These in recent days, the proliferation of the internet of things (IoT) within the emergence of five-generation (5G) networks has received a huge attention in both industrial and academic domains. A 5G network is a cornerstone of realizing the full potential of the IoT, which interconnects billions of devices wirelessly. However, wireless communication in IoT devices reveals tremendous security risks in different dimensions and precisely in the distribution of the user certificates. The existing X.509 PKI, or the proposed decentralized PKI based on blockchain solutions have lacked practicality, and continue to have security flaws, or have not yet gained widespread acceptance owing to complexity and deployment issues. We present a lightweight certificate in size (LightCert4IoTs) that is not issued by Certification Authorities (CAs) due to the cost and complexity of the assignment of a signed certificate. In LightCert4IoTs first, an end-user (i.e., mobile and IoT devices) issues a self-signed certificate and lets Local Registration Authorities (LRAs)/EDGE nodes to verify and validate the binding identity-self signed certificate of the users through the Ethereum blockchain where The Ethereum network is used as the global notary for the IoT light certificates by saving them in the blockchain immutable ledger. The LightCert4IoTs leverages the advantages of blockchain technology and smart contracts to address the existing challenges of PKI certificates in IoT devices, which neatly achieve certificate issuance, update, and revocation more securely and efficiently. Finally, the LightCert4IoTs experimental results show that LightCert, as compared to relevant solutions/baselines, achieves reasonable overheads and is suitable for use in low- constrained IoT devices where the memory and processor power are optimized.

Recently, the growth of the focus on internet of things (IoT) is rocketing in parallel with the evolution of the mobile fifth generation (5G) networks. To fully utilize IoT, which wirelessly connects billions of devices, a 5G network is essential. However, the provision of user’s certificates exposes the network to serious security threats. The LightCert4IoT leverages the advantages of EDGE nodes with blockchain technology and smart contracts to address the existing challenges of PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) certificates in IoT devices, which neatly achieves certificate issuance, update, and revocation more securely and efficiently. An end-user issues a self-signed certificate and lets Local Registration Authorities (LRAs)/EDGE nodes to verify and validate the binding identity-self signed certificate of the users through a blockchain such as Ethereum. This work analyzes the performance of LightCert4IoT in the IoT devices by utilizing the Cooja-Contiki simulator. The results show reduced energy consumption and memory size when compared to the conventional X509 certificate. As a conclusion, the LightCert4IoT meets the requirements of major IoT devices constraints. The paper also addresses the security threats with widespread use of IoT devices and analyses the adversary on security level from the authentication based on hardware token and blockchain and deploying firewall to protect servers against malicious attacks like DDOS. Scalability, resource limitations, privacy concerns are analyzed as IoT devices handle sensitive information, and the transparent and immutable nature of blockchain can raise data protection. Analysis of Network partitioning challenge and communication overhead.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is expanding rapidly, but the security of IoT devices remains a noteworthy concern due to resource limitations and existing security conventions. This research investigates and proposes the use of a Light certificate with the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) instead of the X509 certificate based on traditional PKI/CA. We start by analyzing the impediments of current CoAP security over DTLS with the certificate mode based on CA root in the constrained IoT device and suggest the implementation of LightCert4IoT for CoAP over DTLS. The paper also describes a new modified handshake protocol in DTLS applied for IoT devices and Application server certificate authentication verification by relying on a blockchain without the complication of the signed certificate and certificate chain. This approach streamlines the DTLS handshake process and reduces cryptographic overhead, making it particularly suitable for resource-constrained environments. Our proposed solution leverages blockchain to reinforce IoT gadget security through immutable device characters, secure device registration, and data integrity. The LightCert4IoT is smaller in size and requires less power consumption. Continuous research and advancement are pivotal to balancing security and effectiveness. This paper examines security challenges and demonstrates the effectiveness of giving potential solutions, guaranteeing the security of IoT networks by applying LightCert4IoT and using the CoAP over DTLS with a new security mode based on blockchain.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networking is a decentralized network topology that enables parties to communicate directly without central servers. The main obstacle preventing the heavy deployment of the P2P topology is the Network Address Translation (NAT) which serves as a solution for the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses. Methods proposed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to solve the NAT traversal issues include Simple Traversal of UDP through NATs (STUN) and Traversal Using Relay NAT (TURN). STUN is limited by the type of deployed NAT, and TURN is limited by the peers' discovery mechanism which is application dependent. In this paper we propose a Blockchain-based platform that enables TURN servers to act as relays for Internet of Things (IoT) devices behind NAT. It also provides End-to-End (e2e) security for Constrained and Non-Constrained IoT devices. Results showed that the system has minimal impact on the existing network and can be a potential solution for advancing IoT deployment.

This paper presents a novel enhancement in the Hybrid TESLA protocol, integrating the Generic Bootstrapping Architecture (GBA) to replace public-key cryptography in the synchronization phase. The proposed protocol securely establishes communication between IoT devices and application servers without transmitting sensitive credentials over the network by leveraging GBA’s symmetric encryption and session key generation. Utilizing the existing mobile network infrastructure, GBA ensures secure authentication, making the protocol highly suitable for resource-constrained IoT environments. A simulation analysis conducted using Java demonstrated successful synchronization between clients and servers, with previous GBA experimental results confirming the protocol’s efficiency in terms of authentication time and power consumption. The Hybrid TESLA protocol’s use of SHA-2 and SHA-3 hashing functions ensures minimal computational demands while maintaining robust cybersecurity. This integration expands Hybrid TESLA’s utility in metaverse environments, enabling secure, seamless interactions across mobile networks.

Symmetric cryptographic schemes such as RSA and ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm), used for digital signatures in protocols like TLS, DTLS, and secure messaging, are computationally intensive. This makes them unsuitable for constrained environments, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Internet of Vehicles (IoV). This study introduces a blockchain-based framework that utilizes the Ethereum network to store and verify public keys associated with digital certificates. By replacing signature decryption with blockchain-based public key verification, the solution significantly reduces cryptographic overhead and latency in V2V messages. It supports various certificate formats, including Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)/Certificate Authority (CA) certificates such as X.509 and L-ECQV, as well as self-signed certificates. Applications include secure communication protocols like Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS)/Transport Layer Security (TLS), V2V mutual authentication in V2X messaging, and lightweight certificate management within IoT ecosystems. Empirical results show that the DTLS handshake with this scheme is reduced from 12 s to less than 6 s. Additionally, it enables vehicles and IoT devices to perform one-time signature verification with minimal latency in V2V messaging, demonstrating significant performance improvements for high-density deployments involving mutual authentication between IoT devices and V2V communication.