Blockchain technology enables a decentralized and distributed environment with no need for a central authority. Transactions are simultaneously secure and trustworthy due to the use of cryptographic principles. In recent years, blockchain technology has become very trendy and penetrated different domains, mostly due to the popularity of cryptocurrencies. One field where blockchain technology has tremendous potential is healthcare, due to the need for a more patient-centric approach to healthcare systems and to connect disparate systems and increase the accuracy of electronic healthcare records (EHRs). In this systematic review, an analysis of state-of-the-art blockchain research in the field of healthcare is conducted. The aim is to reveal the potential applications of the technology and to highlight the challenges and possible directions of blockchain research in healthcare. First, background information is discussed, followed by a description of the exact methodology used in this paper. Next, an analysis of the results is given, which includes a bibliometric overview, an analysis of gathered data and its properties, and the results of a literature quality assessment. Lastly, there is a discussion of the results from the analysis. The findings indicate that blockchain technology research in healthcare is increasing and it is mostly used for data sharing, managing health records and access control. Other scenarios are very rare. Most research is aimed at presenting novel structural designs in the form of frameworks, architectures or models. Findings also show that technical details about the used blockchain elements are not given in most of the analyzed publications and that most research does not present any prototype implementation or implementation details. Often even with a prototype implementation, no details about blockchain elements are given.

Blockchain technology enables a decentralized and distributed environment with no need for a central authority. Transactions are simultaneously secure and trustworthy due to the use of cryptographic principles. In recent years, blockchain technology has become very trendy and penetrated different domains, mostly due to the popularity of cryptocurrencies. One field where blockchain technology has tremendous potential is healthcare, due to the need for a more patient-centric approach to healthcare systems and to connect disparate systems and increase the accuracy of electronic healthcare records (EHRs). In this systematic review, an analysis of state-of-the-art blockchain research in the field of healthcare is conducted. The aim is to reveal the potential applications of the technology and to highlight the challenges and possible directions of blockchain research in healthcare. First, background information is discussed, followed by a description of the exact methodology used in this paper. Next, an analysis of the results is given, which includes a bibliometric overview, an analysis of gathered data and its properties, and the results of a literature quality assessment. Lastly, there is a discussion of the results from the analysis. The findings indicate that blockchain technology research in healthcare is increasing and it is mostly used for data sharing, managing health records and access control. Other scenarios are very rare. Most research is aimed at presenting novel structural designs in the form of frameworks, architectures or models. Findings also show that technical details about the used blockchain elements are not given in most of the analyzed publications and that most research does not present any prototype implementation or implementation details. Often even with a prototype implementation, no details about blockchain elements are given.

The digitalisation of healthcare has increased the risk of cyberattacks in this sector, targeting sensitive personal information. In this paper, we conduct a systematic review of existing solutions for data breach mitigation in healthcare, analysing 99 research papers. There is a growing trend in research emphasising the security of electronic health records, data storage, access control, and personal health records. The analysis identified the adoption of advanced technologies, including Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence, alongside encryption in developing resilient solutions. These technologies lay the foundations for addressing the prevailing cybersecurity threats, with a particular focus on hacking or malicious attacks, followed by unauthorised access. The research highlights the development of strategies to mitigate data breaches and stresses the importance of technological progress in strengthening data security. The paper outlines future directions, highlighting the need for continuous technological progress and identifying the gaps in the attack mitigations.

Online Social Networks are used widely, raising new issues in terms of privacy, trust, and self-disclosure. For a better understanding of these issues for Facebook users, a model was built that includes privacy value, privacy risk, trust, privacy control, privacy concerns, and self-disclosure. A total of 602 respondents participated in an online survey, and structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the model. The findings indicate significant relationships between the constructs in this study. The model from our study contributes new knowledge to privacy issues, trust and self-disclosure on Online Social Networks for other researchers or developers of online social networks.

IoT devices are used frequently in smart homes. To better understand how users perceive the security of IoT devices in their smart homes, a model was developed and tested with multiple linear regression. A total of 306 participants participated in the survey with measurement items, out of which 121 had already been using IoT devices in their smart homes. The results show that users’ awareness of data breaches, ransomware attacks, personal information access breaches, and device vulnerabilities have an effect on IoT security importance. On the other hand, users often do not check their security settings and feel safe while using IoT devices. This paper provides an overview of users’ perception of security while using IoT devices, and can help developers build better devices and help raise awareness of security among users.