges as well as recent advances in tackling the challenges. Moreover, this paper also points out the future directions in the blockchain technology.
1,928 citations
"Decentralized Authentication of Dis..." refers methods in this paper
...Blockchain uses an asymmetric cryptography mechanism to validate the authentication of transactions [18]–[20]....
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TL;DR: A comprehensive classification of blockchain-enabled applications across diverse sectors such as supply chain, business, healthcare, IoT, privacy, and data management is presented, and key themes, trends and emerging areas for research are established.
1,310 citations
"Decentralized Authentication of Dis..." refers background in this paper
...by the increasing interest from the research community [6]– [8])....
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Book•
20 Oct 2008TL;DR: This primer provides materials for NS2 beginners for understanding the architecture of Network Simulator 2 (NS2) and for incorporating simulation modules into NS2, including simulation-related objects, network objects, packet- related objects, and helper objects.
Abstract: Introduction to Network Simulator NS2 is a primer providing materials for NS2 beginners, whether students, professors, or researchers for understanding the architecture of Network Simulator 2 (NS2) and for incorporating simulation modules into NS2. The authors discuss the simulation architecture and the key components of NS2 including simulation-related objects, network objects, packet-related objects, and helper objects. The NS2 modules included within are nodes, links, SimpleLink objects, packets, agents, and applications. Further, the book covers three helper modules: timers, random number generators, and error models. Also included are chapters on summary of debugging, variable and packet tracing, result compilation, and examples for extending NS2. Two appendices provide the details of scripting language Tcl, OTcl and AWK, as well object oriented programming used extensively in NS2.
1,183 citations
"Decentralized Authentication of Dis..." refers background in this paper
...It is one of the most powerful simulators for networks [25]....
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TL;DR: The primary intention for this work is to stimulate the research community into developing creative, effective, efficient, and comprehensive prevention, detection, and response mechanisms that address the DDoS flooding problem before, during and after an actual attack.
Abstract: Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) flooding attacks are one of the biggest concerns for security professionals. DDoS flooding attacks are typically explicit attempts to disrupt legitimate users' access to services. Attackers usually gain access to a large number of computers by exploiting their vulnerabilities to set up attack armies (i.e., Botnets). Once an attack army has been set up, an attacker can invoke a coordinated, large-scale attack against one or more targets. Developing a comprehensive defense mechanism against identified and anticipated DDoS flooding attacks is a desired goal of the intrusion detection and prevention research community. However, the development of such a mechanism requires a comprehensive understanding of the problem and the techniques that have been used thus far in preventing, detecting, and responding to various DDoS flooding attacks. In this paper, we explore the scope of the DDoS flooding attack problem and attempts to combat it. We categorize the DDoS flooding attacks and classify existing countermeasures based on where and when they prevent, detect, and respond to the DDoS flooding attacks. Moreover, we highlight the need for a comprehensive distributed and collaborative defense approach. Our primary intention for this work is to stimulate the research community into developing creative, effective, efficient, and comprehensive prevention, detection, and response mechanisms that address the DDoS flooding problem before, during and after an actual attack.
1,153 citations
"Decentralized Authentication of Dis..." refers background in this paper
...Here, we are interested to understand how the proposed architecture will operate in case of some common attacks such as DOS/DDOS attacks (UDP Flood, SYN Flood, TCP Flood, authentication attack (AUTH), Link-ability attack (LB), ID spoofing (ID-s) and Numb attack (NA)) [28], [29] which can occur when a patient attempts to join a hospital...
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