The Internet of Things (IoT) is the organization of machines, devices, and people by connecting them in a system that issues unique identifiers that allow data transmission over a network without physical interaction.
Blockchain is a type of database distributed between nodes in a computer network. The data structure is different from a typical database and stored in digital format.
There are two types of Blockchain
Private Blockchain: This includes all associates and partners of a particular company or organization.
Public Blockchain: All participants are limited to only reading and writing (for example, Bitcoin).
Blockchain prevents a system’s network from dangers that pose threats to its data privacy.
The dangers are the challenges encountered by IoT, and they include;
- High cost of maintenance of IoT devices.
- The problem of frequent software attacks and network breaches by hackers.
- An individual outside a system’s network gains illegal access to a network consisting of multiple IoT devices.
- Fragile encryption keys enable cybercriminals to have unauthorized access to data in the network.
However, the major challenge of the IoT is SECURITY!
Why Blockchain should be used to secure IoT
- Blockchain ensures a working environment secured enough to avoid human or manual error with the data through encrypted identity and by tracking every activity on the network.
- Blockchain helps reduce the rate of hacking and attacks in a system, which is an asset to its security.
- Blockchain technology has been adopted to save the cost of maintaining IoT devices. It helps organizations reduce the cost of IT.
- Blockchain ensures a strong level of encryption and gives multiple security layers, which makes it difficult for hackers to access.
- The decentralization of Blockchain makes it easy to build trust amongst participants, in particular networks.
How Blockchain works
Blockchain is a trusted way of storing transaction data; many businesses have incorporated it to trace transactions. Before a transaction is completed and added to the chain, every participant of that network is expected to authorize it. Blockchain determines what is to be trusted, and it varies between systems.
In the food industry, it was incorporated for tracking food products from their origin to their delivery destination. This was a result of various illnesses from the food people eat. So to monitor the products used in the production of the food items, Blockchain was devised as a means for tracking.
Authorized transactions are packed in a BLOCK and then sent to nodes in the network. Every subsequent block consists of a HASH, a unique fingerprint.
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