A secure hybrid IoT architecture using blockchain and decentralized VPN: a use case of smart farming

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) technology has brought a revolution to every sector of man's life by making it interactive, insightful, and smart. IoT refers to a network of objects that make up a network that configures itself. The proliferation of smart farming IoT-based devices transforms the face of farming turn over day after day by not just only boosting it but also making it cost-effective and reducing wastage. Nonetheless, many IoT characteristics can lead to matters of security and privacy, such as connectivity, wireless, embedded usage, variety, and scale. These features make IoT special in its security requirements and pose numerous new information security threats. The objective of this study is to propose a secure IoT based smart farming using Blockchain Technology and decentralized VPN for secure and efficient environment monitoring which could encourage farmers and other stakeholders, despite other challenges, to embrace smart farming and increase their overall yield and quality of products. In this paper, the proposed integrated solution is based on Hyperledger and OpenVPN technology. The architecture is based on a wireless mesh network with robust encryption at the network and application layer. The proposed solution is resilient to the common wireless network attack.