Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) is a strategic field of study that seeks to provide a coastal country with an effective monitoring of its maritime resources and its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). In this scope, a Maritime Monitoring System (MMS) aims to leverage active surveillance of military and non-military activities at sea using sensing devices such as radars, optronics, automatic Identification Systems (AISs), and IoT, among others. However, deploying a nation-scale MMS imposes great challenges regarding the scalability and cybersecurity of this heterogeneous system. Aiming to address these challenges, this work explores the use of blockchain to leverage MMS cybersecurity and to ensure the integrity, authenticity, and availability of relevant navigation data. We propose a prototype built on a permissioned blockchain solution using HyperLedger Fabric—a robust, modular, and efficient open-source blockchain platform. We evaluate this solution’s performance through a practical experiment where the prototype receives sensing data from a Software-Defined-Radio (SDR)-based low-cost AIS receiver built with a Raspberry Pi. In order to reduce scalability attrition, we developed a dockerized blockchain client easily deployed on a large scale. Furthermore, we determined, through extensive experimentation, the client optimal hardware configuration, also aiming to reduce implementation and maintenance costs. The performance results provide a quantitative analysis of the blockchain technology overhead and its impact in terms of Quality of Service (QoS), demonstrating the feasibility and effectiveness of our solution in the scope of an MMS using AIS data.

In recent years, measuring instruments have become quite complex due to the integration of embedded systems and software components and the increasing aggregation of new features. Consequently, metrological regulation and control require more efforts from notified bodies, becoming slower and more expensive. In this paper, we evaluate the use of blockchains as a resource to overcome such challenges. We start with a conceptual model for implementing measuring instruments in a distributed blockchain-based architecture and compare it with traditional measuring instruments and distributed measuring models discussed in previous works. We also made a security analysis, demonstrating that blockchain-based measuring systems can impact the way measuring instruments are used in consumer relations while improving security and simplifying metrological regulation and control. We implement a vehicle speed measuring system using the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain platform. We evaluate the security and performance of our blockchain-based measuring system by executing tests with data from real speed meter sensors. The results are promising and validate the feasibility of our idea. Finally, we point out the main challenges related to our approach, suggesting alternatives and potential issues to be addressed by future works.

In the last years, measuring instruments have become quite complex due to the integration of embedded hardware and software components and the increasing aggregation of new features. Consequently, metrological regulation and control require more efforts from notified bodies, becoming slower and more expensive. In this work, we evaluate how blockchains can help to overcome such challenges. We propose a conceptual model for implementing measuring instruments in a distributed blockchain-based architecture, and compare it with traditional measuring instruments and distributed measuring models discussed in previous works. We also develop a security analysis, demonstrating that blockchains-based measuring systems can impact how measuring instruments are used in consumer relations, at the same time that improve security and simplify metrological regulation and control. At the end, we point out the main challenges, suggesting alternatives and potential research lines for future works.

The growing demand for solutions related to measurement (e.g., digital sensors, smart meters, distributed measuring systems) imposes several concerns about information and process reliability. In this context, blockchain can play a crucial role as a platform to implement applications and activities in the context of legal metrology. In most countries, the National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) are responsible for promoting these initiatives. Thus, in this paper, we present a functional architecture to integrate NMIs in a collaborative blockchain network. We discuss the main aspects and features that an inter-NMI blockchain network must deliver. Furthermore, we implement our proposal using the Hyperledger Fabric platform. We connect peers from Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) (German NMI) and the National Institute of Metrology, Quality, and Technology (Inmetro) (Brazilian NMI) in a useful application that consists of a blockchain-based public-key infrastructure to identify and authenticate smart meters. Our preliminary results demonstrate that the proposed architecture meets the main requirements imposed by applications involving measurements. Furthermore, it opens the opportunity to integrate NMIs from other countries into the project, constituting an important global initiative in the metrology field.

This paper presents a security strategy to protect smart meters against attacks that compromise critical electronic components. Many of these attacks consist of stealing energy by manipulating smart meters’ measurements. For example, a malicious entity can replace or tamper with components that execute measuring procedures and store sensitive parameters. This type of attack is common on devices like smart meters that are part of environments considered hostile, where attackers have easy access to the device. Therefore, it is necessary to develop techniques in which physical manipulations on smart meters by attackers are unsuccessful. Our strategy uses physical properties from these components to create secure identities for the meter. We present two main contributions. The first one is inspired by Physical Unclonable Functions and extracts unique identifiers from SRAM components. Then we combine these identifiers to create a strong identity. The other contribution uses physical context information from the voltage levels in the smart meter’s power supply to yield dynamic context identities. We also validate our proposals in experiments using a hardware prototype that embeds Arduino® microprocessors, SRAM memories, and voltage sensors. The results show that our idea is suitable for implementation in real smart meters and can help protect these devices from attacks against their components.

Public-Key Infrastructures are elementary building blocks to implement digital signatures (i.e., digital notarization) and, hence, ensure information integrity, authenticity, and nonrepudiation. This feature is a promising alternative to improve the reliability of smart meters. However, conventional PKIs can be too expensive in scenarios that consist of a significant number of meters. In this work, we propose a blockchain-based PKI, describing how to tailor this solution to deal with specific aspects related to smart meter protection. We also implement our proposal as a smart contract with the Hyperledger Fabric platform. The results show our solution's feasibility and provide a reliable model to manage digital certificates for a wide diversity of smart devices.