Blockchain Technology for Securing Cyber-Infrastructure and Internet of Things Networks

Today’s smart devices are being used in many applications like smart home, smart transportation, smart farming and smart grid. These smart devices are connected together through Internet and sharing communication with other Internet-connected devices. Smart devices are building a bigger infrastructure, in connecting with several devices (together), also generating a lot of data (called Big Data). When an infrastructure is built using Internet-connected things/Internet of things (IoT), it called as “cyber-infrastructure”. Nowadays, IoT critical infrastructures and cloud both are subject to cyber-attacks. Here, a cloud environment is used to store data (generated by IoT devices) as public, private and hybrid nature. In simple terms, the numbers of growing IoT/smart devices used in cyber-infrastructure or smart era are more exposed to cyber-attacks, i.e. not having a certain level of cyber security/having weak cyber security. Today’s many industries use IoT products or devices for improving performance, quality and to achieve automation in current era and face several attacks every day. For example, smart home devices, self-driving car to some of public services such as power grid, military defence and critical national infrastructure. Smart and cyber-infrastructure (useful for many research communities, consider as a hot area/topic), enabled by technologies like IoT provides several advantages like saving cost and efficiencies or increasing productivity (with respect to industry point of view). Using IoTs in smart era invites several serious concerns like security and privacy in IoT-based cyber-infrastructure. Note that IoT is tightly bound towards to cyber physical systems (CPS) and requires efficient solutions for Smart Infrastructures by enhancing their quality of service provisioning/providing optimal solutions. Here from research communities (especially computer science), we require secure IoT and smart infrastructures or complete protection against cyber threats (by using good security practices, efficient algorithms and Blockchain technology). Blockchain technology provides a higher level of trust among systems/devices with providing higher level of anonymity among its blocks. Today Blockchain technology can play an important role in protecting smart and cyber-infrastructure. This chapter presents a comprehensive review of role and importance of Blockchain technology in protecting cyber-infrastructure (CI) and smart devices (Internet of things) in near future (including research gaps and opportunities for future). In summary, this chapter aims at addressing security and privacy challenges related to the evolution of cyber-infrastructure/industrial systems (built by smart devices) and services provided by smart devices and its innovations. The main objective of this chapter is to collect complete information like security and privacy issues, challenges, threats, risks and attack scenarios in IoT-based v (in detail).