DESIGNING A BLOCKCHAIN-BASED SECURE FIRMWARE UPDATE PROTOCOL FOR RESOURCE-CONSTRAINED IOT DEVICES

Аннотация

The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices in critical applications necessitates robust and secure mechanisms for firmware updates. Resource-constrained IoT devices, characterized by limited computational power, memory, and energy, pose unique challenges to implementing secure firmware update protocols. This paper presents a detailed exploration of designing a blockchain-based secure firmware update protocol tailored for such constrained environments. The proposed protocol leverages blockchain’s decentralized, immutable ledger to ensure firmware integrity, authenticity, and traceability while addressing the limitations inherent in low-resource IoT devices. The design incorporates lightweight cryptographic operations, hardware security modules, and offloading strategies to balance security with performance. The paper systematically discusses the architecture, security goals, challenges, and implementation considerations, providing a comprehensive framework for future developments in secure IoT firmware management.