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Distributed Blockchain-Based Firmware Update Architecture for IoT Environments

Authors

Jesus Rugarc織覺a1, Santiago Figueroa-Lorenzo2,3, Saioa Arrizabalaga2,3 and Nasibeh Mohammadzadeh2, 1University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Spain, 2CEIT-Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Spain, 3University of Navarra, Spain

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the most rapidly expanding fields of technology. IoT devices often have limited capabilities when it comes to security, and have been shown to have vulnerabilities that are often exploited by malicious agents. To fix those vulnerabilities, firmware updates are often needed. The process, however, can also be vulnerable. A secure update mechanism is needed to create a more secure IoT environment. This paper proposes a secure distributed IOT firmware update solution using Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain and IPFS based on the RFC 9019 and previously proposed frameworks, contributing with a strong manifest format and defining authentication and verification procedures. More importantly, we provide a public implementation on which performance tests were made, demonstrating the promising feasibility of using distributed ledger technologies for this problem.

Keywords

IoT, Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain, Security, Distributed solution, Firmware update