Blockchain Technology - Applications and Challenges

Intelligent Systems Reference Library 203
Sandeep Kumar Panda

Ajay Kumar Jena
Santosh Kumar Swain
Suresh Chandra Satapathy Editors
Blockchain
Technology:
Applications
and Challenges
Intelligent Systems Reference Library
Volume 203
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Sandeep Kumar Panda · Ajay Kumar Jena ·
Santosh Kumar Swain · Suresh Chandra Satapathy
Editors
Blockchain Technology:
Applications and Challenges
Editors
Sandeep Kumar Panda Ajay Kumar Jena
Department of Data Science and Artificial School of Computer Engineering
Intelligence KIIT University
IcfaiTech (Faculty of Science Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
and Technology)
ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education Suresh Chandra Satapathy
Hyderabad, Telangana, India School of Computer Engineering
KIIT University
Santosh Kumar Swain Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
School of Computer Engineering
KIIT University
Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
ISSN 1868-4394 ISSN 1868-4408 (electronic)

Intelligent Systems Reference Library
ISBN 978-3-030-69394-7 ISBN 978-3-030-69395-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69395-4
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Contents
1 Blockchain Technology: Introduction, Applications,

Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Ajay Kumar Jena and Sujata Priyambada Dash
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.1 Components of Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.2 Hashing Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.3 Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1.4 Public Key Cryptography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.5 Address and Wallet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.6 Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.7 Consensus Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.1.8 Smart Contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2 Evolution of Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3 Applications of Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4 Challenges of Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4.1 Scalability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.2 Loss of Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.3 Selfish Mining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2 Bitcoin: A Digital Cryptocurrency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Rohit Saxena, Deepak Arora, Vishal Nagar, and Satyasundara Mahapatra
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.2 Bitcoin Block’s Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2.1 Bitcoin Transactions’ Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.3 Bitcoin’s Anonymity & Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.4 Machine Learning Approaches to Price Prediction . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.5 Threats and Machine Learning Based Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
v
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3 Blockchain 1.0 to Blockchain 4.0—The Evolutionary

Transformation of Blockchain Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Pratyusa Mukherjee and Chittaranjan Pradhan
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.2 Fundamentals of Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.2.1 Historical Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.2.2 Basic Terminologies in Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.2.3 Structure of a Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.2.4 Types of Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.3 The Evolutionary Transformation of Blockchain 3.1 . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.3.1 Blockchain 1.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.3.2 Blockchain 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.3.3 Blockchain 3.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.3.4 Blockchain 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.4 Comparison of Different Generations of Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.5 A Blockchain Based Supply Chain Management Testcase . . . . . . 44
3.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4 Anatomy of Blockchain Implementation in Healthcare . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Shubhangi V. Urkude, Himanshu Sharma,
Seethamsetty Uday Kumar, and Vijaykumar R. Urkude
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.1.1 Characteristics of Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.1.2 Flow of Bitcoin Transaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.1.3 Types of Encryption Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
4.1.4 Types of Encryption Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4.1.5 Cryptocurrency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.1.6 Initial Coin Offering (ICO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.1.7 Tokens in Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.2 Blockchain in Healthcare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
4.3 Blockchain Implementations in Healthcare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
4.3.1 Blockchain in Medical Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
4.3.2 Blockchain-Based Healthcare Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . 61
4.3.3 Blockchain in Dental Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4.3.4 Personal Health Record Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
4.3.5 Pharmaceutical Supply Chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
4.3.6 Healthcare Information System Based
on Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
4.3.7 Blockchain in Genomics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
4.4 Issues in Blockchain with Potential Elucidations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4.4.1 Scalability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4.4.2 Energy Consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4.4.3 Complication and Expenditure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4.4.4 Lack of Supremacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Contents vii
4.4.5 Lack of Compatibility and Standardization . . . . . . . . . . 68

4.4.6 Data Confidentiality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
4.4.7 Storage Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
4.5 Issues in Healthcare that Could Be Solved Using
Blockchain Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
4.5.1 Blockchain-Based Insurance in Healthcare . . . . . . . . . . 69
4.5.2 Multimedia Blockchain System: An Immutable
Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
4.5.3 Blockchain-Based Electronic Health Records
(EHR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
4.5.4 Blockchain Technology for Preventing
Counterfeit Drugs from Entering
in Pharmaceutical Supply Chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.5.5 Blockchain Technology in Doctor-Patient
Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.5.6 Blockchain for Sharing Genomic Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
4.5.7 Enhancing Clinical Trials and Research Using
Blockchain Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
4.5.8 Decentralized Artificial Intelligence in Securing
Health Records and Detecting Anomalies . . . . . . . . . . . 73
4.6 Conclusions and Future Scopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
5 A Blockchain Framework for Healthcare Data Management
Using Consensus Based Selective Mirror Test Approach . . . . . . . . . . 77
P. S. G. Aruna Sri and D. Lalitha Bhaskari
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
5.1.1 Blockchain Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
5.2 Related Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
5.2.1 Traditional Healthcare Data Management . . . . . . . . . . . 80
5.2.2 Blockchain-Based Healthcare Data Management . . . . . 81
5.3 Proposed Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
5.3.2 Transaction Level Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
5.3.3 Health Data Interoperability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
5.3.4 Fault Tolerance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
5.4 Results and Discussions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
5.5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
6 Blockchain Technology in Healthcare: Opportunities
and Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Sachikanta Dash, Pradosh Kumar Gantayat, and Rajendra Kumar Das
6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
6.2 Fundamentals of Blockchain Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
6.2.1 Key Characteristic Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
viii Contents
6.2.2 Type of Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

6.2.4 Smart Contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
6.2.5 Challenge and Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
6.3 The Blockchain Prospective in Health Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
6.3.1 Management of Data in Healthcare Sector . . . . . . . . . . . 104
6.3.2 Management in Pharmacy Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
6.4 Proposed Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
6.4.1 Searching Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
6.4.2 Selection Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
6.4.3 Selection Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
6.4.4 Data Analysis Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
6.4.5 Strategy Incorporates for Assessment of Quality . . . . . 108
6.5 Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
6.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
7 Blockchain in Healthcare System: Security Issues, Attacks
and Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Arup Sarkar, Tanmoy Maitra, and Sarmistha Neogy
7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
7.2 Architecture of Blockchain and Existing Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
7.3 Securities in Healthcare: Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
7.3.1 Data Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
7.3.2 Interoperability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
7.3.3 Data Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
7.3.4 Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
7.4 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
7.4.1 Patient Data Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
7.4.2 Clinical Adjudication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
7.4.3 Medicine Supply Chain Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
7.5 An Example Application: Medshare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
7.6 Possible Attacks in Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
7.7 Issues and Challenges to Design Secure Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
7.8 Conclusion and Future Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
8 Application of Blockchain as a Solution to the Real-World
Issues in Health Care System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Amrutanshu Panigrahi, Bibhuprasad Sahu,
Satya Sobhan Panigrahi, Md Sahil Khan, and Ajay Kumar Jena
8.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
8.2 Features of Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
8.3 Literature Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
8.4 Working of Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
8.5 Application of BlockChain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Contents ix
8.5.1 Blockchain in Health Care System Use Case . . . . . . . . . 143

8.5.2 Key Benefits of Blockchain in Health Care . . . . . . . . . . 145
8.5.3 Challenges of Blockchain in Healthcare . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
8.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
9 UML Conceptual Analysis of Smart Contract for Health
Claim Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Subhasis Mohapatra, Smita Parija, and Abhishek Roy
9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
9.2 Basic Elements of Block Chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
9.3 Transaction in Block Chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
9.4 Ethereum Block Chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
9.5 Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
9.6 Survey of Smart Contract in Health Claim Processing . . . . . . . . . 158
9.7 Analysis of UML Modelling for Block Chain Technique . . . . . . . 159
9.8 Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
9.9 Smart Contract Terminologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
9.10 Gas Terminology in Smart Contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
9.11 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
10 Enabling Smart Education System Using Blockchain
Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
A. R. Sathya, Sandeep Kumar Panda, and Sudheer Hanumanthakari
10.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
10.2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
10.3 Blockchain Application in Educational Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
10.3.1 Secure Storage of Certificates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
10.3.2 Multi-step Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
10.3.3 Student’s Credit Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
10.3.4 Intellectual Property Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
10.3.5 Fee Payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
10.4 Certification Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
10.4.1 Traditional Certification Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
10.4.2 Digital Signatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
10.5 Blockchain-Based Digital Certificates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
10.6 Benefits and Challenges in Approving Blockchain
in Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
10.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
x Contents
11 Blockchain Technology in Smart-Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

P. Chinnasamy, C. Vinothini, S. Arun Kumar,
A. Allwyn Sundarraj, S. V. Annlin Jeba, and V. Praveena
11.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
11.2 Groundwork of Blockchain and Its Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
11.2.1 Block Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
11.2.2 Blockchain Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
11.2.3 Consensus Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
11.2.4 Architecture of Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
11.3 Smart City: Features, Stone Walls and Regulatory Standards . . . . 188
11.3.1 Features of Smart Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
11.3.2 Pillars of Smart Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
11.4 Smart Cities Security Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
11.4.1 Communication Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
11.4.2 Secure Management of Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
11.4.3 Authentication and Access Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
11.4.4 Application Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
11.5 Blockchain in Smart Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
11.5.1 Healthcare Using Smart Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
11.5.2 Smart Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
11.5.3 Vehicular Adhoc NETworks (VANETs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
11.5.4 Smart Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
11.5.5 Supply Chain Management (SCM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
11.5.6 Financial Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
11.6 Open Research Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
11.6.1 Confidentiality and Integrity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
11.6.2 Secure Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
11.6.3 Energy Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
11.6.4 Interoperability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
11.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
12 Blockchain Technology and Fashion Industry-Opportunities
and Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Gautami Tripathi, Vandana Tripathi Nautiyal, Mohd Abdul Ahad,
and Noushaba Feroz
12.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
12.2 Issues in Fashion Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
12.2.1 Supply Chain Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
12.2.2 Intellectual Property Right Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
12.2.3 Sustainability Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
12.3 Related Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
12.4 Blockchain for Fashion Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
12.4.1 Inventory Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
12.4.2 Distributed Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Contents xi
12.4.3 Supply Chain Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

12.4.4 Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
12.4.5 Copyright and IPR Infringements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
12.4.6 Tracking of Raw Materials and Finished Products . . . . 211
12.5 Blockchain for Fashion Industry-Issues and Challenges . . . . . . . . 213
12.5.1 Absence of Regulating Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
12.5.2 Technology Immaturity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
12.5.3 High Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
12.5.4 Loss in Supply Chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
12.5.5 High Complexity of Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
12.5.6 Lack of Standardization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
12.5.7 Need for Two-Level Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
12.5.8 Information Transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
12.5.9 Intellectual Property Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
12.5.10 Blockchain Incorporation Challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
12.6 Conclusion and Future Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
13 Secure Event Ticket Booking Using Decentralized System . . . . . . . . . 221
Vihas Naman, Shanmukhi Priya Daliyet, Shagun S Lokre,
and K. Varaprasad Rao
13.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
13.2 Literature Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
13.3 Preliminaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
13.4 System Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
13.4.1 Activity Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
13.4.2 Use Case Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
13.5 Smart Contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
13.5.1 Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
13.6 Security Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
13.7 Conclusions and Future Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
14 Cloud Identity and Access Management Solution
with Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Soumya Prakash Otta and Subhrakanta Panda
14.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
14.2 Identity and Access Management (IAM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
14.2.1 Access Control System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
14.2.2 Authentication Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
14.3 IAM Related Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
14.3.1 Overview of Identity Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
14.3.2 Threats for Identity and Access Management
in Cloud Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
14.3.3 IAM Concerns and Related Developments . . . . . . . . . . . 254
14.4 Blockchain Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
xii Contents
14.4.1 Blockchain Architecture and Functioning . . . . . . . . . . . 258

14.4.2 Technical Function of Blockchain and Evolution . . . . . 259
14.4.3 Workflow of Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
14.4.4 Comparison of Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
14.4.5 Security Techniques in Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
14.5 Open Research Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
14.5.1 Mandatory Access Control (MAC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
14.5.2 Discretionary Access Control (DAC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
14.5.3 Attribute Based Access Control (ABAC) . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
14.5.4 Role Based Access Control (RBAC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
14.5.5 Identity Access Management (IAM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
14.5.6 Additional Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
14.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
15 Blockchain: A New Safeguard to Cybersecurity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Ishtiaque Ahmed, Manan Darda, and Siddhanth Nath
15.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
15.2 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
15.3 Ethereum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
15.3.1 Smart Contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
15.3.2 Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
15.3.3 Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
15.3.4 DApps (Decentralized Applications) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
15.4 Private Versus Public Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
15.4.1 Public Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
15.4.2 Private Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
15.5 Cyber Threats and Blockchain Transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
15.5.1 New Threat Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
15.5.2 Defender’s Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
15.5.3 By What Means Can Blockchain Help? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
15.6 Future Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
15.6.1 Future Impacts of Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
15.7 Conclusions and Future Scopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
16 Gun Tracking System Using Blockchain Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Shagun S Lokre, Vihas Naman, Shanmukhi Priya,
and Sandeep Kumar Panda
16.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
16.2 Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
16.3 System Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
16.4 Working Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
16.4.1 Algorithm Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
16.4.2 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
16.5 Security Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Contents xiii
16.6 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Chapter 1
Blockchain Technology: Introduction,
Applications, Challenges
Ajay Kumar Jena and Sujata Priyambada Dash
Abstract Blockchain—the technology behind the popular cryptocurrency bitcoin

is revolutionizing the world and bringing significant changes in our technology and
business environment. Blockchain is a tamper-proof, distributed and decentralized
peer-to-peer technology that could track and verify digital transactions. It aims to
bring in transparency, security and integrity of data. This most trusted, decentralized
ledger finds it application in almost all the domains varying from finance, education,
energy, supply chain, health care and many more. This chapter elaborates the different
components that makes this technology more trustable and reliable. It uncovers the
various application areas of blockchain technology. While detailing the space with
blockchain it also brings out the shortcomings, difficulties and threats of this this
technology. This chapter will act as a guide for people interested to explore blockchain
and blockchain based solution for any application.
Keywords Blockchain · Cryptocurrency · Peer-to-peer · Bitcoin
1.1 Introduction
For the past few decades, there had been a rise of many applications over the
internet that solves real time problems in a collaborative and decentralized manner.
A numerous such applications are popular and common universally. However, the
concept of digital currencies exists since 1980s, but it took more than two decades
to make a decentralized solution possible. Over the past, digital currencies used a
central authority to store and maintain the transaction records. B-Money [1], Bitgold
[2], RPOW [3] are some of the examples of a centralized approach. Later, distributed
solutions to store the transactions of currencies were developed to eliminate the need
A. K. Jena (B)
School of Computer Engineering, KIIT Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
S. P. Dash
Department of Management, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, India
e-mail: [email protected]
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 1

S. K. Panda et al. (eds.), Blockchain Technology: Applications and Challenges,
Intelligent Systems Reference Library 203,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69395-4_1
2 A. K. Jena and S. P. Dash
for central authorities like bank. However, these currencies had a risk of double
spending. In other words, it is possible to make two different transactions with same
coins which are not possible in centralized approach. Moreover, to get an agreement
on distributed information and maintaining a consistent state in distributed envi-
ronment led to Byzantine Generals Problem [4]. Therefore, Quorum systems are
developed where malicious users and faulty information are accepted by the system.
But the concept of voting in quorum systems i.e. an information will be accepted if
majority of the users have voted for it have led to Sybil attacks [5]. Quorum systems
also gave rise to temporary inconsistencies.
In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto developed a bitcoin design [6] which overcomes all
the above mentioned difficulties. Bitcoin becomes widespread immediately due to its
combined contributions from previous research works. Bitcoin uses a unique feature
named Proof-of-Work to restrict the number of votes per entity thereby making a
decentralized approach real. The nodes of a decentralized bitcoin network is called
miner. The miner collects all transactions of the network in blocks. A collection
of such blocks linked via some cryptographic mechanism is called Blockchain.
Blockchain Technology is a distributed, decentralized, peer-peer network to store
transactions of the network without any third party. This technology came to limelight
with the introduction of Bitcoin network. It allows the bitcoin users to transmit their
rights to information to another bitcoin user publicly over the network. Blockchain
allows the nodes to verify and manage the network. The cryptographic hashing mech-
anism used in blockchain lets the data in blocks to be tamper-proof and secure. In
bitcoin blockchain the users are enabled to be pseudonymous which means the trans-
actions are available public but their identities are not. Some of the key characteristics
are mentioned below.
Ledger: An open, append only ledger is used by blockchain to record the transaction
history. The data in this ledger cannot be modified unlike the traditional databases.
Secure: Blocks in blockchain are cryptographically linked and does not let the data
to be tampered thereby assuring the security of information over blockchain.
Shared: The public ledger can be shared among the users of the network thus assuring
the transparency among the users.
Distributed: The blockchain is distributed among the users of the network which
makes it strong against the attacks. By increasing the number of nodes in the network
the security of the information on blockchain is high.
Based on the permissions strategy, the blockchain is categorized as permission-
less and permissioned. Permission less are public blockchain where anyone who are
part of the network can publish blocks whereas permissioned are private blockchain
where only authorised users can publish the blocks. Permissioned blockchain are
usually implemented for group of organizations and permission less does not have
such restrictions. The summary of distinction between permission and permission-
less blockchain is given in Table 1.1.
1 Blockchain Technology: Introduction, Applications, Challenges 3
Table 1.1 Permissioned versus permission-less blockchain

Permissioned Permissionless
Users has to be authorized by some authority No permission required to publish blocks
to publish blocks
May be open source or closed source Open source platforms available for anyone to
platforms download
Possible to restrict read and write access to Anyone in the network can read or write
users transactions over the blockchain
Uses consensus methods but not necessary to Users’ needs to adapt consensus mechanism in
keep or maintain expensive resources order to avoid malicious users to publish blocks
No rewards Users who publishes blocks are rewarded with
cryptocurrencies
Users identity are known and authorised Users identity are pseudonymous
1.1.1 Components of Blockchain
At the top-level, widely-known cryptographic concepts like hashing, asymmetric key

cryptography, digital signatures combined with principles in record keeping are used
in Blockchain Technology. Some of the key components like Addresses, Blocks,
transactions, hashing and digital signatures are explained below in detail.
1.1.2 Hashing Methods
The most important component of blockchain technology is hashing functions a cryp-

tographic mechanism. Hashing is a cryptographic technique which simply converts
a data of any size into a unique fixed size output. The input can be a text, file or image
and the output is fixed size alpha-numeric string. Hashing in blockchain assures the
users that the data transmitted is not changed. This can be done by comparing the
hash values of the input data. That is, any minor change in the data will result in
different hash value. The reason hashing technique used in blockchain is due to its
security property. (i) Pre-image resistant: Hashing techniques are uni-directional.
It is not possible to compute the input based on the output. (ii) Second preimage
resistant: based on the input given, it is impossible to compute the second input that
generates the same output. (iii) Collision resistant: It is highly infeasible to find two
input generating same hash output.
Most of the blockchain implementation uses Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA)
that generates an output of size 256-bits. SHA-256 hashing algorithm produces
an output of 32 bytes (256-bits) usually displayed as 64 hexadecimal characters.
Other than SHA-256, Keccak and RIPEMD-60 are some other hashing algorithms
used in blockchain network. Hashing techniques are used for various operations in
blockchain such as address creation, securing block data and block header etc.
Fig. 1.1 A block structure
Another key component used is Nonce which is used in proof-of-work consensus

mechanism. A nonce is a random number that is combined with the block data to
produce different hash output. The proof-of-work consensus model functions by
adjusting the nonce value and provides a method for obtaining specific output values
by retaining the same data. The structure of a block is given in Fig. 1.1.
Figure 1.1 shows the block structure divided into a block header and a body. The
body of a block consists of all the transactions of that block whereas block header in
turn has the hash of the block, hash of the previous block, the nonce value, timestamp
denoting the time details of the block published and the merkle root [7] which is
nothing but the consolidated hash value of the all the hashes of the transactions.
1.1.3 Transactions
A transaction in blockchain means an interaction between two entities. In case of

cryptocurrencies, the transfer of bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency from one user to
the other is called as transaction whereas in a business scenario transfer of ownership
or activities involved in digital assets is considered as a transaction. Every block
contains zero or more transactions. The data included in a transaction generally
are transaction input, output, sender’s address, sender’s public key, and a digital
signature [8]. Although mainly used for the transfer of digital objects, transactions
may commonly be used for data transfer. In a basic scenario, someone might only
choose to publish data public on the blockchain forever. Or it can be used to transfer
and process the data and then stores the result in blockchain as in smart contracts
system. More than the data and the transmission validity and authenticity of the
transaction are vital. Validity of the transaction assures that the transaction adheres
to the blockchain implementation protocols and authenticity implies that the sender
of the transaction has access to the digital assets that are transmitted. The sender
of the transaction digitally signs it by using his private key and can be verified by
anyone using the sender’s public key.
1.1.4 Public Key Cryptography
Public key cryptography otherwise called as Asymmetric key cryptography is used

in blockchain for various operations. Asymmetric key uses two key namely public
and private key which are computationally related to each other. Out of these, the
public key can be viewed by anyone whereas private key is kept secret. However,
it is not possible to compute the private key using the openly available public key.
At the same time, it possible to encrypt the data using a private key and can be
decrypt using the corresponding public key. This process can be vice-versa. This
cryptographic mechanism assures users the authenticity and integrity of data but
maintains transparency at the same time [9]. However, the process of encryption
and decryption in asymmetric key cryptography is considered slow to compute. But,
symmetric key encryption methodology where a single key is used for encryption
and decryption is easy to compute however there’s a need for trust among the users
to share the keys. Therefore to simplify the process the data is encrypted using
symmetric key technique and then the symmetric key in turn is encrypted using
asymmetric key technique. In this way the speed of asymmetric key technique can
be greatly improved.
1.1.5 Address and Wallet
Addresses are usually a short alphanumeric characters used as a sender and receiver’s
transaction point. A hash function is used to derive user’s public key. Different
blockchain implementation uses different ways to derive the addresses. And the
users of blockchain network have to store their private keys in a secure place. Instead
of storing them manually, software is used to store them. The software used to store
the private keys is called as wallets. Apart from private keys the wallets can store the
user’s addresses and public keys as well. Wallets are used to calculate the number of
digital assets owns by a particular trusted user.
1.1.6 Blocks
The transactions made by the blockchain users are submitted to the network via
software like web services, mobile applications and so on. Once a transaction is
submitted, the software sends it to a particular node or to a set of nodes. This does
not mean that the transaction is added to the blockchain. The transactions would
be in queue of the publishing node and will be added in blockchain after the node
publishes a block. A block includes a block header where the metadata of the block
is available and a block body where all valid transactions will be included [10]. The
metadata of the block varies based on the blockchain implementation. A general
structure of a block can be referred in Fig. 1.1. These blocks are chained together
through the hash of the previous block and form a blockchain. For instance, any data
change in any of the block will result in a different hash and will be reflected in the
subsequent blocks. Hence it is easy to identify whether a block has been tampered
or not [11].
1.1.7 Consensus Mechanism
Key feature behind the technology of blockchain is to determine the user to publish
the blocks. As the network node publishes a block they would be rewarded with
cryptocurrency. Due to this, it is possible for many nodes to compete for publishing
nodes. This problem can be solved using consensus mechanisms. This allows a group
of users who don’t trust each other to work together. There are several consensus
models being used such as Proof of Work (PoW), Proof of Stake (PoS), Proof of
Authority (PoA), Proof of Elapsed Time (PoET) etc.
The consensus mechanism is a process of decision making where the network
users agree and support a decision for the betterment of the network. In consensus
model, in order to add a block in blockchain a miner (node) has to solve a crypto-
graphic puzzle. The process of solving the puzzle requires huge computation and
is hard to solve. Once the puzzle is solved it’ll be broadcasted to the network for
verification. Once verification is successful, the block will be added to the blockchain
[10].
1.1.8 Smart Contracts
In 1994, Nick Szabo developed an automated transaction procedure that implements

