A novel blockchain-based authentication and access control model for smart environment

Abstract

With the increase of smart factories and smart cities following the recent 4th industrial revolution, internal user authentication and authorization have become an important issue. The user authentication model using the server-client structure has a problem of forgery of the access history caused by the log manipulation of the administrator and unclearness of the responsibility. In addition, users must independently manage the authentication method for each service authentication. In this paper, to solve the above problem, the researchers propose an integrated ID model based on a hybrid blockchain. The proposed model is implemented as two layers of Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric: the former layer is responsible for integrated authentication, and the latter layer is responsible for access control. The physical pass or application for user authentication and authorization are integrated to one ID through the proposed model. In addition, the decentralized blockchain ensures the integrity and transparency of the stored access history, and it also provides non-repudiation of authority and access history.