Proof-of-Authentication for Scalable Blockchain in Resource-Constrained Distributed Systems

© 2019 IEEE. Resource -constrained distributed systems such as the Internet of Things (IoT), edge computing and fog computing are deployed for real-time monitoring and evaluation. Current security solutions are problematic when there is a centralized controlling entity. The blockchain provides decentralized security architectures using proof-of-work (PoW). Proof-of-work is an expensive process for IoT and edge computing due to the deployment of resource-constrained devices. This paper presents a novel consensus algorithm called Proof-of-Authentication (PoAh) to replace Proof-of-Work and introduce authentication in such environments to make the blockchain application-specific. This paper implemented the Proof-of-Authentication system to evaluate its sustainability and applicability for the IoT and edge computing. The evaluation process is conducted in both simulation and real-time testbeds to evaluate performance. Finally, the process of Proof-of-Authentication and its integration with blockchain in resource-constrained distributed systems is discussed. Our proposed PoAh, while running in limited computer resources (e.g. single-board computing devices like the Raspberry Pi) has a latency in the order of 3 secs

Big-Sensing-Data Curation for the Cloud is Coming: A Promise of Scalable Cloud-Data-Center Mitigation for Next-Generation IoT and Wireless Sensor Networks

© 2012 IEEE. Modern sensing devices play a pivotal role in achieving data acquisition, communication, and dissemination for the Internet of Things (IoT). Naturally, IoT applications and intelligent sensing systems supported by sensing devices, such as wireless sensor networks (WSNs), are closely coupled. Modern intelligent sensing systems generate huge volumes of sensing data, well beyond the processing capabilities of common techniques and tools. As a result, collecting, managing, and processing IoT big sensing data within an acceptable time duration is a new challenge for both research and industrial applications. The massive size, extreme complexity, and high speed of big sensing data bring new technical requirements including data collection, data storage, data organization, data analysis, and data publishing in real time when deploying real-world IoT applications. To better facilitate these IoT applications, the convergent research of WSNs, big data, the IoT, and cloud computing is a natural scientific development trend. In this article, we concentrate on big-sensing-data curation and preparation issues with cloud computing under the theme of the IoT. There are three especially critical issues that need to be addressed: scalable big-sensing-data cleaning, scalable big-sensing-data compression, and cloud-based data curation response for IoT device optimization. Viewed from the IoT side, all IoT sensing devices are integrated together in an adaptive solution and upload their data onto the cloud. The automatic responses from both the cloud and intelligent sensors will change the status or behavior of sensing devices and, therefore, the status of the IoT itself

PMsec: Physical Unclonable Function-Based Robust and Lightweight Authentication in the Internet of Medical Things

© 1975-2011 IEEE. Various commercial off-the-shelf components are available for the development of communication-enabled consumer electronics devices. This opens new doors to attackers who can take advantage of various vulnerabilities to attack the entire network and compromise the integrity of the system and the environment. If a malicious device enters the environment and the attacker gains access to the server or transmits malicious data to the server or cloud, the entire network can be jeopardized. To avoid such cases, this paper presents a device authentication scheme which uses physical unclonable functions (PUFs) and is suitable for the Internet-of-Medical-Things (IoMT). The main advantage of this authentication scheme is that no data related to the IoMT devices are stored in server memory. The time taken to authenticate the devices completely was 1.2 s to 1.5 s. A hybrid oscillator arbiter physical unclonable function was used for validation of the proposed authentication scheme. From the PUF module used during experimental validation, the number of keys that could be potentially used for the authentication protocol from each design is approximately 240. The proposed authentication scheme increases the robustness of the design while being lightweight to be deployed in various designs and supports scalability

Single-step method for the determination of the amount of the common deletion in mitochondrial DNA

A fluorescent-based quantitative PCR assay to measure the percentage of the common deletion in rat mitochondria is reported. The amount of the common deletion is measured relative to the amount of total mitochondrial (mt)DNA. The use of a heterologous competitor construct allows the reaction to be monitored to ensure that exponential accumulation of products occurs. The use of fluorescence-labeled primers provides a safe and sensitive means to quantify products without any adjustment for size. This assay will allow the quantitative determination of the common deletion with one dilution range

Everything You Wanted to Know about the Blockchain: Its Promise, Components, Processes, and Problems

© 2012 IEEE. In 2008, the emergence of the blockchain as the foundation of the first-ever decentralized cryptocurrency not only revolutionized the financial industry but proved a boon for peer-to-peer (P2P) information exchange in the most secure, efficient, and transparent manner. The blockchain is a public ledger that works like a log by keeping a record of all transactions in chronological order, secured by an appropriate consensus mechanism and providing an immutable record. Its exceptional characteristics include immutability, irreversibility, decentralization, persistence, and anonymity

The Blockchain as a Decentralized Security Framework [Future Directions]

© 2012 IEEE. The blockchain is emerging as one of the most propitious and ingenious technologies of cybersecurity. In its germinal state, the technology has successfully replaced economic transaction systems in various organizations and has the potential to revamp heterogeneous business models in different industries. Although it promises a secure distributed framework to facilitate sharing, exchanging, and the integration of information across all users and third parties, it is important for the planners and decision makers to analyze it in depth for its suitability in their industry and business applications. The blockchain should be deployed only if it is applicable and provides security with better opportunities for obtaining increased revenue and reductions in cost. This article presents an overview of this technology for the realization of security across distributed parties in an impregnable and transparent way

VLSI ARCHITECTURE FOR ENCRYPTION AND WATERMARKING UNITS TOWARDS THE MAKING OF A SECURE CAMERA

Abstract — Considerable amount of research is directed at putting biometric data in conventional forms of identification such as passports. However, putting biometric data in passports makes the data vulnerable to theft, causing privacy related issues. To address such issues, we present a new approach and architecture in the framework of a digital camera, conceptualized as a “Secure Digital Camera (SDC)”. The SDC uses watermarking and encryption processes for image security and authentication. The Rijndael AES algorithm and a DCT-based visible watermarking algorithm were chosen for implementation in our camera. The proposed architectures were modeled, simulated and synthesized in Xilinx ISE. I