the terms of an agreement or contract. Blockchain performs transactions in a pre-
agreed fashion where the participating entities agree upon the contractual terms.
The main objective of a smart contract is to execute the terms and conditions of a
contract automatically thereby minimizing the need for intermediaries [12]. Smart
contracts are cluster of data and code or programmed applications that are imple-
mented via digitally signed transactions over the blockchain network. The execution
of smart contracts is done by the nodes of the network and the results are stored on
the blockchain. Regardless of the number of nodes executing the smart contract the
result of the execution must always be same. Various operations can be performed
using a smart contract like some computations, providing access, storing informa-
tion and even reverting back the financial transactions. It is to be noted that not all
blockchain models can execute smart contracts. Bitcoin blockchain do not support
smart contracts but uses some scripting languages to offer limited programmability.
Whereas, Ethereum [13] and Hyperledger [14] run smart contracts built over them.
The programming language used to write smart contracts are Serpent and Solidity.
However, the most widespread language is solidity.
1.2 Evolution of Blockchain
Over the years, blockchain has evolved rapidly that it provides many more solutions
than just the decentralization of cryptocurrency. While Bitcoin Blockchain is consid-
ered as a first generation blockchain, Ethereum and Smart contracts forms the second
generation blockchain and the development of Decentralized Apps (DApps) are the
third generation blockchain models. Bitcoin blockchain enables the financial trans-
action in a decentralized way and eliminates the need for trusted third parties. The
transactions are based on public key cryptography and digital signatures. The nodes
that validate the transactions uses a PoW mechanism based on Hashcash and SHA-
256 hashing algorithms. Though it is claimed that the users of bitcoin blockchain can
remain anonymous but, it is possible to trace back the transaction and find the iden-
tity of the users. Hence the users are pseudonymous. The users were rewarded with
incentives i.e. bitcoins for publishing the blocks. However scalability played a major
drawback in bitcoin blockchain. Moreover, it is not well suited for general purpose
applications due to its limitations. Thus in 2013, Ethereum [15] a general purpose
blockchain platform was developed. Ethereum addresses most of the scripting and
transaction limitations of bitcoin blockchain. Therefore Ethereum led to the develop-
ment of smart contracts a small programmed application to be stored and execute over
the blockchain network. Smart contracts enable automatic execution of conditions
while validating the transactions. Therefore it reduces the cost involved in verifica-
tion, fraud prevention and many more and ensures transparency. Though it provides
lot of advantages, Ethereum smart contracts does have some limitations like, complex
programming languages to write smart contracts, difficult to modify or end the smart
contracts once executed and so on. However, with the growing economic demand,
Ethereum could not support huge volumes of transactions. Therefore, Blockchain
is increasingly heading to decentralized web, incorporating systems for data collec-
tion, smart contracts, communication networks and open standards. This paved the
way for DApps which means Decentralized Applications whose backend runs on
a Blockchain network and its front end has a user interface of any programming
language [16]. DApp is open source and uses decentralized consensus mechanisms.
With growing popularity of DApps it is integrated with many industrial applica-
tions thereby enabling a cross chain communication [17]. This allows consumers
from various systems to function together as one team, making Industry 4.0’s market
demands and specifications easily merged [18].
1.3 Applications of Blockchain
Due to its salient features blockchain is applied not only in decentralized cryp-
tocurrencies but much beyond that. Blockchain can change the business transactions
models and protocols of managing assets [18], E-voting [19], renting a car, watching
a movie and many more. It widens its applications in major sectors like FinTech
[20], Healthcare [21], Governance, Supply chain [22], Manufacturing Industries,
Insurance, Education, IoT [23], Big Data systems and Machine Learning [24] etc.
FinTech: Application of Blockchain in various financial services include Financial
transactions, Asset management, etc. It avoids any trusted third parties and enables
faster and reliable transactional services. Insurance: In insurance domain, the need
to detect the fraudulent claims, abandoned policies can be streamlined by using
blockchain and making a risk free and transparent system. Insurers can get a hold of
ownership of assets that are to be insured by the encryption properties of blockchain.
IoT: Any object connected to the Internet becomes Internet of Things. Application of
Blockchain in IoT is enormous. Like Smart Home applications, smart cities, Cloud
Integration [25] and so on. Healthcare: Healthcare is one such domain where a
huge amount of data is generated. For instance, daily reports of patient monitoring,
clinical research management, processing medical insurance claims and storing the
medical records. Applying blockchain in healthcare includes the decentralization of
the mentioned activities with patients, doctors, insurance companies being the users
and managing the records. Education: Blockchain in education is still at the pilot level
and can extend its potential in Identity management, Digital certificates, Blockchain
enabled certificates etc. It enables the users to share their academic achievements with
chosen users who want to verify the credentials. Similarly, E-voting: Enabling the
users to cast their vote in a secure way. Since the data on blockchain is secure tamper-
proof, it is possible to avoid any counterfeit of votes. Another major sector where
blockchain has a greater potential for growth is Supply chain: The whole process of
supply chain can be carried over the blockchain network like transmission of goods,
traceability of items, customer refund in case of faulty delivery, and faster transaction
at reduced cost. Blockchain can transform the way the supply chain works.
The above mentioned areas are some of the applications where blockchain is
revolutionizing but not limited only to those domains. There are many more areas
where researchers are trying to fit in blockchain in order to utilize its entire potential
[26].
1.4 Challenges of Blockchain
Even though Blockchain Technology has numerous potential in it there are certain
challenges that limit the application of blockchain on a wider range. Few major
challenges can be as follows.
1.4.1 Scalability
Due to the increase in the number of transaction every now and then, the size and
volume of lockchain also getting large day by day. Every node has to collect all
the transactions and validate them on the blockchain. Besides this, blockchain has
a restriction on block size and the amount of time taken to publish the blocks only
7 transactions per second can take place. This may not suffice the requirement of
processing a large amount of data in real-time. And moreover since the size of the
block is small miners tend to prefer validating transaction with higher fee due to
which smaller transactions gets delayed. Some developments to resolve these issues
are storage optimization and redesigning of blockchain.
1.4.2 Loss of Privacy
In blockchain a considerable amount of privacy is maintained by using public

key cryptography mechanism in transactions to keep the user identity anonymous.
However, the transactional anonymity cannot be assured by blockchain because the
identities of all transactions and balances for each cryptographic key are publicly
accessible. Thus it is possible to recognize the user by keeping track of the
transactions.
1.4.3 Selfish Mining
Blockchain is more prone to attacks like this. Selfish Mining is a strategy where
an over ambitious miner secretly keeps his blocks without publishing it. It would
be revealed to the public only if some conditions are satisfied. This secretly mined
private chains which are longer than the current openly available chain, all other
miners would agree to it. As a result honest miners would have wasted their resources
on a chain that is going to be abandoned. In this way selfish miners may be rewarded
with higher incentives. Likewise blockchain is susceptible for many attacks like Sybil
attacks, Double spending [27, 20], 51% attacks and so on.
Nevertheless, Blockchain has been transforming both the industry and the
academia with its distinct properties like decentralization, anonymity, integrity and
transparency. The applications of blockchain have gone beyond cryptocurrencies
and transactions. The decentralization nature of blockchain over the already existing
internet is very interesting in terms of data redundancy and survivability. Out of
some solutions blockchain is the perfect solution for problems where trust is of key
concern. Even though blockchain has not reached its maturity it still continues to
suit applications of different domains globally.
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Chapter 2
Bitcoin: A Digital Cryptocurrency
Rohit Saxena, Deepak Arora, Vishal Nagar, and Satyasundara Mahapatra
Abstract Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency ever created and traded using a decen-
tralized ledger known as the blockchain. Altogether, Bitcoin is a network in which
every computing node is responsible to service the others and allows shared access to
the data, known peer to peer (P2P) network, and provides an adaption of electronic-
cash that supports e-payments. Such payments are transferred directly from trans-
acting parties to the receiver without the requirement of any intermediary monetary
body. Satoshi Nakamoto introduced bitcoin in 2009 and since then it has emerged
as the most thriving cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is a globally accepted and immutable e-
payment system of digital currency. All the electronic transactions performed using
bitcoin are verified by the intermediate nodes called miners and then added as a
block in the distributed ledger. Bitcoin blockchains are maintained by the miners
running Bitcoin software. Bitcoin depends on Proof-of-Work (PoW) to confront
double-spending by a distributed timestamping service. To ensure the operations
and security of Bitcoin, all the transactions and their execution order must be avail-
able to all Bitcoin users. In addition to its security robustness, anonymity is the key
attribute for its success. There are several factors like market-cap, the marketplace,
miners-revenue, etc. which causes the rise and fall of the price of Bitcoin. This chapter
focus on the factors that are responsible for the rise and fall of Bitcoin Price with a
comparison with other Cryptocurrencies.
Keywords Bitcoin · Blockchain · Cryptocurrency · Consensus · Miners
R. Saxena · V. Nagar · S. Mahapatra (B)

Pranveer Singh Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India
D. Arora
Amity University, Lucknow, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69395-4_2
14 R. Saxena et al.
2.1 Introduction
Bitcoin is an interconnection of computing nodes where the source code of bitcoin is

deployed and stored in its blockchain. While the collection of transactions is known
as a block, blockchain is a collection of blocks. All the nodes that run the blockchain
have the same collection of blocks and transactions and transparently see the new
blocks being added with new blockchain transactions. To realize the wicked act,
miners need to gain the hash rate 51% or more (known as the 51% attack) that makes
up a bitcoin. Although, such an attack is still theoretical because bitcoin currently
has more than 10,000 computing nodes which are growing consistently, making such
attacks improbable [1].
Blockchain is progressing & recasting the industry of information technology
with superior security, competence, and flexibility. There are various use cases of
Blockchain Technology which majorly include cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin,
Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple etc. [2]. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency popularly used
for peer-to-peer and decentralized payments where the transactions are performed
without an intermediary. Transactions performed using Bitcoin are verified by inter-
mediate nodes in the network. These transactions are then registered in the globally
accessible ledger called Bitcoin Blockchain. The novel concept of Bitcoin was orig-
inally presented by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 and was realised as
open-source software in 2009 and since then it has surfaced as the most favourable
cryptocurrency among all its competitors thereby adding billions of dollars to the
economy within few years. As, Bitcoin employs P2P network that does not use
any external bodies such as banks or any other electronic financial service provider
for supervises and observes the validation or approval of transactions. Bitcoin has
progressively drawn the attention of the public and advancing with increasingly
more customers connecting with the payment system as it is now described as
revolutionary, fast, tax-free, and convenient digital currency [3].
Being a cryptocurrency based on account entries, the bitcoin is described as surplus
remaining in bitcoin account. Bitcoin accounts are described as Elliptical Curve Cryp-
tographic Key Pairs. Bitcoin employs Elliptical Curve Digital Signature Algorithm
(ECDSA) to make sure that electronic funds are spent by the legitimate user. ECDSA
is the cryptographic algorithm that has the curve specification secp256k1 that signi-
fies the private keys with size of 256-bit [4]. Secp256k1 is used to refer to the essential
parameters of elliptic curve employed in asymmetric key cryptography for bitcoin
blockchain and is described in the specifications for the competent cryptography.
ECDSA conceptualizes the following [5]:
(a) Private key: randomly generated secret number which is known to the entity
who has generated it. In bitcoin blockchain, users that possess the private-key
can spend funds using the blockchain. The private-key is a single unsigned
integer of 256-bit.
(b) Public key: number computed using the private key that is not kept secret. It is
used to ascertain whether the signature is authentic i.e. generated with proper
key while keeping the private-key secret. In bitcoin blockchain, public-keys
2 Bitcoin: A Digital Cryptocurrency 15
can be either uncompressed (i.e. 65 bytes, prefixed with 0 × 04 and followed

by 2 keys of length 256-bits or compressed (i.e. 33 bytes, prefixed with 0 × 02
or 0 × 03 and key-length 256-bits).
(c) Signature: number, generated mathematically using a hash of something that
is to be signed, plus a private-key.
Bitcoin accounts are globally recognized by their addresses and achieved through
its public-key that employs simplex and unidirectional function. With the help of
this knowledge, bitcoin users can transfer the bitcoins to that bitcoin address. For
spending funds electronically, the sender needs the corresponding private key. The
user of bitcoin can generate several addresses by applying cryptographic software or
bitcoin wallets.
2.2 Bitcoin Block’s Structure
A bitcoin block is a container that amasses transactions arranged linearly over a period
in the globally distributed ledger, blockchain. Transaction’s data is persistently stored
in files known as blocks. It is data structure just like individual pages similar to the
pages of the record book or bank’s transaction ledger. A bitcoin block has a header
and list of transactions. The transaction list takes the maximum size of the block.
Various fields, their description and size of a block are depicted in Table 2.1.
Block’s Header
The header of a block consists of three sets of information [4]. They are:
(a) references to the immediately previous block connecting to the current block.
(b) metadata set to relate the mining competition, i.e., difficulty, timestamp, and
nonce
(c) the data structure, Merkle root, to describe all the transactions in the block.
The cryptographic hash is main identifier which is also considered as digital
fingerprint. The block header is hashed twice by SHA-256 hashing algorithm to
compute the cryptographic hash. This results in block hash which is a 32-byte hash
or more precisely block’s header hash because it is calculated using the block header.
For instance, the hash of the very first block header created for bitcoin blockchain is
000000000019d6689c085ae163431e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f. Hash
Table 2.1 Block structure [4]

Field Size (in bytes) Description
Block size 4 Total bytes
Block’s header 80 Comprises 6 items
Transaction’s counter 1 to 9 VI = VarInt, it is positive integer
Transactions <Transaction counter> Non-empty transactions list
16 R. Saxena et al.
value of the header is utilized to identify the bitcoin block unambiguously and more
importantly it is the unique identifier for a block. Hash of the header can be derived
autonomously by any node by hashing the header of the block. Every node calculates
the hash of the new block as it is received It is then stored in a separate autonomous
table as a metadata of that block. This facilitates indexing and speedy retrieval of the
blocks from the disk. This hash is neither encapsulated in the data structure of the
block nor transmitted in the network along with the block, nor stored as persistence
storage of the block.
2.2.1 Bitcoin Transactions’ Structure
The most crucial part of the bitcoin system is a transaction. These are data structures
used to cipher the funds transfer from the source of the fund, known as the input, to
a destination known as an output in the bitcoin system. Every transaction is needed
to be created, validated, propagated, and incorporated to the public balance sheet of
the transaction and then entered in the bitcoin’s blockchain. There are various fields
of the transaction. These are shown in Table 2.2.
One of the elementary components of the bitcoin transaction is Unspent Trans-
action Output (UTXO). They are inseparable blocks of bitcoin locked to a specified
proprietor and reorganized as units of currency by the unified network. The bitcoin’s
network keeps track of the ready-to-use UTXO. The amount is saved in blockchain
in the form of UTXO whenever any user receives bitcoin and might be outspread
as UTXO among a large number of transactions. The concept of bitcoin balance
is deduced by wallet application. The blockchain is scanned and all the UTXO
belonging to the users are aggregated by the wallet to calculate the users’ balance.
The value of the UTXO can be arbitrarily designated as multiple of satoshis. Bitcoin
is divided into 8-decimal places similar to the dollars which is divided into 2-decimal
places. Once UTXO is created, it cannot be divided. Therefore, if it is larger than its
required value, it must be consumed completely, and changes must be reflected in
the transaction. That is if there are 30 bitcoin UTXO and only 2 UTXO are needed
to be spent then the transaction must completely eat up the 30 bitcoin UTXO and
produce the following two output: (a) payment of 2 bitcoin to the desired recipient
Table 2.2 Schematic structure of bitcoin transaction

Field Description Size (in bytes)
Version Present the rules to be followed by transaction 4
Input counter Total inputs included 1 to 9 (VarInt)
Inputs Transaction input (One or more) Varying size
Output counter Total outputs included 1 to 9 (VarInt)
Outputs Transaction output (One or more) Varying size
Locktime Block number/Unix timestamp 4
and (b) payment of 28 bitcoin as the change back to the wallet which is at hand for
the transactions to come.
UTXO that are exhausted for a particular transaction are known as transaction
inputs and the UTXO that are constructed through the transaction are called trans-
action output. In this manner, the clusters of the values of the bitcoin travel forward
from one owner to the other to form a series of transactions that consume and create
UTXOs. Signature of the current user is used by the transactions to unlock the UTXO
and then consuming it. Transactions create UTXOs and lock them to next owner’s
bitcoin address.
Transaction Outputs
Transaction outputs are created and recorded on the ledger of the bitcoin. These
transaction outputs create spendable clusters of bitcoins known as Unspent Trans-
action Output (UTXO). Entire network identifies the UTXOs and are at hand for
transacting in the time to come. Transacting bitcoin is creating a UTXO registered to
the address of the owner and available for spending. UTXO can be tracked by bitcoin
client in a database known as the UTXO pool or UTXO set. Every transaction output
comprises of following two things.
(a) total amount of bitcoins denominated as satoshis, also the smallest bit.
(b) locking script, also known as “encumbrance”, locks the amount by designating
the state that is to be satisfied for spending the output.
Transaction Input
The pointers to the UTXO are called transaction input. These are transaction hash
and sequence number of the a UTXO in the bitcoin blockchain. It includes the
scripts for unlocking for spending UTXO. These scripts must meet the requirements
of the spending conditions that the UTXOs has set. This is a signature that proves
the possession of the bitcoin address in locking script. The wallet of the user selects
from the pool of the remaining UTXOs and creates transaction. For an instance, if the
payment to made is of 0.020 bitcoin, the wallet app selects 0.010 UTXO and adding
them up for the payment. After UTXO selection, unlocking scripts are produced by
the wallet and making the UTXO eligible for spending by satisfying the locking
script conditions. The unlocking scripts contain the signatures for every UTXO. The
wallet then adds unlocking scripts and UTXO references as input to the transactions3
Bitcoin Mining.
In blockchain, mining is appending a new block at the end. In bitcoin network,
mining process adds a new bitcoin to the electronic fund supply. Mining nodes are
the specialized nodes on the bitcoin network. Such nodes listen for the new block
that is propagated on the bitcoin network.
It also helps to safeguard the bitcoin network against dishonest transactions more-
over preventing transactions from paying out the same amount of bitcoin again and
again which is commonly known as double-spending. In turn, the miners get rewarded
for providing the processing power to the bitcoin network. They play a vital role in
validating new transactions and documenting them on the distributed ledger. After
18 R. Saxena et al.
every 10 min, a newly mined block that contains the transaction that occurred since
the last block is mined, i.e., the most recent transaction. These transactions are incor-
porated inside the block after which they are added to the blockchain as confirmed
transactions allowing the possessor of the bitcoin to spend whatever they have gained
in those transactions [4].
The mining nodes participate and compete for working out a difficult-to-solve
cryptographic hash algorithm based mathematical puzzle. In turn, they earn two
types of rewards: (a) new coin that is generated after each block has been mined
and, (b) fees for all the validating and recording the transaction. The solution to
such mathematical puzzles is called PoW i.e., Proof-of-Work. The battle of solving
the PoW algorithm form the basis for the security model of bitcoin. The process of
mining facilitates the monetary supply for Bitcoin which is similar to the banks that
issues the new money by printing currency notes. The number of bitcoins that can
be added by the miner drops roughly after every four years which is almost every
210,000 blocks. Initially, the number of bitcoins that can be added per block were
50 in January 2009 which declined to 6.25 bitcoin every block on May 11, 2020 [6].
In this manner, there is an exponential decrease in the reward of the miner and until
2140 approximately all the bitcoin i.e. 20.99999998 million will be issued and no
new bitcoins will be issued.
Every transaction includes a transaction fee. This fee is an overabundant bitcoin
between inputs and outputs of the transaction. The miner winning PoW challenge gets
it as reward. As the time is increasing, the reward earned by the miner is decreasing
while the total number of transactions per block are increasing and the larger propor-
tion of miners’ earning will be from the transaction fees. Mining process accredit
the network-wide consensus in decentralized environment and safeguards the bitcoin
network from attacks.
The traditional payment systems depend upon the trust model having centralized
authority that provides the clearinghouse services by verifying and clearing the trans-
actions. On the other hand, the bitcoin blockchain has no central authority, blocks
in a blockchain are assembled separately in the network and have an entire replica
of the public ledger that can be a trusted authoritative log. Decentralized consensus
in bitcoin comes to the light through the interaction of four processes occurring
separately on the mining nodes in the network:
(a) Every transaction is verified independently based on an extensive criteria list.
The verification is done by the full node.
(b) The mining nodes aggregate the transactions independently into new blocks
that is coupled with demonstrated computation through the PoW algorithm.
(c) Every node independently verifies and assembles recent blocks into blockchain.
(d) The chain with massive cumulative calculations shown by PoW are selected
by every node independently.
Wallet software generates transactions by collecting Unspent Transaction Output,
furnishing relevant scripts for unlocking, and creating recent outputs being allocated
to new owners. Transaction is then forwarded to adjacent nodes for network-wide
propagation. Every node verifies the transaction and forwards the valid transaction
to their adjacent nodes. The verification ensures that only the valid transactions are
propagated across the entire network and invalid transactions are discarded at the
first node that confronts them.
2.3 Bitcoin’s Anonymity & Privacy
The crucial concepts which cannot be easily differentiated are anonymity and privacy.
While anonymity is hiding the owner’s identity, privacy means hiding of the back-
ground [7]. In a real-life scenario, the user’s privacy more desirable than anonymity
because the protection of personal data is required for its proper usage. For example,
personal email account information may be known to many, but the restricted content
can only access by the account owner using a password. Hence, privacy is neces-
sary for almost all systems and applications [6, 8]. While anonymity is the property
that the criminals look for. It becomes impossible to hold criminals accountable for
the crime they have committed [9]. There are application areas other than crim-
inal activities where anonymity is required. The best-suited example is the ballot
system. Being untraceable and unidentifiable is the key objective for anonymity
[10]. True anonymity cannot be ensured as many applications that claim to be anony-
mous have flaws due to which identity information is leaked. Mixing services [11],
commonly known as mixing networks or mixnets are being employed to avert tracing
acts of messages through a network. Such mixing services may be unreliable and
lead to overheads in terms of computation and communication [12]. Anonymization
employing onion routing [13] is extensively used to hide the personal information
by unveiling the problem of tracking the IP. TOR [14], the most outstanding and
prosperous anonymity network has flaws [7, 15].
Anonymity and privacy do not come for free. To maintain privacy and anonymity,
extra efforts and work is needed which in turn requires more resources in terms of
space, time, or computation power [16]. Moreover, users may have to pay extra to
maintain privacy and anonymity. According to [17], in an incident that happened to
occur in Turkey, a passenger who used local mobile applications was purportedly
assaulted by a cruel cab driver who was underrated by the passenger. To avenge for
the incident, the driver waited at the place of picking and dropping that passenger for
two days and lastly located the passenger. All this happened because the anonymity
and privacy were compromised.
Fundamentally, for achieving deanonymization and extracting the information,
analysis of privacy and anonymity is performed by the spending effort that would
weaken the privacy of the users.
After analysis, outcomes are the potential aims to be achieved. Outcomes of
analyzing privacy and anonymity are as follows:
20 R. Saxena et al.
(a) Bitcoin Addresses Discovery: All the possible bitcoin addresses of an entity
are discovered including the name of the person or the company.
(b) Identity Discovery: All the potential distinguishing information, for instance,
the name of the company or the person is procured that starts with a bitcoin
address.
(c) Mapping of IP Address with Bitcoin Address: Mapping of possible IP
Addresses where the transaction was generated is done with the Bitcoin
addresses.
(d) Bitcoin Address Linking: New bitcoin addresses are suggested for use by the
bitcoin users every time they get the new payment [18]. Due to this reason,
each user has multiple bitcoin addresses. In this outcome, address belonging
to the users are linked.
(e) Mapping of Geo-locations with Bitcoin Address: Using the bitcoin address
geographical location of the user can be obtained.
There may be a transition among the outcomes discussed above. For example,
the bitcoin address that belongs to user can be discovered which can be linked to the
other bitcoin addresses of the user. In the similar manner, mapping of bitcoin address
can be done so that it is easier to obtain the identity or the geographical position of
the user who possesses that address.
There are various ways to serve this purpose. Research shows that there some
studies that use the ways while there may be numerous studies that just mention the
methods but do not use them. The following are the studies that have either mentioned
or applied the methods respectively:
(a) Transacting: The address of bitcoin can be learned by performing transaction
with other users to purchase goods, etc. For such transactions, the seller’s
bitcoin address must be known to the buyer. Therefore, if the seller wants to
receive the payment, he/she must compulsorily provide his/her bitcoin address
with the buyer. Therefore, it is easier for an entity to learn the bitcoin address
of any entity or a person just by acting as a buyer assuming that such parties
are in sales business. Transacting methods means active participation in the
network. Reid and Harrigan [19] stated that transaction methods include active
participation in the network and operating in money laundry services. In [20]
Meiklejohn et al. named the transacting method as re-identification attack. In
re-identification attacks, accounts are opened, and purchases are made from
infamous Bitcoin merchants and services providers such as Mt. Gox and Silk
Road.
(b) Utilizing the Off-network Knowledge: All the Off-network data-sources which
are publicly available can be used discover bitcoin addresses belonging some
user entities or conversely. The websites used for donation that brings out the
IP and key information were utilized by Reid and Harrigan [19]. In this process,
identification of entities related theft of 25,000 BTC was done by employing
off-network information. Ortega [21] collected around 4,000 bitcoin address
from a well-known wired forum where the bitcoin addresses and the real-
world locations can be declared by the bitcoin users. Ortega provided scripts
to link bitcoin addresses with the identities from the information provided
by users and 1,825 different users were assigned to 4,000 Bitcoin addresses
while some of the users include certain different addresses in their posts. From
blockchain.info, an online forum that collects address specified in the signa-
tures of the users in bitcoin forums such as bitcointalk, Meiklejohn et al. [20]
collected more than 4,500 bitcoin addresses from the address tags and declared
that this method is not desicive if compared to direct transacting. Fleder et al.
[22] inspected that the bitcoin addresses from the forum bitcointalk signatures
and tried for identifying around 2,320 users with a 2,404 address in less than
30 h. Spagnuolo et al. [23] introduced a framework for open blockchain anal-
ysis widely known as called BitIodine that utilizes the signatures and database
knowledge from forums such as bitcointalk, bitcoin-OTC market, etc. Along
with this, they utilized the knowledge on the physical currency that was orig-
inated by Casascius. They also utilized the knowledge of the infamous scam-
mers for implicit detection of bitcoin users whose feedback is considerably
unfavourable on bitcoin forums. Shareholders in BitFunder, a closed stock
exchange was another source of information used by them. Bitnodes, a source
from which the knowledge of the users that do not use hosting services can be
fetched, was utilized by Biryukov et al. [24] to produce the list of active bitcoin
servers for estimating the probability of the entry nodes going offline. Lische
and Fabian [24] accumulated more than 223,000 distinctive IP addresses from
ipinfo.io which were allotted for almost 15.8 million transactions. They also
tried various other sources for IP addresses such as torstatus.blutmagie.de, etc.
2.4 Machine Learning Approaches to Price Prediction
Bitcoin is considered as a monetary asset which is traded using various exchanges

