Hierarchical Blockchain-based Resource Access Control Architecture and Scheme for IoT Devices

Traditional access control schemes in Internet of things (IoT) systems have long been faced with security problems such as single point of failure, data tampering and cross-domain access. In this paper, we study the access control problem in an IoT system composed of multiple domains. Applying blockchain technology, we propose a hierarchical blockchain-based access control architecture which consists of two layers of blockchain networks, i.e., global blockchain network and local blockchain network. Based on the proposed architecture, the processes of inter-domain and intra-domain access control are examined, respectively. In order to achieve the secure access of user data in the proposed architecture, we further present a trust-value based access control strategy. To examine the performance of proposed architecture and strategy, we set up an access control simulation platform based on Hyperledger Fabric and verify the feasibility of the proposed architecture and strategy.