Blockchain-Integrated Trust and Security Framework for Secure and Privacy-Preserving Internet of Things Systems

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) has transformed modern applications by enabling seamless connectivity among smart devices across healthcare, smart cities, industrial automation, and transportation. However, the increasing number of connected devices has intensified security and privacy challenges, including unauthorized access, data tampering, identity spoofing, single points of failure, and limited protection offered by centralized security architectures. This study proposes the Blockchain-Integrated Trust and Security (BITS-IoT) Framework, a three-layer blockchain-enabled architecture designed to enhance data security, privacy, and trust in IoT environments. The framework integrates decentralized authentication, cryptographic hashing, smart contracts, immutable distributed ledgers, and lightweight consensus mechanisms to provide secure identity management, access control, and tamper-resistant data storage while considering the resource limitations of IoT devices. A simulation-based evaluation using benchmark IoT datasets and multiple deployment scenarios assessed the framework against conventional centralized IoT security approaches. Results showed that BITS-IoT achieved 96.2% data integrity, 95.5% authentication strength, 94.3% privacy preservation, and 97.2% attack resistance, while eliminating single points of failure and significantly improving system trust. Although blockchain introduced additional processing overhead and latency, integrating edge computing substantially reduced these effects, demonstrating a practical balance between security and performance. The findings indicate that BITS-IoT provides a scalable and effective security framework for protecting next-generation IoT systems.