such as a stock market. Various factors have been investigated by the researchers
that are affecting the price of the bitcoin and the criterion causing the fluctuations
using diverse investigative and empirical approaches. Research done by the authors
[25–27] are the perfect examples to support the cause. With the advances in artificial
intelligence, several machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) based models
for bitcoin prices prediction are proposed [27–33]. Chen et al. [34] developed a
model for forecasting the bitcoin price. This latent source model was implemented
by Shah et al. [35]. Shah’s model earned a remarkable return of 89% in 50 days
with Sharpe ratio which evaluate the performance of stake along with adjusting
for the risk. Testing period selected for the study presented the improvement of
33% utilizing the buy and hold strategy. Several unsuccessful efforts were done to
recreate the same study independently. Geourgoula et al. [36] implemented sentiment
analysis using Support Vector Machine (SVM) and investigated determinants of the
price of bitcoin. Matta et al. [37] inspected association among the price of Bitcoin,
views for bitcoin on Google Trends and tweets, concluded that there is weak to
moderate correlation among price of bitcoin and both positive tweets on Twitter and
22 R. Saxena et al.
Google Trends views and concluded that these factors can be utilized as predictors.
The study came with a limitation that the same used was only 60 days and the
sentiments were considered as variable. In another study, Matta et al. [38] carried
out the similar technique to predict the trading volume instead of predicting the price
of bitcoin and concluded that views on Google Trends’ were strongly correlated
with the Bitcoin price. The sample collection covered a duration of just less than one
year and data source was used for implementation purpose. Some researchers have
applied wavelets to find similar results [39]. Kristoufek used the wavelet coherence
analysis on bitcoin price and conclude that there is a positive correlation between
search engine views, network hash rate, and mining difficulty with the bitcoin price.
Greaves et al. [40] examined the bitcoin for price prediction employing Artificial
Neural Network (ANN) and SVM and claimed an accuracy of 55%. They found that
limited forecasting in the blockchain data since the price is governed by exchanges
and the behavior is placed outside of the extent of the blockchain. Similarly, Madan
et al. [41] implemented ML techniques like random forest, SVM, and Binomial
GLM on the blockchain data and forecasted the bitcoin price with an accuracy of
more than 97% with the limitation that the results were not cross validated. Due
to which, the data may be overfitted and it cannot be guaranteed that model will
generalize. The two prediction models have been presented by McNally et al. [27]
and compared the model built on long short-term memory (LSTM) and recurrent
neural network (RNN) with an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA)
model [41], which is widely used time-series forecasting model. The model for
classification was developed which utilized bitcoin price information that predicts
that the price of the bitcoin climbs up and down based on the history of previous
bitcoin price. The authors of [27] demonstrated that model based on ARIMA does
not stand against the models based on RNN and LSTM. Saad and Mohaisen [28]
used the price information and the information from bitcoin blockchain like mining
difficulty, total count of wallets, hash rate, unique addresses, etc., and utilized the
highly correlated attributes for building the forecasting models. They also considered
and studied various models developed on random forests, linear regression, neural
networks, and gradient boosting. In addition to the blockchain information, Jang and
Lee [32] gave thought to the blockchain information and macroeconomic attributes
such as the exchange rates between major flat currencies, NASDAQ, S & P 500, Euro
Stoxx 50, etc. Jang et al. [29], in their follow-up researches, put forward LSTM model
with rolling window and manifested that the LSTM based model overshadowed the
forecasting models based on SVM, linear regression, LSTM, and neural network.
Likewise, Shintate and Pichl [33] showed that deep learning-based random sampling
model proposed by them has overshadowed LSTM-based models.
2.5 Threats and Machine Learning Based Solution
Network infrastructure has existed since many decades. So as the malicious users
referred to as malignant [42] exist in the network system. Such malignant users carry
out mendacious transactions in the network system which carries financial transac-
tions. The main objective is to stop and such malicious users from carrying out illicit
acts [42] in the network so that the financial and transactional activities run properly. It
is crucial to disclose suspicious conduct in bitcoin network because of the extremely
fast-growing nature of the fraud. Attempts made by the client in participating in
more than two transactions over the same bitcoin or the same number of bitcoins
leads to double-spending attack. This is genuine due to propagation delay in broad-
casting the pending payments across the bitcoin network, which results nodes being
given non-validated transactions at different times [43]. Many research solutions and
studies have been presented in the recent times to overcome anomaly detection. Such
attempts present a broad range of techniques that includes ML methods as well. For
instance, Smith, et al. in [44] utilized clustering methods so that malicious acts are
seized in the network and classify licit users from malignant users.
In past, several studies have utilized ML techniques for addressing the secu-
rity threats such as [45, 46]. In their research, Pham et al. [42], investigated the
Bitcoin network for detecting the such users and the transactions which seems to be
disreputable and used the methods of unsupervised learning including Mahalanobis
distance, Unsupervised SV Machine and k-means clustering on the graphs generated
by Bitcoin Network. Again, Pham et al. [45] by using machine learning based superior
method to detected anomalies in bitcoin system by analysing clients and their trans-
actions which is most dubious where a destructive behaviour is considered as a proxy
for ambiguous activities. Monamo et al. [47] used kd-trees and trimmed k-means for
detection of fraud over the bitcoin blockchain network. Also, Monamo et al. [46] in
another research explored the application of trimmed k-means in the identification
of fraudulent activities in transactions performed using Bitcoin and claims to detect
more fraudulent transactions than the researches of same type and on same dataset.
While Zambre et al. [48] identified potential rogue users in the Bitcoin network
on the basis real reported robberies using k-means classification. Bartoletti et al.
[49] proposed an automated exploration of Ponzi schemes on bitcoin, a classic fraud
masqueraded, based on supervised learning algorithms. Zhdanova et al. [50] revealed
fraud-chains by developing a strategy for detecting fraud chains in Mobile Money
Transfer using machine learning based micro structuring techniques. Harlev et al.
[51] presented the first-ever approach to reduce the anonymous behaviour of Bitcoin
by using Supervised ML for prediction of the type of undetected entities while Yin
et al. [52] analysed the Bitcoin ecosystem and presented the first-ever approxima-
tion of the dimension of cybercriminal entities by applying Supervised ML on 854
observations that are classified into 12 classes and out of which 5 classes were found
to be related to cybercriminal acts and around of 100,000 unclassified observations.
Hirshman et al. [53] applied Unsupervised ML algorithms for exploring anonymity
in bitcoin transaction by clustering the dataset. Liu et al. [54] presented an approach
based on ML to capture the double-spending attacks in transaction performed using
bitcoin consisting of different immune-based blockchain nodes that deals with identi-
fication component. Bogner et al. [55] adopted machine learning for graphical threat
detection and presented the human operators with a perceptive way to develop an
understanding of blockchain through gathering the features of the system into group
24 R. Saxena et al.
of attributes that are depicted graphically. Remy et al. [56] tracked the acts of clients
in bitcoin ecosystem using the community identification on low intensity network
signals employing machine learning network analysis techniques. Kurtulmus et al.
[57] proposed a by-product protocol that employs the globally dispersed behaviour
of smart contracts along with ML based artificially intelligent problem solving to find
the crowd-sourcing funds for research and to effectively present new marketplace
without the requirement of mediator. Shaukat et al. [58] presented a ML based solu-
tion for an exhaustive investigation of ransomware dataset for providing a layered
defence mechanism against the cryptographic ransomwares in Bitcoin & other cryp-
tocurrencies. Baqer et al. [59] performed empirical analysis where a stress test based
on clustering is deployed for detecting spam transaction in the Bitcoin cryptocurrency
network. Holub et al. [60] proposed an NLP and ML based phishing ring DNS style
identification scheme where the identification strategy relies on the observations of
freshly launched and/or registered domains. Ermilov et al. [61] introduced an off-
chain knowledge solution along with the knowledge for bitcoin address separation
and categorisation for detecting and filtering errors in users’ input data and therefore
avoiding an unreliable Bitcoin usage model. Dey et al. [62] provided and method-
ology based on the intelligent software agents which handles stakeholders’ activi-
ties in Bitcoin ecosystem for detecting anomalous behaviours employing the Super
Machine Learning Algorithm along with algorithmic game theory. Portnoff et al.
[63] designed a machine learning based classifiers for differentiating between adver-
tisement posted by the same author and the several other authors along with a linking
technique that utilizes leakages from the Bitcoin systems and sex advertisement onto
Bitcoin transactions and public wallets.
2.6 Conclusion
This chapter introduces Bitcoin and the cryptographic mechanism ECDSA used in it.
It then described the structure of Bitcoin Block which has block size, block header,
transaction counter, and list of the transaction as fields, followed by the structure of the
Bitcoin transaction which includes the fields for the version of the transaction, total
inputs, and the outputs comprised in the transactions, transaction outputs & inputs and
locktime. Adding a new Bitcoin for the electronic fund supply an important task of the
mining process and hence the chapter also describes the mining process in which the
mining nodes participate and compete to work for the difficult-to-solve cryptographic
hash algorithm based mathematical puzzle and earns the transaction fees for all the
transactions they have validated as a reward. The verification of a transaction is done
against the criteria defined in a checklist which includes, data structure and syntax
of the transaction, list of input and output, limitation in size of the transactions, etc.
Machine learning and deep learning forms the important tools and techniques for
solving classification and prediction problems and can be used specifically for the
forecasting the price of Bitcoin. For the prediction, LSTM outperforms the other
models like Deep Neural Network, Deep Residual Network, SVM, etc. Anonymity
and Privacy are the two faces of the same coin and are very crucial for transacting
over the Bitcoin network. Lastly, this chapter lists most common security menace
and their abnormal behaviors in bitcoin network with their solution employing ML
techniques.
In future, deanonymization of bitcoin may be taken a step forward to prevent illicit
acts like robbery, ransomwares, etc. Also, ML and DL techniques can be utilized for
estimating the price of bitcoin and classifying the possible threats on the bitcoin
network.
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Control (2016). https://doi.org/10.2307/2284112
Chapter 3
Blockchain 1.0 to Blockchain 4.0—The
Evolutionary Transformation
of Blockchain Technology
Pratyusa Mukherjee and Chittaranjan Pradhan
Abstract Blockchain is a propitious technology that has gained immense popu-

larity and tractions. It has tremendously revolutionized the peer-to-peer information
exchange by combining cryptographic principles with decentralization, immutability
and transparency. The term blockchain has been coined from its fundamental feature
of being a distributed ledger where each record or block is secured and bound to its
successive blocks through hash functions thus resulting in this chain of blocks. This
chapter first gives the historical background of this expeditious technology. It then
proffers a description of the basic terminologies in blockchain, it’s types, basic struc-
ture of block and different consensus models popularly known. The prime emphasis
of this chapter is to bestow an extensive study of the chronological evolutions in
Blockchain Technology by highlighting the nitty-gritty of each generation in detail.
It also illustrates a parameter wise differences amidst the several generations in terms
of their principle areas, consensus models used, utility of smart contracts, the energy
and cost requirements and execution speed and scalability. In the end, a Blockchain
in Supply Chain Management test case has also been elaborated in this chapter.
Keywords Blockchain · Distributed ledger · Bitcoin · Ethereum · Hyperledger

fabric · Cryptographic hash · Consensus models
3.1 Introduction
The assurance of CIA triad comprising of confidentiality, integrity and availability

is the prime emphasis of any cryptosystem to provide a holistic security approach to
safeguard all critical and sensitive data. Data theft has been a major cybersecurity
issue that threatens these primary purposes of cybersecurity. Over the years, several
technologies have been proffered to eliminate this issue where Blockchain Tech-
nology [1–4] is the latest inclusion. Data while transit as well as storage is vulnerable
to many plagiarism and pilferage situations that makes tracing back the criminal and
P. Mukherjee (B) · C. Pradhan

School of Computer Engineering, KIIT Deemed to be University, Bhubaneshwar, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69395-4_3
30 P. Mukherjee and C. Pradhan
original data extremely strenuous. Blockchain Technology abolishes such scenarios

to great extent. A blockchain [5] can be interpreted as a distributed database that
incorporates every event or transaction, executed and shared amongst the concerned
parties. Each transaction is vehemently verified and once an information is entered,
it can never be erased without the consent of the involved parties.
Blockchains are thus like public registers where every transaction is accumulated
as a series of blocks. They are essentially based on the concept of Cryptography
and Distributed Systems. Each successive block stores the hash [6, 7] of the its
preceding block. Thereby, if any modification is made into the previous block, its
corresponding hash is modified and hence here is a mismatch with the one stored in the
successive block. This features makes blockchain tamperproof and the contaminated
block can be easily identified. Also blockchains eliminate the need of any central
authority for any kind of validation. Another important feature of blockchain is its
distributed nature [5, 8] where its several copies are stored by different parties over
different networks which makes any modification quite tedious and further enhances
the security of blockchains.
Blockchain Technology first came into limelight with the inception of Bitcoin
by Santoshi Nakamoto [9] back in 2008 and has been transfigured to greater extents
since then. The first generation of Blockchain, Bitcoin [1, 10, 11] was a decentralized
peer-to-peer digital currency which eliminated the presence of any central authority
such as banks or intermediaries. To address the trust issues amidst the participants,
Bitcoin implements consensus models [12] to ensure the authenticity and integrity
of the users. Due to the limited functionality of the first generation in only finan-
cial sector, further advancements were made to adopt Blockchain for other domains
as well. Ethereum [13], the second generation technology has immense application
for crowdsourcing through its trustworthy smart contact clauses. A smart contract
[14] is a an autogenously assertive contract where the compliance between buyers
and sellers are directly converted into lines of codes across a distributed, decentral-
ized blockchain network. Hyperledger [15] is another advancement which provides
higher modularity and versatility than Ethereum due to its permissioned architecture.
The third generation Blockchain has inbuilt verification mechanism and more effi-
cient faster and cheaper than previous versions. Combining Artificial Intelligence
with Blockchain Technology has already paved way for the fourth generation of
blockchain as well.
This chapter first gives the historical background of this expeditious technology.
It then proffers a description of the basic terminologies in blockchain, it’s types,
basic structure of block and different consensus models popularly known. The prime
emphasis of this chapter is to illustrate a thorough study of the chronological evolu-
tions in Blockchain Technology by highlighting the nitty-gritty of each generation in
detail. It also illustrates a parameter wise differences amidst the several generations
in terms of their principle areas, consensus models used, utility of smart contracts,
the energy and cost requirements and execution speed and scalability. In the end, a
Blockchain in Supply Chain Management test case has also been elaborated in this
chapter.
3 Blockchain 1.0 to Blockchain 4.0—The Evolutionary … 31
3.2 Fundamentals of Blockchain
The related work section first delves into the historical background of Blockchain
Technology. It then puts forward the important terminologies related to it. The struc-
ture of a block is described in detail. Next the types of Blockchain are elaborated.
The nitty-gritty of successive generations of Blockchain Technology are discussed
in separate sections along with the works of several researchers in brief.
3.2.1 Historical Background
In 1980s, advent of crypto bound signatures revolutionized exchange of data amidst

the sender and receiver. In 1989, Digicash [16, 17] exchange via email became pretty
popular. In the successive years, the usage of digital documents became common and
major emphasis is laid on assuring their authentication, efficiency and reliability. In
1991, Haber and Storenetta [18–20] first suggested the concept of time stamping
a digital document to ensure they cannot be backdated and are tamperproof. In
successive years, incorporation of Merkle Trees allowed collection of several digital
documents into a block which enhanced their security. In the late 90s, usage of digital
currencies [21] became quite predominant.
Digital currencies are intangible and only available electronically, unlike physical
currencies. Transactions using digital currency cannot be undone in future and they do
not need any central authority, as a result of which chances of fraudulent transactions
are eliminated. They are also faster and cheaper than physical cash transfers. Szabo
[22] introduced the concept of “bit gold”, a decentralized digital currency in 2005
based on different cryptographic elements. In Szabo’s system [23], Bit gold begins
by generating a public challenge string while using a benchmark function The user
then generates a “proof of work [24]” string from the same function, and every details
associated to the transaction are stored in a title registry which is an immutable record.
The last bit of string is responsible for creating the next set of strings and thus Bit
gold is non-fungible.
Finney [25] proffered a system called “RPoW, Reusable Proof Of Work”, which
operated by obtaining a non-exchangeable Hashcash [26] based proof of work token.
In reciprocation, a RSA-signed token is created which is exchangeable amongst the
users.. This abolished the probability of denial of service. RPoW also got rid of
double spending problem. It tracks the possessionship of tokens on an authentic and
credible server that enables every user to verify the truthfulness and integrity in real
time.
Drawing ideologies from the existing digital currency concept and fundamen-
tals of cryptography, in 2008 Satoshi Nakamoto brought the concept of Blockchain
Technology into limelight by implementing the first blockchain as the public ledger
for transactions made using “Bitcoin [9]”. Since its inception, Blockchain has been
garnering the attention of several researchers for its immensely secure features.
3.2.2 Basic Terminologies in Blockchain
Blockchain is basically a public distributed database which holds the encrypted

ledger. Ledger [27] means a file that keeps on growing constantly. Blockchain prin-
cipally contrasts from a database because of its decentralization feature. Each and
every record in a database stored in a central server. On the contrary, in a blockchain
every participant retains a copy of each record. A block [28] is a data structure
consisting of most recent and previously never occurred or included records. The
aboriginal block of a blockchain is termed as the genesis [29]. Each of the successive
blocks incorporate the hash [30] of its preceding block. A hash is non-invertible which
means a hash can be calculated from a particular input but not the vice versa. Also,
hash is collision resistant. It is tedious to retrieve two different inputs resulting in the
same hash value. Hash incorporation into Blockchain Technology makes it highly
secure because even a negligible change in a block hugely differs its hash which is
then reflected in all the successive blocks. As a result of this, any kind of intrusion
is strongly noticed. Figure 3.1 demonstrates the block diagram of a blockchain.
Blockchain is thus keeps a time-stamped, protected, chronometric and immutable.
Transactions are the basic building blocks of a blockchain system. This feature of
blockchain finds adequate application in several financial as well as non-financial
organizations.
Any user or device within the Blockchain is termed as a node. Specific nodes
that perform block verification process are coined as Miners [31]. Each Blockchain
has certain set of rules to carry out different operations and these rules are termed
as Consensus [32, 33]. Every block in a blockchain is visible to each participant in
the network, but they cannot replace, modify or add new blocks unless verified and
validated by at least 51% of the peers. This is termed as Proof of Consensus [12].
Proof of Work [34] additionally mandates that for a new node to become a participant
or for any existing node to add or modify a block, they also need to find the solution to
specific laborious mathematical puzzles to prove their eligibility. Proof of Stake [35]
states that every participating node has to put something at stake. For example, each
have to prove their identity and validate themselves. Since an adversary will never
Fig. 3.1 Block diagram of blockchain

successfully pass these clauses he cannot interfere into a blockchain thus, making it
safe and private.
3.2.3 Structure of a Block
The structure of a block can be assumed to be divided into two sections, one
comprising of the header with all metadata and the other consisting of all the
transaction details. Figure 3.2 illustrates the stricture of block.
First of all, the metadata consists of Previous Hash which is used to chain the
current block with its preceding block in the blockchain.
The second set of meta data comprises of the information pertaining to mining
competitions such as Timestamp, Difficulty and Nonce. Mining [36] in Blockchain
is performed by high end computers that solve complex mathematical problems to
receive rewards in return, thus completing the verification procedures. Timestamp
gives the creation time details for a particular block thus eliminating the denial of
Fig. 3.2 Structure of a block

service scenarios. Difficulty gives the complexity that was used to create this block.
In cryptography, nonce [37] is an arbitrary number that can be used only once in the
entire communication. In Blockchain, nonce is the number that miners are competing
for. Successfully mining means that the winning miner was the first to guess the
nonce, which is a string of random numbers affixed to the hashed contents of the
block, which is again rehashed.
The final metadata includes the Merkle Tree root which a data structure to
summarize all the transaction details in the corresponding block in an efficient
manner.
In order to identify a block, users can either use the block hash or the block
height [38]. Block height is described as the number of blocks before it. Thus it can
be calculated as the length of the block minus one. The block height of the entire
blockchain is obtained from the height of the most recent block or the highest block
in the chain.
Every first and unique transaction carried out by a miner is termed as the “Coinbase
Transaction”. The miners utilize it to collect their rewards for every correct solutions.
Other transaction fees collected by them are also added to this Coinbase Transaction.
3.2.4 Types of Blockchain
The different types of Blockchain are categorized on the basis of their applications.
Primarily the two broad types of Blockchain are Public and Private Blockchain. Two
variation also exist like the Consortium and Hybrid Blockchain. Figure 3.3 illustrates
Fig. 3.3 Types of

blockchain
the types of Blockchain in a nutshell.

