Identity Management in Internet

of Things with Blockchain

Maria Polychronaki

, Dimitrios G. Kogias

,

and Charalampos Z. Patrikakis

Abstract Internet of Things (IoT) is characterized by heterogeneity of devices,

software and communication protocols when it comes to the implementation of any

practical solutions. Especially in use cases such as smart cities, where scalability

is very important and increased, the complexity of an Internet of Things system

introduces issues on the management and privacy of both (smart) devices and users.

Identity and access management is the set of policies applied on a system restricting

or allowing access of acting entities (devices and users) to the system’s services.

OAuth and Single-Sign on are two of the widest used implementations for iden-

tity and access management. This book chapter targets exploring the new ways in

which blockchain technology can significantly improve identity management in IoT

by utilizing decentralized identity structures and specific cryptographic techniques

applied by it.

Keywords Identity management · Decentralized identity · IAM · Blockchain ·

Cryptography

1

Introduction

Identity management is one of the most important key points when it comes to

securing privacy in the Internet of Things. Devices need to communicate with each

other, while at the same time humans are interacting with the system. The most unique

aspect of IoT is that its purpose is not only to transfer data from one component to

another but to make decisions based on those data. Considering the fact that these data

M. Polychronaki (B) · D. G. Kogias · C. Z. Patrikakis

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University of West Attica, Attica, Greece

e-mail: [email protected]

D. G. Kogias

e-mail: [email protected]

C. Z. Patrikakis

e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022

D. De and S. Bhattacharyya (eds.), Blockchain based Internet of Things,

Lecture Notes on Data Engineering and Communications Technologies 112,

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9260-4_9

209