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M. Polychronaki et al.

Fig. 2 The concept of decentralization in a blockchain system

authenticate themselves. This is achieved only via the user’s wallet app, where their

identity is stored, while the ledger only holds the validity of their driver’s license or

diploma.

Portability is also increased as every entity within the system will be holding their

own identity as ownership. Any entity will be able to connect and be validated inde-

pendently to multiple services and applications which do not need to be connected

or correlated with each other but only be part of the same IoT ecosystem.

The benefits of using blockchain technology for IAM in IoT are significant for

the advancement of IoT. This way, the creation of a decentralized identification layer

is possible allowing different ecosystems to work together while users and devices

have one uniform identity over the whole architecture.

2

Identity and Access Management (IAM)

IAM systems, apart from protecting a system from many security threats, are also

applied for access control of resources. The creation of roles corresponding to specific

permissions while forming a top-down restriction hierarchy is what defines the

authentication levels regarding resource access. Applying rules regarding data acces-

sibility for the acting entities in a system can significantly enhance user and system

privacy. Thus, the creation of an IAM system must rely on a well-studied theoretical

model for access management. In the following sections, the basic theoretical models

on which the contemporary IAM systems are based will be presented as well as their

basic responsibilities and principles.