Public Blockchain [39–41] is are the most simple and publicly accessible
blockchains. They are open source, non-restrictive, fully distributed, decentral-
ized and permission less. Any entity with internet access can sign into a Public
Blockchain to become an authorized participant and become a user, miner or devel-
oper. The contents of the blockchain are readily available to every node with complete
transparency. The major benefit of Public Blockchain is its uncontrollability or not
granting full authority to any particular node. All the nodes adhere to the consensus
mechanisms to ensure the security of the public blockchain. The most common
use of Public Blockchains are for mining activities and cryptocurrency interchange.
Thus, the most common public blockchains are Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin
blockchains. Figure 3.4 represents a fully distributed Public Blockchain where every
device has full access to the blockchain and can easily interact with each other.
Private Blockchain [42, 43] is restrictive, centralized, permissioned and operate
only in closed networks such as any organization where only selected members are
allowed to participate. They have a central authority who fully controls the authoriza-
tion, participation and accessibility. Participants of that same organization mandato-
rily require the consent of the central authority to join the Private Blockchain. The
contents of the blockchain are only available to the permitted participants and any
Updation or modification into the blockchain also necessitates the permission of the
authority. They are thus more secured and controlled than Public Blockchains and
find commonly deployed in e-voting, supply chain management etc. Hyperledger
and R3 Corda are popular examples of a Private Blockchain. Figure 3.5 gives the
Block Diagram of a Private Blockchain.
Fig. 3.4 Fully distributed

and decentralized public
blockchain
Fig. 3.5 Centralized private

blockchain
Consortium Blockchain [44–46] is a specialized category of Private Blockchain

where multiple organizations control and manage the blockchain instead of only one.
Thus it has the similar benefits as that of a Private Blockchain. Since it is a collab-
orative network, it is more productive and efficient both collectively as well as indi-
vidually. Consortium blockchains are typically used by banks, government organiza-
tions, etc. Figure 3.6 illustrates a Consortium Blockchain. Examples of consortium
blockchain are; Energy Web Foundation, R3, etc.
Fig. 3.6 Consortium

blockchain
Table 3.1 Comparison between the most prominent types of blockchain

Parameter Public Private Consortium
Permission Permission less Permissioned Permissioned
Decentralization Fully decentralized Centralized Less centralized
Participants Anybody Permissioned and known Permissioned and known
entities entities
Authority Anyone Single central authority Multiple central authority
Reading Rights Anyone Invited users Depends on scenario
Writing Rights Anyone Approved users Approved users
Consensus PoS/PoW Multiparty consensus Multiparty consensus
Speed Slow Fast Fast
Table 3.1 highlights the comparison amidst these three prominent types of
Blockchain.
Hybrid Blockchains [47–49] are combination of Public and Private Blockchains.
It incorporates the privacy and permissioned facilities of Private Blockchain and
the simplicity, flexibility and transparency of Public Blockchains. Participants of a
Hybrid Blockchain can control the authority and accessibility of the data stored in
it. Dragonchain is the most common example of a Hybrid Blockchain.
3.3 The Evolutionary Transformation of Blockchain 3.1
Till date Blockchain Technology has undergone four major evolutions and each of
these has been discussed in the following sections.
3.3.1 Blockchain 1.0
The first generation of Blockchain, Blockchain 1.0, originated from the concept of
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) [50–52]. Distributed ledger is a database that
is consensually shared amongst several participants thus enabling public witnesses
to eliminate double spending scenarios. The most prominent application of DLT was
cryptocurrency where Bitcoin [53] played a pivotal role. Bitcoin thus became the
“cash for the internet” and paved way for “Internet of Money [54]”. After its launch
in 2009, Bitcoin proved its stability, reliability, efficiency, simplicity, independency
and security to keep a track of transaction records and transfer authority of these
records from one user to another directly. It essentially utilizes consensus and mining
mechanisms to exchange cryptocurrencies. Figure 3.7 gives the overall working with
Bitcoins. A real life scenario where Alice wants to send 1 Bitcoin (BTC) to Bob is
portrayed in Fig. 3.8.
Fig. 3.7 Working model using bitcoins
Fig. 3.8 Bitcoin transaction lifecycle
Swan [55] highlighted the utility of Bitcoin being deployed as a cryptocurrency

in applications pertaining to cash transfer, remittance and digital payments whose
generation and transfer is solely based on encryption mechanisms and works inde-
pendent of any central bank. Thus Bitcoin has the potential to prove to be a blueprint
of a new economic policy. Böhme et al. [56] thoroughly studied the Bitcoin design
principles, its underlying technologies and processes, the various uses of Bitcoin for
consumer payments as well as the probable risks associated with it. Narayanan et al.
[57] elaborated the mechanics of Bitcoin, their mining and regulations in their work.
Decker and Wattenhofer [58] analyzed the information propagation in Bitcoin
network by using multi-hop broadcasting to update the ledger. They also claimed
that this mode of propagation led to delays thus resulting in inconsistencies and
blockchain forks [59]. Bitcoin is largely based on mining mechanisms which involves
solving algo-puzzles to verify monetary transactions in order to receive cryptocurren-
cies as rewards. O’ Dwyer and Malone [60] studied energy consumption in Bitcoin
mining in details. They carefully inspected when Bitcoins prove to be profitable in
comparison to the energy consumed while mining and suggested special hardware
modifications to achieve maximum profits.
Antonopoulos [61] explained in detail how Bitcoin works and its detailed imple-
mentation along with the mining and consensus mechanisms. Velde [62] backed the
technical and conceptual accomplishments of Bitcoin to be inculcated in existing
financial sectors because of its freedom from any central authority intervention. The
fact that anonymity and decentralization of Bitcoin makes it a potential game changer
in micropayments and virtual worlds e-commerce was suggested by Grinberg [63].
Blockchain 1.0 thus has myriads of advantages over the traditional payment
mechanisms such as low transactional costs and relative anonymity in transactions.
Bitcoins will never be out of market as there have an adequate supply. Bitcoins apart
from eliminating double spending, also remove counterfeiting by enabling secure
trackable and transparent transactions.
Amidst all its achievements, Bitcoins also have some major setbacks. The first
generation of Blockchain essentially utilizes the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus
mechanism that necessitates the computation of complex mathematical puzzles. Due
to the complexity involved, PoW is time-consuming and uses colossal amounts of
energy comparable to the overall profits earned. In this, the approval of transaction
is also pretty slow than electronic channels. Research shows that Blockchain 1.0
can handle at most seven transactions per second thus having a substantially slow
throughput. Conti et al. [64] studied the security and privacy issues of Bitcoin in
details. Eyal and Sirer [65] highlighted that Bitcoin is extensively vulnerable to
Selfish Mining that is practiced by colluding miners to earn more revenues than their
mining capabilities. Thus ultimately Bitcoin proceeds towards a centralized scheme
fully under the control of these selfish miners. Androulaki et al. [66] claimed that
behavior-based clustering techniques can unravel the real identities of the otherwise
anonymous Bitcoin users up to 40%. Another vital drawback of Satoshi’s idea of
Blockchain 1.0 is that it utilizes only 1 megabyte (MB) blocks of information on
bitcoin transactions. The last and most notable shortcomings of Blockchain 1.0 are
their inability to support Smart Contracts and other application sectors instead of
financial utilities.
The wasteful mining and poor scalability of the first generation Blockchain prompted
Buterin [67] to extend the concept of Blockchain beyond currency. This led to the
advent of second generation of Blockchain i.e. Ethereum which is based on new
concepts of smart contracts along with Proof of Work consensus mechanisms.
Smart Contracts [68] are autonomous self-managing computer programs that
execute automatically on the basis of predefined clauses between two parties. These
contracts are impossible to be hacked or tampered with. So Smart Contracts [69]
largely reduce the cost of verification, execution, and fraud prevention and enable
transparent contract definition.
Fig. 3.9 Working of smart contract
Figure 3.9 shows how smart contracts works. The first step is formulation of
the contract between two parties. It involves the terms, rules and conditions of the
agreement has to be accepted by the two counterparts and translated into a code. No
changes can be made into the contract without the consent of the involved parties. The
smart contract is then deployed into the blockchain. As soon as the events mentioned
in the contract occur, the code automatically executes. Practical example of such
events can be expiration of an insurance policy or delivery of goods. Once the code
execution is over, the contract will automatically transfer the value to the pertinent
receiver. The settlement is thus completed instantly, securely and efficiently. This
transfer is also recorded into the blockchain.
Ethereum [67, 70] utilizes the implementation of smart contracts into Blockchain.
It’s a community-built technology behind another cryptocurrency Ether (ETH) [71]
having an array of applications in almost every field such as electronic voting, real
estate and trading. In the Ethereum, instead of contesting for bitcoins, miners compete
for Ether [72]. There is a another type of token involved in Ethereum which is utilized
to reward miners for including transactions in their block, termed as gas. Every smart
contract execution necessitates a particular amount of gas to be sent along for alluring
miners to incorporate it into the blockchain.
Good [73] discussed the protocol of Ethereum and fundamentals of smart contract
to autonomously enforces regulation for such interactions. Dannen [13] gave a thor-
ough insight into Solidity which is the high level programming language to implement
smart contracts. Antonopoulos and Wood [74] gave the step by step guide to build a
smart contract using Solidity. They explained how to chose the appropriate Solidity
version, downloading and installing it, writing the simplest smart contract, compiling
it with the Solidity Compiler and finally deploying it into the Blockchain.
Extensive research is being carried out to utilize Ethereum in several non-financial
sectors. Yavuz et al. [75] suggested a secure e-voting system by using the Ethereum
Blockchain. Ethereum wallet or simple android mobile phones are used by users to
cast their votes. After the election is held, Blockchain 2.0 is used to store the ballets
and votes. Their proposal proved to be more efficient, reliable, cheap and transparent
to conduct e-voting. Rooksby and Dimitrov [76] proposed a Blockchain system based
on Ethereum that can be used by a university to evaluate the performance of students,
store and manage their grades and reward them cryptocurrencies if performance is
up to the mark. Internet of things (IoT) has tremendous utility in designing Smart
Homes which are fully automated to provide highest comfort to the residents. Aung
and Tantidham [77] implemented an Ethereum based Smart Home Scheme to control
access policies, data storage and flow to eliminate imposters impersonating actual
residents and stealing secretive information. Adhikari [78] proffered a Smart Health-
care system that incorporates the concepts of Ethereum to provide a secure, flexible
and more reliable schemes than traditional ones. Shih et al. [79] proposed production
and marketing of organic vegetables by using Ethereum. This methodology ensures
the authenticity of the production quality as well as the sales record.
Since Ethereum is largely based on smart contracts, they have an array of advan-
tages. Smart contacts are quite accurate and store each clauses explicitly thus
Ethereum is very minutely defined. The contract is fully transparent to all involved
parties. The execution speed of smart contracts is very fast up to 15 transactions per
second and eliminates several middle men in any kind of application.
However, smart contracts also pose several difficulty on the users because they
are extremely tricky to write [80]. Any mistakes while writing the contract can lead
to unintended adverse effects [81]. Once a mistake in the code begins to be exploited,
there is no efficient way to stop it other than obtaining a consensus and rewriting the
entire underlying code [82]. Thus to achieve maximum benefits of Ethereum, it is
essential to formulate and deploy the smart contract correctly.
The major setback of Blockchains 1.0 and 2.0 are that they are not scalable at all,
mostly based on Proof of Work and take hours to confirm transactions. All this
let to the birth of the current generation of Blockchain called Blockchain 3.0 that
aims to make cryptocurrencies globally viable. Apart from smart contracts, the third
generation of Blockchain mainly involves Decentralized Apps (dApps) [83]. They
are digital programs that run on a Blockchain network of computers instead of a single
computer and thus are beyond the purview of any central authority. This generation
is hence capable of promoting inter chain transactions with aid of techniques such
as sharding [84]. Sharding implies each node of Blockchain contains only a part of
the data on it and not the complete information. This spreads the load and makes
the system for efficient and intrusion proof. Blockchain 3.0 also utilizes Proof of
Stake and Proof of Authority [85] consensus mechanisms to enable enhanced speed
and computing power for smart contracts with no separate transaction fees. Although
Blockchain 3.0 is in its inception but aims to improve the scalability, interoperability,
privacy and sustainability of previous generations because they are designed on the
“FFM” concept which is the acronym for Fast, Feeless and Minerless. Blockchain 3.0
hence eliminates the dependency on Miners to verify and authenticate transactions
and instead use inbuilt mechanisms for the same. They are thus extremely fast to
allow thousands of transactions per second unlike their preceding generations.
Blockchain 3.0 paved way for several platforms each with their unique advan-
tage to encourage Blockchain usage in every-day life. ICON projects [86] aims
to connect separate Blockchains together such that every transaction between these
blockchains is verified by a ledger itself. Thus it tries to provide a high usability, scal-
ability and reliability by eliminating any central authority or need of any transaction
fees. Another third generation Blockchain was established using DAG (Directed
Acyclic Graph) protocols [87, 88] to design no block, no chain and no miner yet
public distributed ledger platform such as IOTA [89]. Another popular Blockchain
3.0 platforms are Cardano [90] which has its own cryptocurrency ADA and aims
to improve all problems with Ethereum. Aion [91] is another third generation
Blockchain network that aims to support basic blockchain architectures along with
cross chain interoperability.
The merits of Blockchain 3.0 include no single controlling authority thereby no
single point of failure. dApps don’t reside on a particular IP address hence adversaries
cannot tamper with the data and security is enhanced. The have extremely high
transaction speed.
However, the thirds generation of Blockchain also has several disadvantages like
bug fixing or updating due to their decentralized nature. The consensus mechanisms
applied are comparatively complicated.
Another upcoming propitious progression in the evolution of Blockchain is the

Blockchain 4.0. It aims to deliver Blockchain Technology as a business-usable plat-
form to create and run applications thus converting the technology to fully main-
stream. It has the possibility of inculcating other prosperous technologies such
as Artificial Intelligence with Blockchain. Blockchain 4.0 enables proliferation of
a seamless integration of different platforms to work under a single umbrella in
coherence to fulfill business and industry demands.
The introductory platform to put forward Blockchain 4.0 utilities is Unibright
[92] which enables an amalgamation of several blockchain business models. Another
example is SEELE Platform [93] which allows integration in blockchain space by
permitting cross communication between different protocols across various services
harmonically. The fourth generation has the potential to allow the transactional
speed up to 1 M transactions per second which currently impossible in the existing
generations.
3.4 Comparison of Different Generations of Blockchain
After understanding the nitty-gritty of the evolutionary generations of blockchain,

this section compares basin principle, consensus mechanisms, transaction speed,
merits and demerits and examples of all of them chronologically in Table 3.2.
The usage of a particular generation thus depends on the application domain it has
to sustain with their corresponding consensus models and respective parameter speci-
fications. For Peer to Peer cryptocurrency exchange, Blockchain 1.0 stills proves to be
an simpler alternative. Other non-financial sectors like Education, Healthcare, Agri-
culture, Smart Homes etc. utilize the Ethereum platform along with smart contracts to
formulate the terms and regulations between the service provider and customers. The
third and fourth generation of Blockchain is more predominate where Blockchains
works into backend for several business models and cross communication is required
amidst several Blockchain networks. The last two generations of Blockchain is still
in its infancy and still undergoing several modifications to become potential enough
to serve mankind.
Table 3.2 Comparison between different generations of blockchain

Parameter Blockchain 1.0 Blockchain 2.0 Blockchain 3.0 Blockchain 4.0
Underlying principle Distributed Smart contracts Decentralized Blockchain with
Ledger Apps (dApps) AI
Technology
(DLT)
Consensus Proof of work Delegated proof Proof of stake, Proof of integrity
mechanism of work Proof of
authority
Verification By miners Through smart In-built Automated
contracts and verification verification via
miners mechanism via Sharding
dApps
Scalability Not scalable Poorly scalable Scalable Highly scalable
Interoperability Not Not Interoperable Highly
interoperable interoperable interoperable
Intercommunication Not allowed Not allowed Allowed Allowed
Speed 7 TBS 15 TBS 1000 s of TBS 1 M TBS
Cost Expensive Cheaper More Cheaper Cost effective
Energy consumption Highest Moderate Energy efficient Highly efficient
Example Bitcoin Ethereum IOTA, Cardano, SEELE,
Anion Unibright
Application Financial Non-financial Business Industry 4.0
sector sector platforms
3.5 A Blockchain Based Supply Chain Management

Testcase
Supply Chain Management demands integration of planning and execution of

different processes such as the flow of materials, information as well as capital
income. This in detail involves procurement of raw materials from supplier, building
the finishes product by manufacturer and then transferring them from producer to
consumer. The interconnectivity the different participants in the supply chain gradu-
ally becomes more inefficient and unreliable when the business flourishes. To elimi-
nate such discrepancies Blockchain Technology has the potential to revolutionize the
Supply Chain Management. The advantages provided by Blockchain in this scenario
are enlisted below.
• Blockchain enables more transparent and authentic end-to-end tracking in the
supply chain. Each organizations can create a decentralized immutable record of
all its dealings, thus allowing tracking of assets from provenance to delivery.
• Blockchain enhances the trust and visibility amidst the service provider and
consumers.
• Blockchain eliminates fraud and intrusion of valuable goods such as diamonds
and pharmaceutical drugs.
• Blockchain abolishes all intermediary entities and curbs losses from counterfeit
and gray market trading.
• Blockchain provides all participants within a particular supply chain full authority
to access the same information, thus diminishing any communication or data
transfer errors..
• Blockchain streamlines administrative procedures and diminishes costs by
enabling an effective audit of supply chain data by getting rid of manual checks
for compliance or credit which are time-consuming and error prone.
Figure 3.10 illustrates a general Blockchain based Supply Chain Management
diagrammatically with all its participatory elements.
• The main entities of a Supply Chain are the raw material supplier, the product
manufacturer, the finished goods distributer, the retailer and finally the consumer.
• The supplier and manufacturer formulate a smart contract amongst them and the
settlement occurs between them accordingly.
• Details regarding the raw material and manufacturing such as supply date,
quantity, manufacturing date, units etc. are uploaded into the Blockchain.
• Once the Manufacturing is over, the manufacturer and distributer finalize the terms
of their smart contract.
• Details like number of units distributable, the address of the retailer, distribution
date etc. are fed into the blockchain.
• After the retailer receives the finished products, they are updated into the inventory
along with their manufacturing dates, costs expiry dates etc.
• The customer can purchase from the retailer either physically or online and back
track the entire supply chain via the Blockchain to ensure the quality of the product.
Fig. 3.10 Blockchain based supply chain management system
• The Supplier, Manufacturer and Distributer also track their relevant information
and selling of goods to manage their services accordingly.
Incorporation of Blockchain introduces more transparency into the supply chain.
Every entity can back track the information once uploaded into the Blockchain. Also
the data becomes immutable therefore nobody can upload it without the consent of
other entities. Any kinds of fraud or counterfeiting is also eliminated by the usage
of Blockchain. Thus Blockchain has the potential to transform any other business
domain like Supply Chain Management to greater extents.
3.6 Conclusion
Blockchain is a promising technology that has garnered immense interest of

researchers. It largely impacted the peer-to-peer information exchange by combining
cryptographic principles with decentralization, immutability and transparency. Since
its inception by Santoshi Nakamoto back in 2008, Blockchain technology hugely
transfigured to grater extents since then. The first generation of Blockchain, Bitcoin
was a decentralized peer-to-peer digital currency which eliminated the presence of
any central authority such as banks or intermediaries. To address the trust issues
amidst the participants, Bitcoin implements consensus models to ensure the authen-
ticity and integrity of the users. Due to the limited functionality of the first generation
in only financial sector, further advancements were made to adopt Blockchain for
other domains as well. Ethereum, the second generation technology has immense
application for crowdsourcing through its trustworthy smart contact clauses. A smart
contract is a self-asserting contract where the decision between buyer and seller
are directly written as lines of codes across a distributed, decentralized blockchain
network. The third generation Blockchain has inbuilt verification mechanism and
more efficient faster and cheaper than previous versions. Combining Artificial Intel-
ligence with Blockchain Technology has already paved way for the fourth generation
of blockchain as well.
This chapter begins by describing the historical background of this expeditious
technology. It then proffers a description of the basic terminologies in blockchain,
it’s types, basic structure of block and different consensus models popularly known.
The fundamental aim of this chapter was to provide a comprehensive study of the
successive evolutions in Blockchain Technology by highlighting the nitty-gritty of
each generation in detail. It also illustrates a parameter wise differences amidst the
several generations in terms of their principle areas, consensus models used, utility
of smart contracts, the energy and cost requirements and execution speed and scala-
bility. In the end, a Blockchain in Supply Chain Management test case has also been
elaborated in this chapter.
The future scope of this book chapter involves designing a two party secure
message exchange protocol by utilizing the fundamental offerings of the relevant
version of Blockchain. Which generation will be most suitable, the formulation of
smart contract if applicable followed by its deployment and other essentials has been
left for our future endeavors.
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Chapter 4
Anatomy of Blockchain Implementation
in Healthcare
Shubhangi V. Urkude, Himanshu Sharma, Seethamsetty Uday Kumar,

and Vijaykumar R. Urkude
Abstract Blockchain is one of the leading technologies that have a huge number
of implications in solving real time problems, especially in sectors like Health-
care, Banking, Aviation, Telecommunication, and so forth. Blockchain is known
for its features like interoperability, improved information security, Data integrity,
immutability, distributed database, Peer to Peer transaction Network, traceability,
and transparency along with a trustworthy environment that makes it more secure
and reliable. It is enormously known for decentralizing data, easy accessibility, and
management of operations, which makes blockchain a better technology to work
on. Currently, the big sectors like healthcare that have a huge number of implica-
tions in comparison to others, need to make their activities effective and efficient
on a real time basis. Unlike other technologies that are presently available in the
healthcare industry, Blockchain technology facilitates many things such as drug
supply chain management by making it counterfeit-free, providing interoperability
in patient health records, allowing data operations to be safe and precise, enhancing
medical insurance security, assistance in disease predications, etc. Ensuring absolute
encryption security by way of cryptographic algorithms with healthcare taking plea-
sure in the stack of benefits. Blockchain can solve numerous problems in healthcare
and adapting it, will not only boost the working productivity but also enhances the
quality of outcomes with a progressive approach. This chapter focuses on blockchain
introduction followed by its implementations in the healthcare industry and issues
that could be solved using blockchain technology.
S. V. Urkude (B)
Faculty of Science and Technology, ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education, Hyderabad, India
H. Sharma
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IcfaiTech (Faculty of Science and
Technology), ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education, Hyderabad, India
S. U. Kumar
Adsana Corp USA (Canine Cancer Centre), San Francisco, USA
V. R. Urkude
Vignan’s Institute of Management and Technology for Women, Ghatkesar, Hyderabad, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69395-4_4
52 S. V. Urkude et al.
Keywords Blockchain · Telecommunication · Distributed database ·

Cryptographic algorithm · Immutability
4.1 Introduction
Blockchain technology was initially developed to eradicate the intermediaries in

digital currency transfers [1, 2]. Blockchain is a decentralized or distributed system,
cryptographically secured, provides immutable links while transferring assets, and
having a huge computational network. Blockchain acts as a sheltered atmosphere
to store and perform data operations using node validation and a Trustworthy
environment in a peer to peer transaction network.
The recognized design of Blockchain was first announced in 2008, which was
implemented and deployed in 2009 [1]. It was the first decentralized digital currency
system that pioneered Bitcoin as its integral constituent. It ensures a transaction is
added to the block and the block has been lucratively created and dedicated to the
Blockchain. The creation of new blocks and adding them to the Global Blockchain is
done by a decentralized consensus system. The blocks maintain a cryptographic hash
value with a link to the previous block in the Blockchain so that the data integrity
inside the blockchain is preserved and remains tamper-proof. Blockchain systems are
growing rapidly with an increase in investments and interests from various industrial
sectors. Bitcoin Systems ensures that the transaction is recorded and structured in a
cryptographically secured chain of blocks are immune to many problems resembling
security, privacy, trust issues, and double spending, etc. [3–5].
4.1.1 Characteristics of Blockchain
Immutability Each block in the blockchain is connected to other blocks with cryp-
tographic hash functions. Transactions are recorded in a chronological order that
makes blockchain tamper-proof [6].
Transparency Changes in the network are publicly available. Transactions are vali-
dated by authorized nodes on the network, so that any change could be detected at
any instance of time, making Blockchain a compatible platform to work with.
Traceability Timestamp feature in Blockchain helps in recording transactions at
each point of time by tracking every movement with hash functions adding up more
functionality to their succession, and making the process efficient and secure.
Decentralization A distributed database that allows multiple platforms to have
authoritative access on the database. It helps in reducing mediatory expenses and
make sure that the data is stored inside a secure environment [3].
4 Anatomy of Blockchain Implementation in Healthcare 53
Trust factor Trust is the principal factor that plays a major role while performing a
transaction. Blockchain allows unknown entities to have secure transactions without
any externalities and interruptions, offers a trustworthy environment for transferring
assets to build trust [7].
4.1.2 Flow of Bitcoin Transaction
In the first step, a Transaction is encrypted and broadcasted on the Blockchain

network. Every transaction was verified by participating nodes present on the
Network that will eliminate the need for intermediaries. The verified transactions
are stored in a new block; each block having a unique cryptographic hash value,
subsequently block is added to the Blockchain [4, 8].
In the second step, the process of adding the block to the blockchain is done via a
method called mining. Mining is done through a consensus protocol called Proof-of-
Work (PoW). The entities that are involved in mining are called miners. Figure 4.1
shows the Bitcoin Transaction Process.
The third step discussed the process of the Consensus algorithm that involves a
group of nodes achieving agreement on a single data assessment between decentral-
ized systems. It is designed to accomplish consistency in a network that involves
numerous untrustworthy nodes [4, 9].
Fig. 4.1 Bitcoin transaction process

