A blockchain-based secure image encryption scheme for the industrial internet of things

Abstract

Smart cameras and image sensors are widely used in industrial processes, from the designing to the quality checking of the final product. Images generated by these sensors are at continuous risk of disclosure and privacy breach in the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Traditional solutions to secure sensitive data fade in IIoT environments because of the involvement of third parties. Blockchain technology is the modern-day solution for trust issues and eliminating or minimizing the role of the third party. In the context of the IIoT, we propose a permissioned private blockchain-based solution to secure the image while encrypting it. In this scheme, the cryptographic pixel values of an image are stored on the blockchain, ensuring the privacy and security of the image data. Based on the number of pixels change rate (NPCR), the unified averaged changed intensity (UACI), and information entropy analysis, we evaluate the strength of proposed image encryption algorithm ciphers with respect to differential attacks. We obtained entropy values near to an ideal value of 8, which is considered to be safe from brute force attack. Encrypted results show that the proposed scheme is highly effective for data leakage prevention and security.