Open Access

ARTICLE

Data Secure Storage Mechanism of Sensor Networks Based on Blockchain

Jin Wang^{1, 2}, Wencheng Chen¹, Lei Wang^{3, *}, R. Simon Sherratt⁴, Osama Alfarraj⁵, Amr Tolba^{5, 6}

1 School of Information Science and Engineering, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou, 350118, China.
2 School of Computer & Communication Engineering, Changsha University of Science & Technology, Changsha, 410004, China.
3 School of Civil Engineering, Changsha University of Science & Technology, Changsha, 410000, China.
4 Department Biomedical Engineering, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AY, UK.
5 Computer Science Department, Community College, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11437, Saudi Arabia.
6 Mathematics and Computer Science Department, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University, Shebin-El-Kom, 32511, Egypt.

* Corresponding Author: Lei Wang. Email: .

Computers, Materials & Continua 2020, 65(3), 2365-2384. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmc.2020.011567

Received 16 May 2020; Accepted 16 July 2020; Issue published 16 September 2020

Abstract

As the number of sensor network application scenarios continues to grow, the security problems inherent in this approach have become obstacles that hinder its wide application. However, it has attracted increasing attention from industry and academia. The blockchain is based on a distributed network and has the characteristics of nontampering and traceability of block data. It is thus naturally able to solve the security problems of the sensor networks. Accordingly, this paper first analyzes the security risks associated with data storage in the sensor networks, then proposes using blockchain technology to ensure that data storage in the sensor networks is secure. In the traditional blockchain, the data layer uses a Merkle hash tree to store data; however, the Merkle hash tree cannot provide non-member proof, which makes it unable to resist the attacks of malicious nodes in networks. To solve this problem, this paper utilizes a cryptographic accumulator rather than a Merkle hash tree to provide both member proof and nonmember proof. Moreover, the number of elements in the existing accumulator is limited and unable to meet the blockchain’s expansion requirements. This paper therefore proposes a new type of unbounded accumulator and provides its definition and security model. Finally, this paper constructs an unbounded accumulator scheme using bilinear pairs and analyzes its performance.

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Citations