The fourth step discussed the process of Consensus protocol in Bitcoin

Blockchain. It is named as Proof-of-Work (PoW) that uses Secure hash Algorithm
256 (SHA-256) to generate a unique cryptographic hash value for each transaction
performed on the blockchain. PoW includes set of nodes working to crack high-
computationally intensive puzzles to get an embattled hash value and the miner who
cracks it first will get a chance to add the block to the blockchain and is rewarded
with Bitcoin.
Intricacy in generating nonce value i.e., the complexity of the computational
puzzle will depend on blocks added per hour and the infrastructure used by the
miner.
The fifth step discussed transactions in the Network,
• The transaction is broadcasted to all the nodes and each node gathers new
transactions into a block.
• Available nodes perform Proof-of-Work consensus and broadcast the transaction
to get verified by all the nodes available.
• Since nodes allow only valid blocks to participate and are committed to the
Blockchain, the double-spending problem is resolved.
• In this way, a transaction takes place by eliminating mediatory costs and third
party dependence [1, 3].
Potentials of Blockchain implementation in Bitcoin are the Hash pointer and
Merkle tree, which acts as the key feature in the whole network infrastructure that
makes the transactions on Blockchain secure and user-friendly. Hash pointers are
used to address the location of the data on the network and work on linking of
data blocks using complex encryption algorithms. So that any sort of misconduct
in the atmosphere can be detected by addressing the data locations. Merkle tree
can be represented as a structured hierarchy of nodes, connected internally to a
hash pointer, and alteration in any node will be reflected on all. This prevents data
tampering and provides transparency. Digital signature plays an important role in
the identification of network participants by allowing only authorized entities to take
part in transactions. It consists of core components that are required to perform a
digital signature, includes key generation, signing, and verification algorithms [3].
4.1.3 Types of Encryption Algorithms
Symmetric Algorithms that use the same cryptographic keys to encrypt as well as
decrypt the transactions, both the parties have access to the same key that gives rise
to distress in maintaining user’s privacy and security [3, 4].
Asymmetric Public-key cryptography is the system that employs a pair of keys in
encrypting and decrypting of data. In which public key is open to the network and
the private key is known only to the owner. In this system, the sender encrypts the
Fig. 4.2 Data blocks forming blockchain
transaction with the receiver’s public key, which can be only decrypted using the
receiver’s private key. Bitcoin transaction utilizes public-key cryptography [3, 4].
Figure 4.2 shows the arrangement of data blocks in the blockchain. As mentioned in
the figure every block is associated with the block’s hash value and a hash value for
the previous block. It forms a chain like structure. The first block in Blockchain is
called Genesis Block, which doesn’t have any previous hash value.
4.1.4 Types of Encryption Algorithms
Permissionless Blockchain Public Blockchain is a permissionless blockchain. In

this network, all transactions are completely decentralized with having no individual
entity controlling the whole network [6, 10]. It is a distributed network. A public
blockchain is completely transparent and nodes can only examine transaction details.
So anyone can view the transactions happening without knowing from whom it’s been
transacted and asset transfers are highly encrypted using complex algorithms. e.g.
Bitcoin, Ethereum uses public blockchain to perform exchanges on their platform.
Permissioned Blockchain Private Blockchain is called permission blockchain that
involves authorized access to enter the Blockchain network [11, 12]. Most of the
enterprise uses private blockchain. Private Blockchain transactions are privately held
with known entities making transactions more centralized than public blockchain.
Enterprises use a private blockchain to perform the transfer of sensitive information
among known entities. e. g. Ethereum and Hyperledger etc.
Hybrid Blockchain A combination of public and private blockchain can be called
as hybrid blockchain. It gives privacy benefits of private blockchain and interoper-
ability and transparency of public blockchain by providing adaptability to pick what
information sender needs to make open/public, transparent, and what information

they need to keep private [7]. e.g. Ripple network and Dragonchain, etc.
Consortium Blockchain They are often considered as a subpart of the private
blockchain. In private blockchain a single entity controls the network. A consortium
blockchain is controlled by an endorsed group of entities, which makes.
4.1.5 Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency is the digital currency that works on the technology called

Blockchain. The Cryptocurrency is used to depict encoded, decentralized digital
cash moved among peers and affirmed in a permissionless open record throughout
the computation intensive process of mining [11, 12]. Most dominating networks
in the Cryptocurrency market are Bitcoin and Ethereum. Ethereum demonstrated
Blockchain as a computational network by performance, which is above the
exchanging of assets.
Smart contracts are the digital contracts that work on a technology called
Blockchain, introduced by Ethereum in 2014, making it the first platform to do
so. They are programmable, immutable, and robust for encouraging, executing, and
upholding the arrangement or execution of an understanding. Ethereum is a well
known Blockchain for smart contracts [13].
4.1.6 Initial Coin Offering (ICO)
ICOs are looked at as a way to host finances, a company looking for funds to create
applications, coins, or services, etc. It can use Initial coin offering, so to enhance
resources as well as give long term benefits to consumers, who are fascinated in
buying them. ICOs are a popular fundraiser method, which is a preferable option
for startups that are looking to provide their products and services. To participate
in ICOs an entity or investor should have a proper understanding of the working
of cryptocurrency wallets and transactions. When a cryptocurrency startup wants
to raise capital through ICOs they typically create a whitepaper to showcase their
project outlines and benefits, to convince the investors. These coins are assigned as
tokens that can act as shares of the company, similar to the company selling shares
in Initial public offerings (IPO) and investors buying those shares [14].
4.1.7 Tokens in Blockchain
Digital tokens are the virtual tokens that have the features of ‘security’ under financial
services and markets (FSMR) 2015. They may be referred to as ‘Digital securities’
that displays characteristics of a Debenture, share, or units in finance. Crypto asset is
digital representations of values that are virtually traded as a medium of exchange,
part of the account, and expand of worth, but it does not have any lawful tender
standing in a jurisdiction [15].
The Operating a Crypto Asset Business (OCAB) framework introduced two types
of digital assets.
Utility tokens The tokens, which can be exchanged for access to specific merchandise
or service, usually supplied via a digital ledger technology (DLT) platform, these
tokens, do not demonstrate any traits and personality of a synchronized venture
[15]. For example, to store data online they are different framework like Amazon
web services, Dropbox, etc. in which a consumer have to reserve the server and is
charged for the same. Unlike previous frameworks, the Filecoin network allows the
client to store data in an encrypted/ decentralized form that will automatically track
utilized storage and charge accordingly [16].
Security tokens They are often called ‘tokenized security’ symbolizing possession in
a fundamental real-world asset with decentralized network tracking. Security tokens
make it easy for the customer to access investments on multiple platforms [17].
They are many more frameworks, which have classified tokens based on their utiliza-
tion by distinct authorities and multiple platforms in the world. Table 4.1a, b shows
the different frameworks used in blockchain.
Table 4.1 Different blockchain frameworks

(a)
Platforms Type of Consensus protocol Transfer status Scalability
blockchain
Bitcoin Public PoW (Proof of work) Public Low transfer
throughput
Ethereum Public, Private PoW, PoS (Proof of Public, Private Low transfer
Stake) Throughput
Hyperledger Private, Numerous Access Private High transfer
Fabric Consortium, etc protocols Throughput
(b)
Transaction speed Transactional cost Smart contracts
Bitcoin 7 Transactions/s High No
Ethereum 15 Transactions/s High Yes
Hyperledger Fabric 3000 Transactions/s Low Yes
The rest of the chapter is organized as follow. In Sect. 4.2, we presented a

brief overview of application of blockchain in healthcare. The implementations of
blockchain in different sectors are discussed in Sect. 4.3, which includes medical
insurance, healthcare infrastructure, and dental industry so on. In Sect. 4.4, we
explained about issues in blockchain with potential elucidations, followed by issues in
healthcare that could be solved using blockchain technology is described in Sect. 4.5.
Finally, we concluded the chapter with future scope in Sect. 4.6.
4.2 Blockchain in Healthcare
Blockchain has a wider scope in the healthcare industry, from storing and managing
patient’s health data to supply chain management & drug security, disease predic-
tions, drug traceability, and insurance claims, etc. Blockchain technology has
completely changed the way how things used to be implemented by automating all
the processes, which were previously done manually with unfortunate configuration
and time-draining functions. Blockchain provides efficient outcomes that create trust
among entities via a reliable environment and user-friendly network. The patient’s
data management is playing a dominant role in building trust among entities resem-
bling doctors, patients, and institutions, etc. Lack of standards and awareness among
the entities is hampering the enlargement of blockchain technology [10]. According
to Global Blockchain Survey, 40% of executives’ sight blockchain as a ‘top-5’ inten-
tional priority, BIS Research estimates that blockchain will grow over $5.6 billion
by the end of 2025 and healthcare industry can save up to $150 billion per year by
2025 [18].
The Healthcare industry suffers from a lot of security breaches and blockchain
promises to fill all the loopholes. Blockchain is receiving immense attention in health-
care in resolving data challenges that in turn give pharma industries enormous benefits
sustaining sanity among individuals and their priorities. Pharmaceutical companies
approximately losses over $200 billion per year due to the counterfeiting of drugs.
Blockchain can replace the current system with a transparent drug supply chain. This
includes end to end traceability features that will be the exceptional resolution for
enhancing data provenance, reliability, and security of the pharma supply chain [5].
Peer-to-Peer transactions in Blockchain will help the healthcare industry to
preserve network infrastructure security. Whereas a smart contract plays a crucial
role in giving permissioned access to patient data that allows third parties to have
agreements on data access. The decentralized structure of the network maintains data
integrity and provides interoperability to facilitate data transfers in the atmosphere,
where cryptography makes patient access encrypted and confined. Secure health
data creates a trust factor among participating nodes that makes health information
exchange effective with eradicating mediator transactional costs [13].
Blockchain framework works for mounting healthcare applications that must
execute robust validation attributes and a well-suited access control mechanism to
manage how participants can interrelate with the network and the correlated data.
Transaction throughput is scaled based on speed and efficiency like in other use cases.
e.g. Remote monitoring systems, Blockchain framework transactions throughput
depends on the scalability factor of the participating nodes and kind of infrastructure
used by the system [12].
4.3 Blockchain Implementations in Healthcare
Many organizations implemented the blockchain in the healthcare domain by taking

into account there need and the kind of problems they are facing. Medicinal services
are one of the most urgent segments that are contributing a tremendous part over the
timeframe regardless of the foundations changed. Perhaps the greatest test looked by
the social insurance industry is in the supervision of understanding Patient Health
Records (PHR). It is a significant issue in everywhere throughout the world. Health-
care service is likewise a lucrative industry and clinics frequently are not all that
excited about losing their patients. Subsequently, they take part in data blocking
exercises which frustrate the advancement progress. Information isn’t the main thing
that can be taken but, medical drugs are also elevated. The pharmaceutical business
can make a profit by propelling its supply chain and observing how the medications
are being conveyed to forestall taking and illicit courses [9].
Medication errors are one the loophole which causes surplus deaths every year.
They can be due to improper medication intakes or may be ingestion of counterfeit
drugs that can have dangerous side effects. Without having proper knowledge about
the background of medical products or patients’ history it becomes quite complex
for the health experts to initiate any treatment option. Diagnostic mistakes repre-
sent 60% of every single clinical blunder and an expected 40,000 to 80,000 deaths
every year [19]. Current healthcare systems lag in the process of shipping medical
products, prevent counterfeiting of drugs, data sharing, and so forth. Blockchain can
help in resolving all the issues from the anti-counterfeiting of clinical medications
to compatible electronic health records, data interoperability, and proper healthcare
infrastructure with a cryptographically secured environment. This technology can
enormously change the manner of executing things. Table 4.2 represents the imple-
mentation of different companies based on certain parameters such as blockchain
network, consensus mechanism, interoperability, security, and so on. Some of the
problems face by implementing the blockchain in healthcare by different companies
in various sectors is discussed below.
4.3.1 Blockchain in Medical Insurance
Presently, the security framework requires many back-office procedures to explain

whether the safety net provider or the patient pays for assistance with a lack of
communication. It can cause delays, poor assistance, and redundant cost cuts. As per
60
Table 4.2 Blockchain implementations in healthcare by different companies

Company MedRec [16] Farma Trust [17] MediBloc [18] Nebula Genomics [23] IYRO [30]
Consensus Protocol Proof-of-Work (PoW) Proof-of-Authority (PoA) Tendermint Consensus No Delegated Proof of Stake
Based on (DPoS &PBFT) (DPoS) + asynchronous
byzantine fault tolerant
(aBFT)
Blockchain Network Ethereum Ethereum Ethereum Blockstack & Ethereum EOSIO Network
Interoperability Slow (Yes) Yes Yes Yes Yes
Scalability Issues Yes Yes Yes Yes
Privacy Security concerns Yes Yes Yes Yes
System Customer-centric Consumer-Centric Customer-Centric Client-centric User-friendly
TOKENS No Yes (ERC20) Yes (Medi Tokens) Yes (Nebula Tokens) Yes
S. V. Urkude et al.
McKinsey publication, lavish work processes add over $400 billion every year in
surplus spending in the healthcare services industry. Smart contracts can add value
to the work which was done manually by automating the workflow and allowing
the transactions to be self-executed based on various parameters. When it comes
to assistance, occupying a blockchain-based network throughout billing documents
and associating catalogs, employees can search for trusted information in seconds.
It is greatly valuable in health insurance policies which are securing the data and
for the compensations also [6]. Blockchain technology also presents potential use
cases for insurers that include innovating insurance products and services for growth,
increasing effectiveness in scam detection and pricing, and reducing administrative
costs [13, 20].
4.3.2 Blockchain-Based Healthcare Infrastructure
Guardtime reinstate Trust with Truth and is well known for providing Healthcare
Data Infrastructure, Blockchain-as-a-Service [25]. Guardtime health bridges the
gap between various entities across numerous platforms to sustain data integrity.
Patient—report outcomes—Guardtime HSX guarantees that patient detailed results
are conveyed progressively based on their clinical trials. It can distinguish and resolve
cases where patient results and hazard is documented imprecisely. The Platform
keeps updating the clients regarding their personalized treatment plans ensuring
continuous valuation process and all of this is done via a Smartphone application
programming interface (APIs). Guardtime HSX can be utilized to enroll patients
for clinical preliminaries about interfacing openly to the patients ingesting explicit
medications [26].
4.3.3 Blockchain in Dental Industry
Dental System at the moment from Diagnosis and X-Rays to patient receipts and
prescriptions, everything is completely manual. It indicates the patient’s data is open
for any manipulations. The movement of the current medical data is silent inade-
quate, with patients having less knowledge about their data. In a Blockchain dental
embed framework, the applicable information of the block or dental implant can’t
be discretionarily altered, so that keeping the culmination and security of the clinical
records. It includes two ends a doctor end and patient end, the specialist end stores
dental embed patient’s clinical records in the blockchain. It also offers inventive
assistance, and improves the commitment to clinical characteristics. Patient’s end
has the responsibility for own clinical records, fit for acquiring their clinical record
information explicitly through system connection, and being better for self-health
management [27].
4.3.4 Personal Health Record Management
As per an overview led by Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG), 38% of top
healthcare services chief information officers (CIOs) state better administration of
electronic health records (EHR) is head of their plan and planning needs [5]. MedRec
provides a Distributed access and validation structure that prioritizes patient activity,
giving apparent and accessible surv%eillance of medical records [8]. MedRec is built
on the Ethereum blockchain, which uses smart contracts that allows diverse transac-
tions to be executed on the blockchain. It includes work adjoining on agreements to
execute some set of conditions. It doesn’t store EHR legitimately, however, encodes
metadata that permits records to be gotten to immovably by patients on Ethereum
Blockchain. By employing savvy agreements to encode pointers, it may be utilized
to find and validate the record areas. MedRec allows patient-provider relationships
using a summary contract that gives full control to patients for acceptance, rejec-
tion and cutting off relationships. In MedRec whenever a patient wants to access a
particular medical record, permission is needed from the provider. He will check the
legitimacy of the identity and allows the client to have access to the requested param-
eter. When it comes to privacy, MedRec proposes the addition of encryption in the
off-blockchain synchronization steps, safeguarding against accidental or malicious
content access.
Mining in Medrec blockchain is a computationally exhaustive hashing exercise
that is performed by medical researchers. In this process, when a block is mined,
the block’s miner in appended as the author of inquiry, allowing them to collect the
data as part of the transaction. Then the block’s minor will get access to anonymised
data that could help them in their researches. This proposal raises a concern on data
security and privacy as nodes with common interests can group up and perform
unprofessional conduct. It may also affect the dignity of the blockchain as well as
the integrity of clients’ data.
Personal health record management uses a different approach to this by storing
patients’ encrypted data copies on three nodes. One at IYRO cloud node, second
at their clinic storage and third on consumer’s device, making data storage process
more transparent and reliable and all of this is done through API’s [24]. IYRO
uses the EOSIO network—the most authoritative infrastructure for decentralized
applications that offer shards (Blockchain apps). EOSIO consensus protocol includes
Delegated proof of stake (DPoS) + asynchronous byzantine fault tolerant (aBFT),
which makes it more secure than others. This platform incorporates working on
patient’s data using artificial intelligence (AI) and Blockchain for making predictions
using EOSIO blockchain implementation and algorithm called Umbral algorithm.
This algorithm allows the patient to issue re-encryption keys. An end-user can issue
signed permissions like sharing EHR with the personal doctor, cancellation of access
to EHR, sharing limited PHR with a time limit, and permissions to read/write.
4.3.5 Pharmaceutical Supply Chain
Casado-Vara, Prieto proposed a model that uses digital agreement contracts with
multi operator frameworks planned for expanding productivity in logistics configu-
ration management, which can be applied in the pharmaceutical supply chain [13,
28]. FarmaTrust uses Blockchain technology for preventing the counterfeiting of
pharmaceuticals and ensure drug safety by the end-to-end tracking of medical prod-
ucts [21]. FarmaTrust Zoi System, a blockchain-based Zoi supply chain information
exchange stage to safely confirm and permits the supply of authentic items over
an assorted system of pharmaceutical brands. It provides a secure, interoperable,
and immutable source of data, which allows tracking of successive products across
an uninterrupted chain of supervision throughout the supply chain. By integrating
blockchain technology, big data and machine learning with smart dealing logic help
Zoi systems to prevent falsified medicines effortlessly entering the consumer market.
The system does it, through a digital token referencing each consecutive product key
from manufacture to end-user ensuring transparency at every point.
Scalability is one of the major disquiets in Blockchain which is solved by the Zoi
system that is designed to handle millions of transactions using various techniques
such as caching, data allocation, multi-processing, parallel scaling, high aptitude
servers, etc. without negotiating performance and data safety. It uses a permissioned
blockchain network—Ethereum and Proof-of-authority as consensus protocol, which
makes it highly secured and compatible than other systems. Zoi system issues tokens
called FTT tokens i.e., ERC20 standard tokens that allow the clients to take part in the
Zoi ecosystem in means of transferring assets, which can be used by pharmaceutical
companies, government, consumers, and FTT token holders, etc.
4.3.6 Healthcare Information System Based on Blockchain
The Healthcare sector is moving towards a decentralized database from storing data
to performing operations on them and utilizing it to grant personal benefits. Medi-
Bloc is an open-source healthcare data platform built on blockchain that can secure
and integrate diffused data from numerous organizations. It can track a person’s daily
movement via smartphones, fit bands, smartwatches, and so forth [22]. Characteris-
tics like high security, reliability, compatibility, and transparency make this platform
a well-known preference for unknown entities. Interoperability is the feature that
allows all third party entities to play a part in the exchanging of data. MediBloc
issues Medi tokens (MED), used on this platform for appreciating their participation
by getting tokens in the reward that is not only for participants but also for healthcare
professionals too. Tokens can also be used while transferring assets, for example, a
third party institution need to take permission from the user to have access to their
data so that users can generate revenues in terms of token transfers.
This platform contains 3 layers, first is core layer known as MediBloc core that
allows encryption using user’s private key on a blockchain network assuring data
security. Second layer grant services passing through Ethereum smart contracts that
permits the exchange of data between two layers—MediBloc core and Applica-
tion. The third layer as Application Programming Interfaces (API’s) to connect the
platform through supervision of protocols. Consensus protocol used by MediBloc
is tendermint consensus (Developer friendly and low-level protocol, a combination
of Consensus protocol and Application Blockchain interface [29]) that is based on
Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) and Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT).
MediBloc uses blockchain technology to make its platform customer-centric, which
provides data switch over services and creates a reliable personal health record (PHR)
by allowing the patient to have total control over their data that can enhance data
convenience with absolute transparency.
4.3.7 Blockchain in Genomics
Genomic refers to Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid (DNA), which helps in uniquely iden-
tify entities all over the world. In genomics data sets requires huge computation
exhaustive and high sequencing processes. There is a need for a secure data platform
that could assist during data allocation and provide high-level information supremacy
[13, 30]. Genomic data is used by the researchers for Drug discovery, preventing
viruses, disease prediction improved diagnosis, etc., but poor genomic data quality
and inefficient data acquirement is becoming a major concern presently. Nebula
Genomics provides a platform that enhances the data sharing, storing, enabling buyers
to have easy access while surfing through the arrangement, this will not only improve
the efficiency but will also make information secure and precise [23].
The Nebula network is built on the Blockstack platform (an open-source and
developer pleasant network for building decentralized apps and smart contracts)
and Ethereum blockchain. It reduces effective sequencing costs and enhances the
protection of personal genomic data. By eradicating stress on third parties, data
owners can obtain their genomic data from Nebula sequencing facilities that connect
them to data buyers in a peer-peer cryptographically encrypted network. Nebula
smart contract-based appraisal tool will facilitate data buyers to plan surveys that
consist of mutually supporting inquiries and bring out accurate responses. Nebula
token is the currency used in this network that can be used in paying for services and
data purchases. Decentralized sequencing will help individuals to purchase DNA
sequencing machines and perform sequence on their samples so that privacy risks
can be detected.
The blockchain implementation proposed by different researchers such as Peilong,
Asaph Azaria, and so on is shown in Table 4.3.
Peilong Li et al. proposed a software-defined infrastructure, ChainSDI to address
the issue of sharing and computing the data of sensitive patients [31]. They addressed
data interoperability issues by deploying in the cloud environment of heterogeneous
Table 4.3 Blockchain implementations in healthcare by different companies

Research Data Blockchain Data Smart Consensus Data
work interoperability type security contract mechanism storage
Li et al. [44] Yes Consortium Yes Yes No On-chain
Azaria et al. Yes Ethereum Yes Yes Proof of Off-chain
[45] Work
Nakamoto No No No No Proof of –
[1] Work
Daraghmi et. Yes Permission Yes Yes Proof of –
al. [46] blockchain Authority
Liu et al.[47] No Private Yes No Proof of –
blockchain stake
Ben-Sasson No Bitcoin No No Proof of –
et. al [48] blockchain Work
nature. This ChainSDI is developed by modifying the traditional infrastructure like;

to capture the data related to patient’s record efficient sensors are deployed in patient’s
premises, use of heterogeneous cloud computing resources at a different level, and
use of secure transaction protocol for data transmission between different nodes. A
new data structure is proposed to add a new block addressing data interoperability.
The patient’s data is stored on the blockchain directly using smart contract and
security with patient ID. So the patient’s information is directly accessible to the
authorized people and reduced the hardware requirement for other nodes in the
chain. Data security is provided using a smart contract so that when the user wants
to get the information it is validated by a smart contract. This will stop tampering
with data. Private Key cryptography technique is used for the security purpose. They
also proposed an algorithm for smart contracts to ensure data integrity and access
control.
Asaph Azaria et al. proposed MedRec, a framework to handle Electric Health
Records. It provides security, authenticity, interoperability, and easy access to infor-
mation at different sites [32]. MedRec provides a single point access using ID (e.
g. patient’s name or social security number) and this ID is mapped to Ethereum
address. The database server authenticates an exchange of data between a patient
and provider database using a syncing algorithm. An off-chain data storage policy is
used to store data in Ethereum blockchain. MedRec was implemented using Proof
of Work consensus mechanism and peer-to-peer state transition to transfer data to all
nodes. In MedRec three types contracts are implemented (i) Registrar contract (RC)
(ii) Patient-Provider relationship Contract (PPR) and (iii) Summary contract (SC).
RC maps participant ID to the address on Ethereum blockchain and it is connected
to the summary contract. The PPR enables to share records among the connecting
nodes. Storing and managing data between a pair of nodes PPR is issued among
them. The smart contract enables to record the medical history of participants and
store status variable for each relationship. After getting the acknowledgment patient
can perform various actions such as accept, reject, and delete relationships and the
provider will update the status variable. System node in MedRec consists of Backend
library, Ethereum client, Database gatekeeper, and EMR manager.
Satoshi Nakamoto proposed Bitcoin, direct money transform from one node to
another without a third party interface [1]. He used proof-of-work to follow the
majority decision and represented by the longest chain. To modify the block in the
chain attacker has to modify all the previous blocks and proof-of-work. With the entire
valid transaction, the block is accepted by the node. To process every transaction,
some charges are taken as an incentive that will help nodes to stay connected with the
chain. The attacker having more CPU power than a new coin is generated. In Bitcoin
privacy is achieved by releasing anonymous public keys without telling whom it is
addressing.
Daraghm et al. proposed MedChain, to manage medical health records [33]. Secu-
rity and access control are achieved by encryption and authentication mechanism.
Privacy is achieved by implementing a time-based smart contract for all the transac-
tions. Separate logs are maintained to achieve data interoperability and accessibility.
To transfer digital currency between a pair of nodes and recreating a new block new
incentive mechanism is proposed. Medchain is implemented by various software
components such as records evaluation Manager (REM). it will extract, manage, and
classify heterogeneous data. The degree of health provider node is computed for
each node and stored in Nodes Consensus Contract (NCC) to create a new block.
DB manager creates a hash value for the link, the patient’s medical record, and logs
that are stored in the blockchain. For the client access permission blockchain is used.
It had a web interface to view and retrieve information from patients. It uses NCC
for registering new user, mining, and identifying the role of each participant in the
blockchain.
Liu et al. proposed a mechanism to store medical and historical data [34]. They
implemented a symptoms-matching mechanism by creating mutual communication
between patients with similar symptoms communication in the future. It is consists of
three components system manager, patients, and hospital. The system manager (SM)
is a trusted authority. It is responsible for all communication between the patient,
hospital, and stored data in blockchain for further reference. They used a delegated
proof-of-stake (DPOS) consensus mechanism. In DPOS supernode will get the coin
to generate a new block. In case of failure new supernode is selected to generate the
block. They used private blockchain for medical data sharing and protection. This
mechanism is having low computation and communication costs.
Eli Ben-Sasson et.al proposed Zerocash, a decentralized anonymous payment
scheme (DAP) [35]. DAP is an unnamed payment application designed from Bitcoin.
DAP is very efficient for the small transaction of less than 1 KB. DAP implemented
a special base currency called base coin having parameters such as coin value, serial
number, and address. They also defined other transactions as Mint transaction and
Pour transaction. All transaction in zerocash is verified by proof-of-work and it
will take time to spread on the network. They developed two algorithms, the Mint
algorithm to generate a coin and the Pour algorithm to consume the generated coin
and performing transaction.
4.4 Issues in Blockchain with Potential Elucidations
In this section, we discussed the general implementation issues in blockchain. All

these issues should be addressed to get maximum benefit of blockchain technology
in various sector such as medical, aviation, education etc.
4.4.1 Scalability
One of the major concerns in public blockchain is scalability. It arises when the
network participants become more due to public blockchain openness. It increases
the number of transactions and participant nodes making the whole network not
much scalable [7]. Blockchain transfer also includes a node validation process in
which the transaction is been shared among different nodes for verification. Once
the authentication is completed a ledger entry takes place at each node that makes
it tamper-proof, but on the other side, data becomes prone to potential and security
risks [36]. To recover blockchain scalability divides the nodes into sub-groups called
shards. A shard helps a compartment of transactions to process at a time, making the
whole process faster and scalable. After that these transactions are added to the new
block i.e., dedicated to the Blockchain [37].
4.4.2 Energy Consumption
Consensus protocol in bitcoin blockchain is called Poof of Work. In which bitcoin

miners use about 54 TWh of electricity to perform mining processes, that is enough
to power entire New Zealand / Hungary, and in case a miner is not able to hit the
target then the whole energy gets wasted. Intel Corporation claims that it has proposed
hardware that can reduce mining power by 35% [7, 38]. Various researchers proposed
the solution to this problem is using the other available consensus protocols, which
could be a better option. Each blockchain is having a different architecture and
a specific consensus protocol can be chosen explicitly suitable to their structural
design.
4.4.3 Complication and Expenditure
The significant deterrents to the selection of the innovation are intricacy of building
and deploying a private blockchain network and the connected cost. Amazon and
IBM are providing Cloud-based Blockchain models that can help in making the
process of developing and deploying blockchain networks automated. They have

also included offline blockchain development platforms [7].
4.4.4 Lack of Supremacy
In a public blockchain, there is a lack of authorities that can govern the whole process
with appropriate protocols and policies, as any sought negligence happening cannot
be detected. In a solution to this, institutes and corporations are moving towards
private blockchain wherein merely authorized nodes are permitted, which means
only certified entities can join the Blockchain Network to engage in any kind of
actions inside the network [7].
4.4.5 Lack of Compatibility and Standardization
Standardization is a major concern in implementing blockchain in healthcare. Every

firm has its ways of running blockchain that causes delusion and can result in cyber
attacks that will not only affect the dignity of the blockchain but will also make
the clients suffer. So getting certified from International Standardization authorities
would help blockchain to develop fast and secure [36]. Every organization, corpora-
tion has its blockchain architecture, programming languages, consensus protocols,
etc. Applications built on different platforms can exchange information that makes
them less compatible [39]. It provides a flexible design that allows a side chain to
make data transfers across multiple platforms acting as the main blockchain.
4.4.6 Data Confidentiality
Public blockchain has data privacy as one of the major concerns when it comes to
network security. The nodes can view the transactions that are happening inside the
blockchain. Therefore, organizations are going for private or consortium blockchain
that allows only certified entities to participate in the Blockchain network [7].
4.4.7 Storage Capacity
Healthcare deals with a huge amount of data that is generated through clinical trials,
research data, diagnosis reports, and patient records, etc. It is demanding a secure
platform to store data and perform operations with features like interoperability.
Unlike the central database, blockchain provides a distributed database that allows
secure data operations and interoperability. Enormous data can increase the size
of the database that could result in low processing speed and poor functioning,
consequently, the blockchain system needs to be contingent and scalable [36].
4.5 Issues in Healthcare that Could Be Solved Using

Blockchain Technology
There are many loopholes in healthcare which can be solved by blockchain tech-
nology. In healthcare sector the most promising issue is to maintain the health record
of the patient, to track drug delivery etc. is discussed in this section.
4.5.1 Blockchain-Based Insurance in Healthcare
Blockchain in healthcare is one that makes the transactions faster and securer. The
features like interoperability make blockchain an easily accessible platform to store
data and provide a sheltered atmosphere when working with distinct operations.
Smart contracts are programmable contracts, which syntactically deal with a set of
conditions to be verified before having a transaction executed. This structure can
fulfill the requirements of insurance policies given by the companies including some
agreements to be signed by the end-user to accept their guidelines i.e., terms and
conditions, and it is only possible using blockchain like from gathering of data to
interpretation and then storing it safely in a decentralized platform have completely
renovated the authenticity of transferring assets. It can detect false claims made by the
entities and can easily confirm them with an unassailable registry which is extremely
transparent so that no mediator could interfere and argue about data security concerns.
The main purpose of blockchain in healthcare insurance is to uphold accuracy and
lucidity in surroundings to withstand on client requirements that is possible using
digital ledger technology (DLT) to make it a customer-centric system [40].
IBM Blockchain uses smart contracts to allow automatic payment execution for
insurance claims and reimbursement processes to resolve the major harms faced
by the insurance industry like an imprecise directory data. Distributed ledger tech-
nology can make the insurance claims time-stamped and automate collection with
modernizing of data by significantly eradicating stress on the third party and manual
paperwork. It would automatically make the whole scenario lucrative. The Health-
care industry lost over $6 Billion in security breaches concerning data privacy, so
security should be the main concern when introducing Blockchain-Based systems.
The interoperability should not result in data allocation without patient acquiescence.
It should be exclusively shared on patient assent and obtainable privacy regulations
[41].
4.5.2 Multimedia Blockchain System: An Immutable

Connection
The current multimedia system does not include the time-stamping of performed
transactions and the history of alteration details. Multimedia deals with documen-
tation, images, and videos so on. They are often manipulated when showcased in
public like exhibitions, galleries, etc. preparing creative content by tampering with the
original document to spread off beam misinformation on social media. Blockchain
can play a major role in developing the watermark based Multimedia Blockchain
framework which is built on the testnet of the Ethereum that fundamentally focuses
on a unique hash of every transaction executed. It could be time-stamped anytime
from anywhere when it is required. Since blockchain follows a node systems valida-
tion process and a signature feature, which was introduced to detect the originality
of the media content. The process goes like a self-embedded watermark is hidden
inside original media using Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT). The watermarking
string consists of 8-bit values, which illustrates media’s authenticity. It is done using
a watermarking algorithm that can sense any wrong means happening, so it can
retrieve the original content of the specific media that can defend its inventiveness.
This way the multimedia could be encrypted using blockchain technology health-
care marketing should always be precise and secure, so that negligence happening
inside the system can be easily detected and resolved [42]. The main purpose of
blockchain in healthcare is to resolve concerns on data security and platform reli-
ability. It is severely needed in the current healthcare system, where employing
Distributed ledger technology (DLT) is coming out as a better solution.
4.5.3 Blockchain-Based Electronic Health Records (EHR)
Personal health records in the current scenario are bounded within a specific organi-
zation as any organization will not be ready to share their Electronic Health Records
in fear of competency in the market that can pull them down. The data is stored in the
hospital’s database i.e., a centralized database and they can even generate revenues
by selling your data to third parties like institutions, researchers, etc. Due to such
issues, people are getting affected because every time a person goes to a medical
center with no access to his past medical history. It will take a long for the doctor
to process it again and make patient ready for the treatment which is completely
waste of time and money. Instead of that they can use a database which is acces-
sible to all i.e., blockchain. Blockchain provides a distributed database which can be
easily accessed among multiple organizations using a permission-based blockchain
network. It can allow the patient to own their data and can make sure that without
their authorization nobody could access the data. This makes the whole process trans-
parent and trustworthy. Timicoin uses the concept of interoperability that can secure
health information within Health Information Exchange (HIE). It can be defined
as a reliable platform for data sharing that embraces sharing the information of
patients, physicians, pharmacists, etc. between unknown entities. When combined
with blockchain the Blockchain-based HIE could eradicate avoidable services and
checks, enhancing data integrity. It makes data sharing efficient, secure, and tamper-
proof thereby cutting transfer costs. Nowadays, mobile applications are developed
to store data, includes authorized access to others on their data for a time-stamp to
generate revenues and other possessions like getting tokens in reward by keeping
track of their health activities, which could keep them fit and healthy [43].
4.5.4 Blockchain Technology for Preventing Counterfeit

Drugs from Entering in Pharmaceutical Supply Chain
Counterfeiting is a universal dilemma in the supply chain of pharmaceutical drugs;

falsified drugs can be dangerously impacted on the person’s health. The containment
could cause allergic reactions which may have adverse effects on health conditions
especially when a person is undergoing a treatment. Whereas, immoral dosage can
cause a lot to the patient and can result in treatment failures, at times even deadly.
Blockchain can fill the loopholes by features like traceability, the transparency that
could stop counterfeiting of Drugs by keeping a track on drug movements from
manufacturing to warehousing, shipping, and logistics to the consumer. A Pharma-
cosurveillance Blockchain System is developed and designed using smart contracts
consisting of a Distributed File System (DFS) to ensure drug safety. It keeps a track on
Drug products as they move along the chain and constructs a timeline for every supply
chain. This Decentralized application (DApp) can identify irregularities, unapproved
information add-ons with each progression labeled with a timestamp for evaluating.
The system will allow only FDA approved manufactures and brokers to participate in
the entire process. Like a node system in blockchain can verify either it is a certified
manufacturer or Wholesaler or Retailer’s account. The DApp consists of a log-in
Interface followed by transaction history, timeline Dashboard, and contact registry
[44].
4.5.5 Blockchain Technology in Doctor-Patient Interaction
The electronic Health record is playing a crucial role in the healthcare industry, which
can make patient-Doctor Interaction completely online like medical prescriptions,
diets, etc. This process has to be followed by the patient, and is done using a simple
mobile/web Application which uses blockchain technology. It provides security,
anonymity and a distributed system of records. It will also help doctors to get imme-
diate access to overall patient history with keeping a track on their everyday activities.
Medical chain focuses on blockchain technology for creating a client-based environ-

ment which includes double encryption mechanism in permission-based blockchain
network. Wherein transactions are viewable to only those who are performing it or
giving customer satisfaction in the form of medications, accessibility, and healthcare
benefits, etc. It built on Hyper ledger fabric and Ethereum that gives encrypted admit-
tance on heath data when providing services like viewing and controlling convenience
for a timestamp-based health record. It was secured using smart contracts to reduce
manual assistance and helps in data sharing with third parties such as researches,
institutions, hospitals, and so on.
The Doctor-Patient interactions blockchain allows the patient to share their
medical records with the doctor securely to ensure the data safety. No need to
transfer any records, you just give authorize access to the documents. Medical chain
uses gadgets like fit bands to track health activities and emergencies. Telemedicine
provides interaction with health experts via application and getting online medical
prescriptions, diagnosis, and so on. This platform provides a feature that incorpo-
rates cross border interaction with doctors, making Medicalchain a better platform
to work on. In this process, the patient has to reward the consulting doctor with med
tokens as a charge for evaluating their medical records, providing them advice and
assistance. Patients can get health insurance by giving access to their health record
using fit bands to supervise their step by step progress with getting tokens in rewards.
Patients are rewarded for sharing their data to third party institutions with a time limit
access on their data for the medical testing purpose [45].
4.5.6 Blockchain for Sharing Genomic Data
Genomic data refers to the DNA of the person representing the most confidential
information of an individual’s present, past, and future. Currently, the big DNA
testing corporations are generating revenues by selling consumer’s data to the third
party without even asking the authorized person or providing any compensation to
them. This way the most sensitive data of the consumer is open for exploitation.
EncrypGen -World’s first blockchain-based genomic data market uses a consumer-
based system in which consumers can have control over their personal DNA data
using blockchain security. It has an option of sharing with the authorized/ registered
third parties on the EncrypGen platform resembling researchers, institutions, etc. For
a time limit to generate revenues that in turn will help them in adding value to their
work and also the person who is sharing the information [46].
4.5.7 Enhancing Clinical Trials and Research Using

Patient data sharing is the prior concern when it comes to challenges faced by gigantic
healthcare firms for clinical research and trial management. Blockchain can mech-
anize clinical trials using smart contracts that permit the data to be self-executed
when the set of constraints are verified. The manual assistance is completely eradi-
cated and the working flow will get well-organized by changing priorities. Ensuring
data privacy is the major distress that blockchain can solve effortlessly. The features
like lucidity in-process and tracking data entries to managing tasks. This technology
has solved many indiscretions ever since from its evolution eradicating subjects in
the vein of falsification of data, muddled etiquette classification, unavailability of
records. These issues are the foremost cause of why clinical trial management is
sheathing behind. They can be resolved by introducing Blockchain in the system.
Research always needs to be accurate, so that the results could be the reflex of the
work. But when talking about data utilization from a centralized database there is no
guarantee that the data is entirely authentic. There can be any sort of malpractices
that can run the whole research. In another way, Blockchain permits data sharing
between unknown entities by creating a peer-peer immutable link in which data is
encrypted and decrypted by authorized users in a trustworthy environment [47].
4.5.8 Decentralized Artificial Intelligence in Securing Health

Records and Detecting Anomalies
Integration of Artificial intelligence (AI) and Blockchain Technology can be called as

Decentralized AI. It combines immutability, transparency, and trustworthiness with
a human-based artificial network that has the capability of doing wonders. Here,
blockchain is secured using AI for providing decision making assistance without
any third party supervision that helps in preventing malicious nodes entering into the
blockchain by synchronizing and purging threats using machine learning algorithm.
Decentralized AI has a lot of implications in healthcare including another sector like
aviation, banking, Agriculture, etc. that makes it the best combination in solving real-
time tribulations. By this assimilation, blockchain can perform smart transactions
which will take a lesser amount of computational power while adding blocks to
the blockchain, leasing the process of block creation faster and secure. AI helps in
resolving scalability issues by utilizing the data stored in blockchain to make accurate
predictions from defined constraints [2]. This way Decentralized AI will enhance the
security of blockchain with artificial intelligence. It is acting as a mediator but will be
artificial i.e., a machine between entities, securing medical health records and giving
efficient and reliable outcomes in a trustworthy atmosphere.
4.6 Conclusions and Future Scopes
Blockchain technology was initially developed for cross-border payments as an alter-

native to fiat currency, which is known as bitcoin. Over the period after the introduc-
tion of Ethereum, it became a computational network. That includes decentralized
applications, smart contracts, and many more, with cryptocurrency and the token
system as a basic unit for each platform. Blockchain promises to create trust among
unknown entities through its cryptographic secured atmosphere. Healthcare is one of
the most crucial sectors, which have many implications for Blockchain as mentioned
in the above survey.
Regardless, a couple of blockchain advances are energetic and sketchy, yet at the
incredible degree this development holds the affirmation to change undertakings. It
has many applications in government, human services, content circulation, flexible
chain and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Artificial Intelligence is one of the main
advances, which when joined with Blockchain have a colossal amount of implications
in solving real time circumstances. It also facilitates automation of data operations in
healthcare and has capabilities akin to predictions about future activities. Artificial
Intelligence is one of the innovations. Blockchain with IoT can contribute its features
of decentralization and allow smart contracts to play a major role. Furthermore,
Big Data Analytics that focuses on forecasting from a lot of information, adapting
blockchain will focus much on quality of data that will have immense compensations.
These were only some of them, they are a lot more to explore.
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Chapter 5
A Blockchain Framework for Healthcare
Data Management Using Consensus
Based Selective Mirror Test Approach
P. S. G. Aruna Sri and D. Lalitha Bhaskari
Abstract Blockchain technology is promptly gaining traction in the healthcare

industry as one of the most exciting technological developments. Blockchain tech-
nology in the healthcare domain has primarily focused on the complex medical
process like clinical trials and surgeries that suffers from drawbacks of permission
attainment. Thus, there is a requirement for fault-tolerance and secure blockchain to
suit the necessities of the healthcare domain. We recommend a consensus mechanism
for healthcare data management that diminishes fault tolerance and yields better data
management. In addition to fault tolerance, we propose a solution for managing and
accessing a huge amount of medical-based data. The outcome of this work antici-
pates numerous stack-holders who have engaged themselves in the medical system to
provide superior services for data management. From the results, it demonstrates that
the proposed approach can provide better trade-off by analyzing different parameters
like transaction rate, data encryption, and fault tolerance. This study illustrates the
undertakings of utilizing blockchain technology in the health domain are expanding
exponentially. There are areas inside the health domain that might be profoundly
affected by blockchain technology.
Keywords Blockchain · Complex data management · Consensus · Fault

tolerance · Healthcare
5.1 Introduction
Recently, Electronic medical records (EMR) are crucial and extremely sensitive
to some private data for prediction and treatment in healthcare industries. This may
require constant distribution and sharing of data among various sectors like healthcare
providers, pharmacies, insurance companies, patients’ families, and researchers and
so on [1]. This leads to the foremost confront in maintaining patients’ medical history
to be more updated [2]. Sharing and storing data among multiple entities may preserve
P. S. G. Aruna Sri (B) · D. Lalitha Bhaskari

Department of CS&SE, AUCE (A), Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, AP, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69395-4_5
78 P. S. G. Aruna Sri and D. Lalitha Bhaskari
access control towards enormous content that may complicate patients’ treatment
processes [3]. However, when a patient suffers from a diverse medical condition like
HIV, cancer has to hold its history of treatment and post-treatment monitoring and
rehabilitation [4]. With constant access to entire medical history may consider being
more crucial for patients treatment. For instance, understanding delivered laboratory
doses, and the radiation-based outcome is essential for ongoing treatment [5].
Some patients have the habit of visiting various medical institutions for consulta-
tion purposes and may be moved from one hospital locality to another one [6]. Based
on this legislation, patients are provided with rights over health information and may
set specific rules and limitations towards health information retrieval [7]. If patients
have to share their clinical data for an investigational purpose or to transform it from
one hospital to another is most needed for consent signature, which may represent
what kind of data to be shared, recipient information, and period of data that has to
be accessed by recipients [8]. This leads to too complicated factors for coordinating
specifically when patients move data to another country, region, or city and may not
know information regarding hospitals or caregivers where the patients are provided
with better care.
Although, if some consent is offered, the data transferring process may be time-
consuming, specifically, it is transferred via post [9]. Transferring patients’ infor-
mation via electronic mail through the internet is not considered by most hospi-
tals as it may encounter security risks where patients’ healthcare information is in
transit. Health Information Exchange (HIE) for ecosystems like common good health
alliance attempts to fulfill data from patient’s electronic health records more effec-
tually, securely, and appropriately shared between worldwide [9]. This may occur
when providers receive a patient’s health information based on access. It is complex to
fulfill patients’ who receive independent opinions from diverse healthcare providers.
However, these ecosystems may not resolve basic requirements while transferring
data from one place to another.
For the investigational purpose, data aggregation may also need consent until
data is anonymized. Moreover, it is measured as an independent release over locally
anonymized medical data that is related to similar patients and derived from various
sources [10]. For instance, numerous healthcare institutions are visited by patients
may lead to patient de-identification, and henceforth privacy violation is consid-
ered. Based on a centralized entity that may manage and store patients’ data and
access control-based strategies shows a single failure point and bottleneck towards
the entire system. It also needs to perform either complete operation over data encryp-
tion (anonymization or search) or selecting a complete trust entity that may access
sensitivity information regarding patients [11]. Therefore, the former function needs
data management towards memory, and that may not be appropriate in the hospital
environment. Then, the latter function may consider it to be more complex to iden-
tify general practice [12]. As an example, a Google-based health wallet may provide
patients information that is concerned regarding awareness and privacy of potential
risk where sensitive data may be misused.
5 A Blockchain Framework for Healthcare Data Management … 79
With access to the shared ledger, transparent history and immutable actions of all
functions are considered as network participants (like patients with modified permis-
sions, uploading or accessing newer data, doctor or sharing information for research)
who may overcome issues related to the above factors. By offering a tool for achieving
consensus between distributed entities devoid of relying upon a single trusted party,
blockchain technology may fulfill data security, facilitate healthcare data manage-
ment, and control over sensitive information for various actors or patients in the
medical field [13]. In healthcare set up, transactions are defined as the process of
uploading, creating, or transferring EMR data that may perform connections among
peers. Some transaction set is clustered at a specific time which is accumulated in a
ledger that may record every transaction and henceforth specifies network state. The
primary objective of implementing blockchain technology towards healthcare appli-
cations is as follows: tampering resistance, immutable and verifiable transactions,
integrity, and transparency towards sensitive medical data distribution [14]. This is
significantly attained by using a consensus approach based on fault tolerance and
data management.
5.1.1 Blockchain Technology
An overview of blockchain technology represents in Fig. 5.1. The architecture of

blockchain is classified into three layers, i.e., infrastructure layer, platform layer, and
distributed computing layer. The infrastructure layer comprises all the components
of hardware in order to execute blockchain. Nodes in this layer perform the initiation
of transactions, transaction validation, and block generation and retain the ledger’s
copy. It also contains a storage component that provides the ledger of transaction
records in the network. Another component in this layer is network facilities required
for communication in the blockchain or among different blockchains. The second
layer of the blockchain is the platform layer, consists of (RPC) Remote Procedure
Calls, Web Application Programming Interface, and REST (Representational State
Transfer) APIs for the Communication purpose.
The distributed computing layer is the third layer in the blockchain architec-
ture that confirms local access to data, immutability, fault tolerance, security, and
authenticity. In a peer-to-peer network, nodes consist of the same replica of ledger
transactions to provide the immutability feature and uses a consensus algorithm to
reach an agreement of decision. This layer is also responsible for user authentication
using the encryption technique and data privacy using a hashing technique. Decen-
tralization, Immutability, Transparency, and traceability are the following features
of blockchain.
The probability of blockchain utilization towards healthcare-based data manage-
ment is raised presently with substantial academic and industrial attention. More-
over, only for certain prototype functionality of the system may utilize blockchain
towards medical data management anticipated. In this work, the practical execution
of a system with a consensus approach is concentrated with fault tolerance along
Fig. 5.1 Overview of blockchain technology [15]
with blockchain technology to preserve Metadata and accessing control policies.

Data may be stored in the cloud with encryption form and by fault tolerance mecha-
nism. By merging all these technologies that may facilitate data security fulfillment
and privacy towards availability of access control policies depicted by patients.
5.2 Related Works
5.2.1 Traditional Healthcare Data Management
Healthcare data management is based on the storage of patient’s medical information

and manages to give enriched care, disease tracking, and its causes. Today, EHRs
are generally utilized by hospitals and health providers to manage patients’ medical
data using a client-server architecture [16, 17]. But in this type of healthcare data
management system, the hospitals are the primary custodians of the data. A few
cloud-based medical services information the executives’ frameworks have been
set up by the scholarly community and industry so as to permit a patient to follow
his/her clinical information from various associations [18, 19]. However, cloud-based
centralized database system stores patients health information suffers from a single
point of failure system disclosed to errors, cyber-attacks, and information loss.
5.2.2 Blockchain-Based Healthcare Data Management
This section discusses Personally Controlled health care records that may initiate a
patient-centric healthcare data sharing model dependent on role-based and discre-
tionary based access control approaches. In this model, patients may construct the
ultimate objective-based authority in demonstrating data access. Enigma is consid-
ered a decentralized computational platform that may determine privacy, along with
data and computation storage, to acquire scalability and privacy [20]. Data is parti-
tioned into unknown chunks, and every node must evaluate one data chunk, indeed
of blockchain data that are not computed and replicated by each node. Moreover, to
control the system, an external blockchain is used, handling access control and event
database with tamper-proof. This model utilizes blockchain to remove third-party
access to personal data. As an outcome, users may be competent to control accessing
to own data [21]. The system has been executed based on the merging of off-chain
storage and pointer for storing encrypted data on the bit-coin-based blockchain. This
system serving of blockchain may deal with querying and sharing of data.
The author in Fehrenbacher, Helfert [22] considers Medrec as an essential execu-
tion of an access control system that may utilize blockchain technology. It is executed
with Ethereum technology with specific modification of the mining procedure. It
offers reward-based mining techniques to attempt medical stakeholders to partici-
pate in the system and validate transactions as miners. The author in Knieke et al. [23]
anticipated a blockchain framework for accessing electronic medical data preserved
in cloud repositories. Some system is dependent on the permission-based blockchain;
henceforth authorized users only access system by validating cryptographic keys.
This testing performance is dependent on comparison with blockchain, and bitcoin-
based blockchain illustrates scalable and light-based design. In Zheng et al. [4], the
author offers an execution towards role-based access control with smart contracts and
confronts response protocol dependent on the Ethereum platform. The challenge-
response protocol is modeled to authenticate ownership roles and for user verifica-
tion. Some authors may concentrate on trans-organization for accessing control, user
service access for organizations dependent on a role in another organization.
In Zyskind and Nathan [24], the author uses the blockchain model for EHR
record validation using an attribute-based signature model through several author-
ities. Report evaluation demonstrates that this system may be strong against collu-
sion attacks along with privacy preservation. Even though there is enormous work
associated with blockchain-based access control. MediChain is primarily executed

with real-world functionalities of applications dependent on Hyperledger fabric and
composer to user permission blockchain to resolve efficiency and privacy issues in
health care systems.
A simple blockchain definition is provided as an open, distributed ledger that
may record effectual transactions among two parties and a permanent method for
verification. Conventional currencies have to trust the third party, generally, banks
and governments, to fulfill transactions underwritten funds and validate identifi-
cation to eliminate fraud [25]. This is a confronting approach over the internet
where identity is complex to fulfill, and therefore transactions may not be trusted
completely. Bitcoin is measured as the underlying technology for peer-to-peer elec-
tronic currency (cryptocurrency), offering an improved solution to the Byzantine
General Problem. This is the way to attain consensus between peer groups where
individual group members are transmitting inappropriate information deliberately.
For instance, double count payment toward bank account may provide false iden-
tity. Bitcoin paper-based solution is provided to offer a mechanism for interchanging
electronic coins, that is, fungible specification of stored values) devoid of require-
ments to rely upon centralized third-party trust to fulfill the security and integrity of
the underlying currency.
Bitcoin reliability degree and trust may stem from public network host, and clear
history towards every transaction may be considered here. Ethereum is measured as
a public network; however, it is probable to develop a private solution as the hyper
ledger. This may be beneficial when data has to be private. However, organizations
need to show benefits over identity, and intrinsically that may build blockchain and
offer usage justification for trusting technology intrinsically over complex environ-
ments [26]. Generally, blockchain may attain some advantages over various facts at
a potential degree in the provided network’s mistrust peer. Private blockchain may
offer ‘Proof of Work’ for another, lesser computation expensively; block creation
methods as ‘proof of authority.’ Here, distributed system nods maybe vote to accept
complete transactions, which is more sensible in some systems that may eliminate
any single node form the entire network control factor.
With enormous transaction over digital technology that is brought in every year is
measured as blockchain as ‘disruptive’ technology poised for rapid transformation
over business sectors and the economy. Indeed of this hype, in the last few decades of
blockchain development has shown tremendous internal growth; however, it fails to
deliver transformational impact [27]. Now, there is an acceptance that blockchain is
lesser disruptive than a foundational one, indeed of providing methods for substituting
prevailing working models directly, as the internet may perform with banking. It may
offer background knowledge over future technology for disruption and innovation
[28]. This is compared with the network protocol that underpins the internet. Unique
development in the latter 1970s, it may be a decade before WWW creation and before
internet emergence of internet facilitated companies like Google.
5.3 Proposed Methodology
Although there are numerous healthcare institutions, the volume of data produced in
this era is continuously growing. However, privacy and security are avoided inten-
tionally. As an outcome, numerous organizations may experience huge reputation
loss and capital. Various users of healthcare may play diverse roles, and data access
has to be allocated. This access mode can be fulfilled by blockchain technologies.
MedRec is considered as a decentralized management system where data operation
and permission are recorded in a blockchain, and implementation is performed. It
has collaborated with medical information for data confidentiality, authentication,
auditing, and sharing. It may provide immutable data services. In some work, the
author may achieve controllable data management in the cloud environment to resolve
the user’s concerns regarding control lack. Here, it may be designed for trust authority
to facilitate users to prevent mal functioning during significant attacks. With the data
management system, the user may control entire health records using blockchain.
Moreover, there is no authorization design and access control during implementa-
tion. Based on this decentralized management system, a consensus mechanism has
been designed.
With context to the decentralized blockchain, when a block is identified to enter

network broadcasting, every node may hold an option to include a block to copy
of global ledger or may eliminate it. It is used to seek primary network functions
to handle a single state to secure global ledger expansion and eliminate various
maliciousness-based attempts.
When a block is higher, a shared global ledger may be updated. Adverse effects
may be identified when the node determines the tampering of a copy state when
several collusively try tampering. To facilitate blockchain functionality with correct-
ness and security, a shared ledger must provide security and efficiency for this
consensus algorithm. This can cause fault tolerance and fulfills simultaneous main-
tenance if blockchain, and it may not rely upon the central authority to maintain
malicious adversaries for co-ordination disturbing the process.
To be specific, message transmission among nodes must be approved by the
network’s significant participation through consensus management. As well, the
network may be resilient to partial failures, and nodes are malicious or when the
message is corrupted. The most acceptable consensus mechanism that is utilized
by blockchain implementation has to fulfill efficient transaction ledger with essen-
tial properties: liveliness and persistence. It may fulfill nominal responses from the
system based on state transactions. For instance, if the network node state is consid-
ered to be stable, then other nodes have to report stability. State node liveliness may
eventually agree with decision values. By merging liveliness and persistence, it may
fulfill transaction ledger to be positive as authentic transactions are approved and

considered to be permanent.
Finally, it is known that the blockchain role is to replace a centralized database
with precise access control. Some data may record global ledger blockchain; it has
invalid blockchain variation. It may enforce a significant agreement for validating
consensus. It fulfills the consistency state and eliminates the spending problem.
Therefore, this work analyses’ Proof of Word’ from the consensus mechanism to
analyze data management in the healthcare sector. Before analyzing the Proof of
Word, the transaction model must be designed.
5.3.2 Transaction Level Modeling
Generally, BC is generated and retained as a distributed ledger for any online trans-
action. Here two diverse blockchains transactional modeling: unspent transactions
and account-based transaction models.
Privacy degree 1. It is considered as a data structure that may hold several instances
devoid of combining them into one account. By handling these sorts of instances, the
holder needs to disclose to pay. This specifies that the payer may perform multiple
payments at the same time.
Scalability degree 2. This may eliminate certain constraints over the account-based
transactional model. Here, parallel transactions may be performed independently,
devoid of considering the order of transactions. This is because; it trusts on hash
functions to recognize its initial state. Therefore, it is difficult for mis-ordered trans-
actions. The transaction sequence number must be tracked in the case of distributed
systems.
Security degree 3. It maintains proof of ownership for all instances. Conflicts
are reduced to a double-spending problem; currency-based transactions may be
duplicated easily. It may resolve the spending problem by enforcing consensus
mechanisms for newer blocks to blockchain and maintains it as a universal ledger.
5.3.3 Health Data Interoperability
Interoperability resources are measured as an evolving functionality that determines

data format and elements with widely accessible interfaces for health record trans-
actions, as in Fig. 5.2. Standard was managed and created by standard organizations.
It is established with a license without restriction that may serve various facilities
for broader adoption. It gives probability to expanded use of cloud applications,
device integration, and modified healthcare workflows. It facilitates data element
separation into pre-defined structured data types as resources. Segmented resources
Fig. 5.2 Shows the data

management flow
are constructed with data transfer more desirably. This resource may follow state
transfer principles and validates structural standard, and conformance statements
termed profiles. Transactions include the following characteristics,
Hashing: SHA algorithm can be used for resource payload. Resources may not
enter blockchain until hash provides verification to transactions.
Signature: node must hold the originator signature.
URL: refers to actual resource location.
Profiles: it is held for resource conformation.
Index: encrypted index may facilitate data discovery without information leakage.
Hashes of every transaction must contribute block header. It comprises of
metadata, which can be used to validate new data. Hash—a hashing algorithm
is provided to every block. Assume the root has two children C0 and C1 with
previous blocks, bn−1 . let hash is equal to the concatenation of bn−1 , C0 , C1 hashes.
Block hashing—hash of blocks are considered for validation. Signature—nodes are
contributed to blocking; a signature is needed based on the requirement. This may
fulfill blocks for validation after the miner assumption. Election—nodes have to
contribute a random number encrypted with the private key. This is utilized to choose
the next miner.
Algorithm 1: Adding data block with SHA

Input: registration request; nodes in network
Output: registered users of block
Step.1 K pub, pri = K eycontr uct()
Step.2 I D → generateuser I D

Step.3 location → generateblockchainlocation() + k pub, pri ;

Step.4 I D, K pri → stor e I D, K pri ;

Step.5 puzzle → checkblock() + K pub, pri ;
Step.6 f orall n blocks do
Step.7 checkvalidation;
Step.8 end f or
Step.9 u → user veri f ication();
The data stored in this model is secured through the SHA hashing function, and it
will be protected against malicious attempts to unauthorized access, while users are
assigned private keys for signing and validation of every transaction. Signature and
encryptions are used in the network to fulfill stored healthcare records. Moreover, a
consensus algorithm may be controlled by at least 50% in the network for changing
healthcare data. For changing data, every copy of the global ledger has to be modified.
Here, every user block are hashed, and hashes of all transactions are maintained in
the blockchain. For example, SHA-512. The message blocks are processed one at
a time: Beginning with a fixed initial hash value H (0), sequentially compute H (i)
= H (i1) + C M(i)(H (i1)); where C is the SHA-512 compression function and +
means word-wise mod 264 addition. H (N ) is the hash of M.
Algorithm 2: Block for data management

Input: set of nodes in network; consensus time for PoW
Output: create new block
Step.1 Initialize preliminary data transaction {};
Step.2 β → fitness computation (N );
Step.3 whileblocktime < Tc do
Step.4 f oralln ∈ {N − β} do
Step.5 n → n + gettransaction f r omnode(n);
Step.6 end f or
Step.7 End while
Step.8 Generate transaction block;
Step.9 bn+1 → generateblock(R);
Step.10 f oralln ∈ {N − β} do
Step.11 veri f yblock{};
Step.12 end f or ;
Step.13 f oralln ∈ N do;
Step.14 managedatablockwithhealthr ecor d;
Step.15 end f or
This may also fulfill system availability by eliminating any single point failure.
With this, it is complicated for all adversaries to launch DoS attacks over the registra-
tion system. Every transaction has to be validated from the network node by making
it complicated for fraudulent to initiate malicious connections. In the case of compu-
tational efficiency, users may run the lightweight client to store transactions indeed
of a complete copy of blockchains, which are storage expensive. This may be compu-
tationally powerful with efficiency storage capacity, and users may manage records
more effectually.
5.3.4 Fault Tolerance
The basic idea behind fault tolerance is for implementing large scale data applications.
The input is data mapping from various tasks from sub-blocks to processors to
determine to schedule, and fault-tolerant output is attained. The objective is to
determine sub-tasks based on applications and schedules. The task key is determined
in healthcare applications. To have a better understanding of this function, slack time
and key sub-tasks has to be expanded. For a block is provided with a schedule, every
sub-task has been completed based on scheduled time. Specifically, some may fail
during the execution process. Then, the key block has to supply checkpoint files to
perform further operations.
Algorithm 3: Fault tolerance in blocks

Input: sub-task key
Output: block fault tolerance
Step.1 Initialize key
Step.2 Apply it to block over chain
Step.3 If there is non-overlapping of tasks based of schedule then
Step.4 Deploy τiP
Step.5 End if
Step.6 If τiP is not deployed over input block
Step.7 Apply to available block
Step.8 Deploy new block with sub-tasks
Step.9 Put tasks to new block
Step.10 End if
Step.11 Deploy check point interval
Step.12 Save delay value
Step.13 Return fault computed value
However, delays encountered during this process may lead to sub-task failures
and may affect the blocks. If the failed sub-task has slack, it may be influenced in
the initial phase of computation. For performing block computation, the threshold
has to be fixed; this should be related to the makespan of healthcare applications.
This means that a higher threshold value may show more sub-tasks; when this value
is smaller, it causes longer makespan. The sub-task is adopted with a mirror task to
enhance fault tolerance performance. Finally, this mirrored task has to be deployed
over a copy of the sub-task key over another processor. Sub-task is specified as τiP ,
and its copy is provided as τiC both these may commence at an earlier stage and
generate a checkpoint interval 2ϕopt .
Practical makeapan
Delayrate = (5.1)
ideal makespan
The distance between both the tasks is measured for providing checkpoint inter-
vals. When failure occurs in one block, checkpoint interval if two sub-task may leads
to delay by dealing with failure. To determine optimal fault tolerance of blockchain
application, the delay has to be computed until the completion of the application,
i.e., makespan has to be evaluated.
5.4 Results and Discussions
The proposed method shows better performance in healthcare data management in

contrast to other models as blockchain technology remains to be evolved based on
blockchain construction, validation, and assessment. It is classified into three fields:
(1) The public, consortium, and private blockchain. In public, it is open to read,
receive, and send transactions and facilitates participants to join consensus
procedure for making decisions over blocks for appropriate transactions and
added to the blockchain. Then, the consortium is based on constraints like
permissions that are pre-selected for some participants in the network, which
may be influenced and managed by a consensus process. Finally, private is
based on getting permission for strictly prohibiting single participants, although
read is accessible to openly for constraint set of participants. However, perfor-
mance and security may be different for consensus speed. This is also moni-
tored by a trusted authority. Therefore, it fulfills three characteristics: usage of
decentralized peer to peer network,
(2) Every transaction is digitally signed.
(3) Consensus is synchronized for network replication. Even though there is a vast
growth in the blockchain mechanism, it is exceptionally complex to fulfill data
management, security, and privacy.
Figure 5.3 depicts node creation, node connectivity, and node establishment in
the network. Initially, the node connection is established for having effectual data
broadcast and retrieval.
Table 5.1 determines the block data format with the number of bytes it holds
during every transaction.
Figure 5.4 shows the hash (SHA) functionality among nodes to ensure security
and avoid fraudulently.
Figure 5.5 illustrates the block size and transaction of healthcare data among those
blocks.
Figure 5.6 shows accuracy when data transmission is higher among nodes. This
method shows better accuracy and security by adopting SHA algorithm for hashing
and to generate puzzle solution. Therefore, “Proof of Word” works effectually in
blockchain management for accessing health care data with consensus mechanism.
Figure 5.7 depicts the fault tolerance value of the proposed model, where it is
based on the threshold value provided to every block to identify the delay during
overlap. When the value is smaller, it leads to a longer make span; when it is higher,
it leads to a smaller make span. Thereby, fault tolerance is measured.
5.5 Conclusion
The blockchain depicts solution for information sharing while handling security
issues and facilitating transparency over every transactional record. These advan-
tages are provided by constructing applications that facilitate data sharing and trust
while gaining more values. This may offer unique opportunities to model trusted and
secured data sharing and management system based on a consensus approach. This
blockchain technology may provide way for modular design merged with medical
providers of prevailing systems, local data storage-based solutions and facilitates
10
7 3
9 8 10
8 2
4
7
6 1
4 6 9
2
5
1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(a)
10
Node8 Node7 Block3

9 Node10
8 Block2
Block4
7
6 Block1
4 Node9
Block6
2
Block5
1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(b)
Fig. 5.3 a Node creation in-network, b block creation and c block connectivity
10
8
6 9
7
5 5
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(c)
Fig. 5.3 (continued)
Table 5.1 Various formats, their fields, and sizes

Format Field Size
Block data Block size 4 bytes
Number 4 bytes
Header Version 4 bytes
Block hash 32 bytes
Merkle 32 bytes
Timestamp 4 bytes
Target 4 bytes
Transaction Transaction counter 1 to 9 bytes
Transaction list Up to 1 MB
developing and interoperability with ‘Proof of Word’ for the adaptable and conve-
nient system. This work is concluded by establishing interaction among the health-
care domain and blockchain-based technology, which may be inevitable with fault
tolerance mechanism, as technology may offer real solutions for sharing data while
measuring security properties. Nonetheless, the resources needed for implementation
have been projected to sustain developments towards long term solutions. Several
benefits of using the selective mirrored task method we can apply to other blockchain
application scenarios to improve the fault tolerance of multiple applications in the
future.
Fig. 5.4 Functionality of a Hash function
Fig. 5.5 Clock size versus transaction rate

Fig. 5.6 Accuracy in data encryption
Fig. 5.7 Makespan computation for fault tolerance
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Chapter 6
Blockchain Technology in Healthcare:
Opportunities and Challenges
Sachikanta Dash, Pradosh Kumar Gantayat, and Rajendra Kumar Das
Abstract There are a few issues found because of the absence of traceability of
transactions in healthcare services. Healthcare information split across numerous
silos adversely influences research activities and administrations. There were no
reported cases of about half of the clinical preliminaries. The expense of medication
disclosure is ever-expanding, and unsatisfactory and fake medicines are as yet an
enormous issue. Blockchain has the potential to address such substantial problems.
Blockchain technology is a distributed and secure database organized by various
groups to store and offers a permanent online transaction record. Blockchain has
numerous medicinal services applications and can improve mobile health applica-
tions, preliminary clinical information, and insurance information storage. Each of
the blocks has an independent unit holding its report and a dependent link that makes
regulated by participants who store and share the data without third-party interven-
tion. The blockchain technology permits members to transfer information progres-
sively without presenting the channels to theft, malice, and forgery. In this work,
we review major blockchain healthcare applications in some areas of patient infor-
mation management, supply chain management of clinical goods, pharmaceutical
investigation, and telemedicine related to healthcare activities.
Keywords Blockchain technology · Telemedicine · Supply chain · Disease

outbreaks
6.1 Introduction
The technology of blockchain (BC), with acquired attributes, for example anonymiza-
tion, transparency and decentralization was presented in the year 2008 in Bitcoin
cryptocurrency. By March 19, 2019, the Bitcoins with near about 400 million finished
S. Dash (B) · P. K. Gantayat

Department of CSE, DRIEMS (Autonomous), Cuttack 754022, India
R. K. Das
Department of ENTC, DRIEMS (Autonomous), Cuttack 754022, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69395-4_6
98 S. Dash et al.
transactions which speaks to strong use case of BC technology. This has prompted
conversations with recommendations that BC technology may be valuable in a scope
of different information domain [1].
As indicated by IBM, more than 70% of human services leaders have the predic-
tion that the best effect of BC inside the healthcare area will be an enhancement of
medical preliminary supervision, administrative consistence and giving a decentral-
ized system to contribute electronic health restrings (EHR) [2]. Also, the worldwide
BC technology promote in medicinal services trade is relied upon to cross USD 500
million by 2022 [3]. In spite of the fact that BC technology is consider to have prospec-
tive for genuine development of healthcare information frameworks [4], the ongoing
publicity of this technique likewise involves ridiculous proposition and thoughts and
current writing gives little outline of utilizations that have been created, tried and
additionally conveyed.
This is significant to examine if the present exploration meet the desires to BC
technique inside medicinal services, healthcare sciences and healthcare education
(from after this, alluded to as “the wellbeing do-fundamental”). This investigation
aims to deliberately survey, evaluate and synthesize distributed companion inspected
examines where BC has been used to get better process and service inside the health-
care domain. It is an exceptionally energizing time domain for healthcare sector and
IT sector. Because of enhancements in genetic research area and the advancement of
exactness medication, health care is seeing an imaginative way to deal with disease
prevention and treatment that joins an individual patient’s genetic cosmetics, way of
life and condition. At the same time, IT advancement has delivered enormous infor-
mation bases of health information, given devices to follow health information in
their health care. Joining this advancement in health care and information technology
would promote transitive changes in the IT sector of health.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act required all open and private health
care suppliers to adopt electronic clinical records (EMR) by January 1, 2014, to keep
up their current Medicaid and Medicare repayment levels. This EMR command
prodded huge development in the accessibility and use of EMRs. Be that as it may,
by far most of these frameworks can’t share their health information. BC technology
can address the challenges in present health IT frameworks and act as a specialized
standard that empowers people, health care suppliers, health care elements and clin-
ical researchers to share electronic health information securely. This paper portray a
BC-based admittance control administrator to health records that would advance the
business interoperability challenges communicated through the Office of the National
Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s. Interoperability is additionally a
basic segment of any framework supporting Patient Centered Outcomes Research
(PCOR) and the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI). A public health IT foundation
dependent on BC has sweeping potential to advance the improvement of exactness
medication, advance clinical research and welcome patients to be more responsible
for their health. BC is considered as a record framework that helps with overseeing
and putting away information in various blocks which will work essentially decen-
tralized way above any processing systems and connecting utilizing cryptography.
The BC capacities have a capability of more extensive acknowledge [5].
6 Blockchain Technology in Healthcare: Opportunities and Challenges 99
Nonetheless, application scenes and viable arrangement configuration are as

yet immature. BC guarantees crucial changes across various enterprises, including
fintech, government, health and supply chain. Its potential advantages remember
decrease for expenses and unpredictability of transactions within various party,
upgraded security, enhanced simplicity and guideline. The healthcare is portrayed
as a conventional industry that is significantly inflexible to quantify because of the
realities of progress and impervious to creative practice. Problem in health sector
have been attracting consideration in late years around the world. BC technologies
have been progressively perceived as an instrument to deal with available informa-
tion circulation issue. It might progress quick healthcare rehearses, for instance, in
civilizing health service conveyance and nature of care uphold [6].
6.2 Fundamentals of Blockchain Technology
The Blockchain can be depicted as a changeless record that logs information passages
in a decentralized way. It empowers substances to connect without the nearness of a
focal confided in an outsider. The BC keeps up a constantly developing arrangement
of information passages, bundle mutually into block of information. Such types of
blocks are connected to the past and future blocks with the cryptographic conventions
[7] after the acceptance to BC. In blockchain’s unique structure, these information
blocks are lucid, writable and sealed by all. For example, permits de-unified transac-
tions and information management. Because of these properties, BC has increased a
lot of consideration for different applications.
BC is a shared (P2P) dispersed record technology for another generation of trans-
actional applications that build up transparency and trust. BC is the basic texture
for Bitcoin and is a plan design comprising of three principal parts: a distributed
network, a shared ledger and digital transactions [8].
This technological arrangement works chiefly in a decentralized way to perma-
nently store computerized information. This plan makes a change of the informa-
tion incomprehensible [9], when record in block, the information can’t be adjusted
without modification of every subsequent block, requiring a consensus of the network
greater part. In contrast to conventional approaches to store information on one essen-
tial issue, the BC utilizes a distributed (P2) network include many duplicate of analo-
gous information that are put together in a range of areas and different gadgets [10]. A
friend permits a bit of figuring assets (for example, processing powers, circle stock-
piling, network bandwidth etc.), that to utilized for different participant, exclusive
of their prerequisite for inner management through workers. Similar type of hubs
may take various jobs during guaranteeing conservation of business information
exchanges within the network system [11].
100 S. Dash et al.
6.2.1 Key Characteristic Features
The key characteristic of BC is a decentralization process where no focal authority

controls the substance included to the BC. Rather, the en-attempts gave to the BC
are settled ahead in a distributed network utilizing different consensus conventions.
An additional key trait of BC is persistency. It is difficult to erase passages in the
wake of being accepted onto the BC because of the appropriated record, put away
over different hubs [12]. Besides, the chance of obscurity (or pseudonymity) is an
engaging trademark used in numerous BCs.
The qualities of the BC, with its decentralized nature, permissionless and trans-
parency, may offer an exceptional answer in healthcare system. More extensive tech-
nological pertinence clears its process into various parts of medical care system,
including development and wearable of investigation in medical science. Healthcare
segment has developing requests for BC improvements, and an ongoing overview
by Deloitte demonstrates that conventional business is effectively investigated new
roads for the utilization of the BC for addressing its basic need.
The BC permanence is the indispensable alternative way in healthcare information
system. It can protect medical healthcare report, the aftereffects of clinical prelimi-
naries and guarantee administrative fulfillment. Work of smart contract illustrates the
utilization of BC to help constant patient observing and clinical intercessions [13].
Further use of BC identifies with the supply chain in pharmaceutical and creating
measures against fake medications. Whereas the advancement of new medications
brings about generous costs identified with preliminaries to assess wellbeing and
adequacy of the medication, the smart contract utilization permits to encourage
the method of the knowledgeable consent as improving recognize management
and information quality [14]. Giving admittance to patients to dealing with their
own distinguish additionally permits joining of the informed consent method while
guaranteeing the security of individual health information.
6.2.2 Type of Blockchain
As delineated in Table 6.1, there are, for the most part, three sorts of blockchains:
open (permissionless) or public, consortium or grouping and private or confidential
[15]. They have various attributes concerning who can get to, compose and read the
information on the BC. All can see the information in an open chain, and anybody may
join and add to both consensus (in principle) and change to the centre programming
feature. The open BC is broadly utilized in cryptocurrencies. There are two major
cryptocurrencies which include Ethereum and Bitcoin, are sorted as open, permission
less chains. A consortium BC can be considered partially concentrated, with just a
predetermined number of selected gatherings of substances approaching perspective
and participate in the consensus convention. In a private BC, the network is dispersed
at this point frequently unified. Blockchain can be Public or Private relying upon the
Table 6.1 Different types of blockchain

Features Open BC Grouping BC Confidential BC
Determining consent Every participants Specific node set Single node
Read authorization Public Restricted or public Restricted or public
Immutability Quite impossible Might tampered Might tampered
effectiveness Minimum Maximum Maximum
Centralized Never Partially agreed Agreed
Processing consensus Permission less With permission With permission
consent level [16], however here we comprehensively group it to three distinct degrees
of granularity.
Open or public BC is permissionless, and anybody can undoubtedly participate
and approve the transactions. Transactions are open and unknown/pseudonymous.
The open network keeps up the blockchain, so there is the most significant level of
decentralized trust. Bitcoin is the pioneer open blockchain. Bitcoin, Ethereum.
Unified or Grouping BC, A united BC, is a permission BC working under the
leadership of a gathering regularly called the consortium. Predefined consortium
hubs control the consensus. The transactions could be open.
Private or confidential BC, A private BC, is a permission BC concentrated to
one administering organization. Transactions are approved inside and might be open
coherent. Private BCs generally have quicker block times and can process higher
transaction throughput. Nonetheless, these are defenceless against security breaks.
The estimation of private BC can be viewed as a trust transformer where trust depends
on a calculation instead of power.
The mechanism of consensus prevents the double spending of a formerly spend

transaction causes disagreement with the present state; in this manner, the transaction
is dismissed and that will by no means be included to blockchain. The consensus
convention incorporates the principles for the transaction approval, accepting the
freshly prepared block into the chain, and collection of fork/partition in the event
of network partition. Depends upon the unique situation, and the utilization case,
the requirement and necessity for the consensus could vary. The mechanism for
consensus may be broadly classified as local or global.
1. In the worldwide consensus model, the primary block called genesis block of
the chain is basic for all hubs in the network, and each hub concurs on similar
condition of the network and stores the total chain to approve any transaction.
Most of the normal instances are Bitcoin and Ethereum from the worldwide BC
consensus.
102 S. Dash et al.
Table 6.2 The comparison mechanism for consensus

Property PoW PoS PBFT
Node management Open Open Permissioned
Energy consumption High Medium Low
Tolerated power of <25% <51% <33.3% faulty
Adversary Computing power Stake Replicas
Example Bitcoin [1] Peercoin Hyperledger fabric
2. From the recent consensus model, each participant claims an individual genesis
block and the consensus is just reached among the parties engaged with the trans-
actions. This nearby consensus minimizes the capacity necessities on singular
hubs and is generally more adaptable than worldwide consensus. The various
BCs models are Nano and TrustChain.
The majority of the current blockchains employ some form of the consensus
gathering of the Bitcoins called Nakamoto consensus [17]. The Nakamoto consensus
is a worldwide consensus model; it utilizes proof of work (PoW) for accepting the
new block and direct to choose the greatest chain if there ought to be an occurrence
of network partitions. The Proof of Stake (PoS), is a process to select an favorable
node that is determined in the BC. As per crypto-currency, the stake is the balances
of a given currency. Due to its advancement, several hybrid PoS models have been
proposed to select the approving node in BC. Nowadays, the ethereum is also setting
up to shift from PoW to PoS. Hyper-ledger Fabric currently uses the PBFT process.
The comparison of the above-said process is explained in the table (Table 6.2).
6.2.4 Smart Contract
The smart contract possesses a self-verifying, tamper-resistant and self-executing

program code piece that executes on the BC. Bitcoin supports a fundamental
scripting programming language which allows citizens to mark their tradition logic
for spending transactions. The scripting programming language gives the suppleness
to propose primal contracts.
6.2.5 Challenge and Future
Regardless of the gigantic potential, there are restrictions as of the current condition of
the BC. The scaling issues that BCs need are to defeat for more extensive adoption
of overall businesses. Also, with the development in utilization, the size of BC is
expanding colossally, making it hard for ordinary clients to keep its full duplicate
copies. In addition to that, with the tremendous venture and research endeavors put
into BC [18], a superior, versatile BC may develop later on.
6.3 The Blockchain Prospective in Health Sector
Healthcare sector is an issue-driven, data and faculty intensive domain where the
capability to get to, alter and trust the information rising. While working together
with educational institutions, the healthcare division must give admittance to patients
and give a field to preparing so understudies can create and refine the essential abil-
ities. Consequently, the educational foundations furnish the segment with a quali-
fied workforce. While working together with foundations and organizations with a
research and designing plan, health establishment ought to help with giving admit-
tance to experts, informants, tests and test people. Consequently, the investigation and
designing foundations furnish the healthcare with refreshed information, instruments
and strategies. Figure 6.1 depicts the different data mapping strategies in healthcare
sector.
Fig. 6.1 Data mapping in health sector

104 S. Dash et al.
6.3.1 Management of Data in Healthcare Sector
The administration of healthcare information which incorporates capacity and

sharing control of the information is a significant part in healthcare business. Legit-
imate managing of healthcare information enhances healthcare results by permit-
ting all-encompassing perspectives on patients, customized medicines, and produc-
tive correspondence. It is additionally basic for working healthcare industry cost-
adequately and proficiently. BC may empower the proficient sharing of healthcare
information while guaranteeing information respectability and securing the privacy
of the patient. Secure, proficient, practical, and interoperable HIEs may work along
with its correct use along with different other technologies. Also, the approval
of BC may push forward the development of patient-driven model of healthcare
where patients can control healthcare information of their own. Since patients have
full responsibility for healthcare information in numerous nations, BC empowered
patient-driven healthcare information model is one of the approaches that can bypass
these administrative challenges.
A few undertakings are concentrating on building up some BC-based HIE and
giving information and services commercial centre on the head of it. Out of them,
some are focusing on general electronic health records (EHR) information while
some are gaining practical experience in particular information modalities. For
instance, Medrec is an open-source BC stage for EHR management. It has a joint
effort with Beth Israel Deaconess Center. It is building up an HIE controlled by its BC.
Mindshare gives a BC-based information sharing of electronic clinical records among
untrusted parties by presenting information provenance, inspecting, and following
on clinical information. Using smart contracts and an entrance control framework,
they claim that their framework can viably follow the conduct of the information and
renounce admittance to disregarded standards and authorizations on the information.
6.3.2 Management in Pharmacy Sector
Pharmaceutical goods are a significant part of medical consideration and healthcare

conveyance. In this segment, we survey the different imaginative applications and
activities in the pharmacy sector, by wrapping the whole range directly from the
medication disclosure and clinical [19] preliminaries for the promote prologue to
arrangements toward the finish of the chain-like fake medications ID and patient
adherence to drug. An outline of the investigated application zones and organizations
inside those application territories is shown in Fig. 6.2.
Fig. 6.2 Usecase of blockchain in pharmaceutical sector
6.3.2.1 Research in Pharmaceutical Sector
Research on discovery of drug plays a vital role in a pharmaceutical organization.

With expanding expenses of healthcare, along with the need to enhance quicker on
new restorative medicines, numerous pharmaceutical organizations must discover a
way to deal with the team up seriously. Blockchain can empower the technological
stage to encourage the transfer of confided in information and information among
numerous parties. The utilization of BC empowers the Intellectual Property (IP)
through permanent records for the cooperation. Considerably under a non-synergistic
research and medication improvement situation, BC gives advantages to viably
following and overseeing different parts of clinical preliminaries like information
management, consent management, following symptoms of medications utilization,
and so on.
6.3.2.2 Role of Supply Chain in Healthcare
The significance of the supply chain in the clinical business couldn’t be more critical.
Directly from the crude materials and creation, to various phases of capacity and
appropriation, legitimate observing and following are needed to guarantee ideal and
expected use. BC gives an entirely fitting answer for this requirement for following
and following, where this information kept up in an open yet protected and carefully
designed framework available to numerous parties.
6.3.2.3 Management of Patient’s Prescription
Appropriate management of prescription is critical to guarantee the best health-

care service conveyance. Abuse of the prescription has been widespread lately
prompting large-scale issues like Opioid emergency. Numerous BC-based arrange-
ments proposed to eliminate the obstacles on legitimate prescription management.
106 S. Dash et al.
6.3.2.4 Billing Management
Monetary parts of clinical consideration are innately significant in the healthcare

scene. This territory of financing angle in healthcare is overflowing with failures,
generally identified with the trust and transparency, which can conceivably be
enhanced by the utilization of BC. Smart contracts utilized in the premium arranging
stages. Information concerning the current health status, drug use, way of life, and
so forth tied through BC to developing premiums, through smart contracts. At that
point, when numerous parties or mediators are associated with the claim taking care
of, there may be thousands of redundant assignments and checks included which
may be troublesome for the end clients.
6.3.2.5 Role of Telemedicine in Healthcare Sector
Telemedicine is an additional zone in the healthcare sector which can make a profit
by the use of BC technology by presenting a trust layer among patients and healthcare
experts. BC-based telemedicine strategy can approve proficient personality and infor-
mation honesty, guarantee transparency and boost the participants to act reasonably
by giving intensive measurements. Inside telemedicine, the distant demonstrative
services might be at bleeding edge of BC adoption. It very well may be familiar
that demonstrative services exclusively dependent on the quantitative and subjective
translation of clinical information without a patient requires first to adopt BC tech-
nique [20] effectively. A large number of new businesses are focusing on the services
where the analysis of an ailment depends on the translation of patient-generated
imaging information, for example, dermatology.
6.4 Proposed Methodology
6.4.1 Searching Strategy
An organized writing search on the point led in the accompanying bibliographic infor-
mation bases. We began the survey by gathering papers from two sources that includes
Google Scholar and academic information bases. Generally speaking, we play out
the pursuit in 14 diary information bases identified with information frameworks
and healthcare and remembered distributed papers. The inquiry system compro-
mised looking for liberated text conditions for the idea “BC” inside the health theme
information bases. Where as in different information bases, the idea “BC” joined
with the idea “health” utilizing logic AND. Inside the ideas, word variations and
other related conditions were secured and joined utilizing logic OR.
This total process is applied and considered when there is no availability of new
extra, essential paper. Through the data set inquiry, we have looked into more than
25 top healthcare, information frameworks and business diaries. The selected diaries
positioned as Q1 in the SCImago Ranked system that was our underlying premise
of incorporation in this survey report. All the references to the databases traded to
End Note for copy expulsion and last screening. The inquiry focused on distributed
research in academic diaries, meeting procedures that asses BC ideas inside the
health domain. To automate information assortment through information bases, we
built up content in R programming language that got to the diaries meta-information
utilizing Application Programming Interface (APIs) of the significant information
bases. The PRISMA structure indicates a proof-based least arrangement of things
for detailing in efficient surveys and meta-investigations. It broadly used in scholarly
examinations. The advantages of utilizing PRISMA for the examination permitted
to utilize rules to survey planned inquiries and utilize deliberate and unequivocal
strategies to find, select, and assess essential distributions to address the research
addresses recognized before.
6.4.2 Selection Strategy
Distributions are meeting the comprehensive standards, and those for which the prin-
cipal analyst was in question, were surveyed a second time by three extra commen-
tators. In instances of difference, a conversation between every one of the four
commentators decided inclusion or avoidance. The downloaded meta information
were examine freely by two autonomous additional researchers to investigate its
importance for the experiment. The articles those were not in English format were
barred. The selection technique is introduced in Fig. 6.3. The outcomes investi-
gated to deliver the last rundown of papers which incorporated 136 different full-text
manuscripts that met the inclusion criteria.
6.4.3 Selection Strategy
The analysis of the distinguished papers perform utilizing content investiga-

tion strategy is one of the research technique for investigating contented from
manual collaboration procedure, composed and verbal record through motivation
behind breaking down information. It is a ground-breaking technique that permits
researchers to examine reports as a significant source of information. Content analysis
generally utilized in IS research. We utilized both subjective and quantitative ways
to deal with the content investigation. A further survey of the chosen papers finished
utilizing of information prospective of input-process-output (IPO). This method-
ology generally utilized in earlier research. It depends on examining data sources
and outcomes and understanding the hidden processes, for example, forerunners,
processes and outcomes of blockchain application in healthcare.
108 S. Dash et al.
Fig. 6.3 Process flow of selection strategy
6.4.4 Data Analysis Mechanism
First of all, the related papers were includes in the information matrix, and from there,
the relevant data extracted. The extraction of data mainly done through 1st reviewer
and later they are re-examined by other reviewers. After that, these are summarized
and categorized in the information matrix. After that, these exported into tabular
and graphical representation format. Google Sheet is used for a fair work process
inside the research gathering and later sent out to Microsoft Excel for data storage.
Figure 6.4 depicts the proposed model for the analysis of patient’s health record.
6.4.5 Strategy Incorporates for Assessment of Quality
As a significant portion of the survey mechanism, a careful quality evaluation of

added distributions was directed. Since created and approved tools for evaluating the
various philosophies of the included distributions are deficient with regards to, the
advancement of a particular device to fill, the need was fundamental to this end parts
of the technique were utilized and adjusted as fitting no papers rejected in the process
Fig. 6.4 Patient health record analysis
Table 6.3 Mechanisms for quality assessment

S. No. Queries on quality assessment Scaling in range of 0 to 2
1 Whether the health problem domain No–Moderately–YES
described?
2 Whether the objectives of research No–Moderately–YES
outlined clearly?
3 Whether the important contributions No–Moderately–YES
described well?
4 What is the appropriateness of the Scarcely–Moderately–Adequately
solution to problem?
5 Whether the solutions proposed are No–Moderately–YES
economically feasible (implementable,
scalable)?
of quality appraisal. The papers got a score with the range of 0 to 2 dependent on
the rules as per the information given in Table 6.3. The score was given as follows:
‘0’ is assigned for the NO or SCARCELY, ‘1’ is assigned for the MODERATELY
and the value ‘2’ is assigned for or ADEQUATELY or YES. The process of value
evaluation was finished by analyst one and later autonomously reassessed by other
reviewers.
6.5 Findings
The analysis of the discoveries demonstrated that 136 manuscripts distinguished as

conclusive examples are beginning from various regions of healthcare-related fields.
Figure 6.4 shows the dissemination of articles over these three territories. Most of the
distributions are based on the research with interdisciplinary, and the division between
110 S. Dash et al.
the research zones generally obscured. The recognized three research zones propose
three parts of BC in healthcare life cycle, from thought generation dissemination and
execution. The study of the documents recognized the few significant themes that
current research confronts and openings for future and current advancement. The
utilization of structure of IPO permitted to arrange the discoveries to concentrate on
commercial issues, as opposed to the technological arrangement.
6.6 Conclusion
In this paper, we presented a computerized technique for gathering distributed perti-

nent writing using a book mining calculation which gave expected result virtually
to directing the audit study. The writing survey started to create a solid summary of
BC in accompanying regions of healthcare sectors in the form of arrangements seen
as smart contracts, information stockpiling and exchange, doctor credentialing and
distributed information exchange. These features considered in different angles for
healthcare arrangements plan and their developments in fulfilling logical or author-
itative needs for information dispersals. Furthermore, the precision of judgments
through BC-based medical reports can be improved. As well as advanced information
therapy decision and numerous practical arrangements by utilizing an information
base with health records as individual persistence information can be improved.
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Chapter 7
Blockchain in Healthcare System:
Security Issues, Attacks and Challenges
Arup Sarkar, Tanmoy Maitra, and Sarmistha Neogy
Abstract The Healthcare system as an organization has the important requirements

corresponding to security and privacy, for example, protecting patients’ medical
information from unauthorized access, secure drug tracking, secure communication
with transport like ambulance, secure and smart e-health monitoring. But due to
lack of expert design of security protocols, the healthcare system is facing many
security threats such as interoperability, authenticity, data sharing, the conveying of
medical data, and deliberations of mobile health. In such a scenario, blockchain may
help because of its unique properties. The blockchain ledger, formed by applying
digital signature schemes, consensus mechanisms, and chain of hashing, offers highly
reliable storage capabilities. Due to the aforementioned characteristics, blockchain
provides various services like integrity, traceability, security, and non-repudiation,
by storing the information in a public decentralized environment so that privacy
preservation can be maintained. It is required to explore the security issues, different
attacks and challenges when blockchain is applied in healthcare, which can help to
design a more strong security protocol in a distributed environment. Therefore, this
book chapter focuses on (a) different applications of healthcare where blockchain can
be applied, (b) requirements of blockchain in such applications, (c) different possible
security attacks in the blockchain-based healthcare system, (d) security issues and
challenges to design protocols using blockchain, and (e) future directions to the
research to be explored more.
Keywords Blockchain · Consensus · Healthcare system · Interoperability ·

Security
A. Sarkar (B) · T. Maitra

School of Computer Engineering, KIIT Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar 751024, India
S. Neogy
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69395-4_7
114 A. Sarkar et al.
7.1 Introduction
Within the economic system, the healthcare industry is the aggregation and inte-
gration of sectors that provide products and services for the treatment of patients,
including investigative, preventive, rehabilitation, and mitigates care. It involves the
generation and development of products and services that contribute to the mainte-
nance and rehabilitation of health. The modern healthcare industry has three essential
branches: (a) services, (b) products, and (c) finance. Different sectors and classes
rely on trained professionals and interdisciplinary teams in groups to meet the health
needs of people [1, 2]. The largest and fastest-growing industry in the world is the
healthcare industry [3]. Considering more than 10% of the gross domestic product
(GDP) of most developed countries, healthcare can become a big part of a country’s
economy.
In 2017, hospitals, physicians, nursing homes, diagnostic laboratories, pharma-
cies, medical device manufacturers, and other components of the healthcare system
accounted for 17.9% of the total gross domestic product (GDP) in the United States.
The health share of gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to reach 19.9% of GDP
by 2025 [4]. In 2001, OECD countries averaged 8.4%, followed by the United States
(13.9%), Switzerland (10.9%), and Germany (10.7%) [5]. The total health expen-
diture of U.S. healthcare in 2006 was 2.2 trillion [3]. According to the Department
of Health, in 2007 in the United States, for every woman, man, and child, expenses
US $ 7,498 was spent, which was 20% of all spending. Expenditure is projected to
increase to $ 12,782 by the year 2022 [6]. Blockchain is a type of distributed ledger
technology (DLT) and architecture platform launched in 2009 [7]. The concept was
first developed by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 [8]. Blockchain stores ledger informa-
tion as part of the infrastructure in a distributed and decentralized manner across all
participating devices [7]. Blockchain is a peer-to-peer based infrastructure, where
users participate in a network of transactions (participating in transactions) and miner
(facilitating transactions in distribution) [8]. In a decentralized network of nodes, the
ledger, which is created by cryptographic processes that compute all hash within
the network, is stored [7]. High-reliability storage capacity was also introduced by
the blockchain as it was built using a digital signature, hash chain and consensus
mechanism. It stores all information in a decentralized way [7]. Applications of
blockchain include banking, finance, real estate, and some areas related to govern-
ment, power, and energy, and IoT [9–11]. Some researchers have also been done to
the banking and finance sectors. Recently, the healthcare sector has been focusing
more on blockchain-enabled applications [11]. The ability to use blockchain tech-
nology to address current challenges in healthcare has been highlighted by many
researchers.
Nowadays healthcare involves lots of research in the blockchain. Google Trends
graph shows a recent interest in the field (see Fig. 7.1). It appears that many
researchers are interested in this field and it is growing day by day. Figure 7.2 shows
regional interest in blockchain in healthcare, where India is at the top of interested
countries.
7 Blockchain in Healthcare System: Security Issues … 115
Fig. 7.1 Blockchain in healthcare trend
Fig. 7.2 Region wise trend
Not only academic researches on blockchain in healthcare are going on but also
industries are very much interested to implement Blockchain in healthcare domain.
This chapter highlights a lists of industries which are involved to deploy the health-
care system using blockchain in practical world as follows: (a) Chronicled1 is a
Startup providing secure supply chain solutions, blockchain and the IoTs to power
1 https://www.chronicled.com/.
smart, (b) Clinico2 creates a community of patient-centered clinical experiment data

sharing; (c) Coral3 provides technology oriented solutions to speed up delivery of
care, computerize multidisciplinary organizational processes, and get better health
outcomes; (d) Curisium4 tracks contract edits in concurrent and simulates possible
options; (e) iSolve5 sets off existing systems and processes to create a distinct and
high-performance environment focused on confirming data evidence and improving
patient outcomes; (f) Medicalchain6 stores health data securely using blockchain
technology; (g) Patientory7 is a health management software for global population
by providing access to the users to their health data; (h) Pokitdok8 develops claims,
pharmacy and identity management APIs. The platform, named Dokachin, manages
both financial and clinical data in the healthcare industry by using a distributive
network of transaction processors.
In this chapter, we have detailed out the studies on the architecture of blockchain
system and its applications in the healthcare domain. Also we have studied different
possible attacks in blockchain systems and issues and challenges to design secure
applications in healthcare system. Lastly, we have identified some future research
directions in this field.
The organization of this chapter is as follows: Sect. 7.2 describes the architec-
ture of blockchain. Then it describes the existing blockchain system in the literature.
Requirements of security in healthcare using blockchain are demonstrated in Sect. 7.3
followed by different applications of healthcare in blockchain discussed in Sect. 7.4.
Section 7.5 briefly describes a popular healthcare application using blockchain known
as MedShare followed by a comparison study of other existing healthcare applica-
tions. In Sect. 7.6, this chapter highlights the possible attacks that can be mounted in
blockchain system. Section 7.7 demonstrates the issues and challenges to design the
healthcare applications using blockchain. Finally this chapter concludes in Sect. 7.8
with a future direction.
7.2 Architecture of Blockchain and Existing Systems
The architecture of the blockchain is shown in Fig. 7.3 where every node is connected
in peer-peer manner and distributed way. Every node has the same ledger as the
network. In this network, some nodes may work as a member node and other nodes
as validator or works as both. In Fig. 7.3a, b, the public blockchain and the private
blockchain are shown respectively.
2 https://www.clinico.in/.
3 https://angel.co/company/coral-health-research-discovery-1.
4 https://www.curisium.com/.
5 https://isolve.io/.
6 https://medicalchain.com/en/.
7 https://patientory.com/.
8 https://pokitdok.com/.
Fig. 7.3 Blockchain architecture: a Public blockchain, b private blockchain
There are four types of blockchain such as public blockchain, private blockchain,
consortium blockchain, and hybrid blockchain, are available. Bitcoin and Ethereium
are public blockchain, where as Hyperledger is private blockchain. In Table 7.1,
this section compares some well known Blockchain-Systems. Figure 7.4 shows the
architecture of Blockchain in Healthcare System where every hospital is connected
to each other. Every hospital also stores its local ledger. Authenticated data are
stored in cloud storage. Certifying Authority (CA) is used for authentication. In the
blockchain, cryptographic hash of the data is stored.
7.3 Securities in Healthcare: Requirements
In the healthcare industry, there are specific requirements related to protection and
privacy due to additional legal requirements for the protection of patients’ medical
data. When medical records are shared in the Internet with the adoption of cloud
storage and mobile health devices, it compromises the risk of malicious attacks and
any personal information. Sharing and confidentiality of this information is a major
concern, including access to health information through smart devices and patients
visiting multiple physicians in many cities. Authentication, interoperability, data
sharing, treatment record transfer and considerations for mobile health are unique
requirements of the current healthcare industry.
118
Table 7.1 Comparison of some blockchain systems

Ref Blockchain Permission Consensus Application Special Hardware Turing Complete Data Structure
Platform Network Protocol Languages Requirement
Nakamoto [8] Bitcoin No PoW C++, Golang No No Blockchain
Wood [12, 13] Ethereum No PoW/PS Serpent, Solidity, , No Yes Blockchain
LLL
Androulaki et al. Hyperledger Yes PBFT Golang, Java No for Fabric, Yes Yes Blockchain
[14] for Sawtooth (Intel
SGX)
Litcoin [15] Litecoin No PoW Golang, C++ No No Blockchain
Schwartz et al. [16] Ripple Yes Ripple Golang, C++ No No Blockchain
Goodman [17] Tezos No PoS Michelson No No Blockchain
Sasson et al. [18] ZCash No PoW C++ No No Blockchain
SawtoothLake [19] Sawtooth Lake No PoET Python No Yes Blockchain
Morgan [20] Quorum Yes Quorum Chain Golang No Yes Blockchain
Monax [21] Monax Yes Tendermint Solidity No Yes Blockchain
Brown [22] Corda Yes BFT Kotlin, Java No No Blockchain
Martino [23, 24] Kadena Yes ScalableBFT Pact No No Blockchain
Popov [25] IOTA No PoW Java No No DAG
Churyumov [26] Byteball Yes Main chain Node.js No No DAG
A. Sarkar et al.
Fig. 7.4 Blockchain in healthcare architecture
7.3.1 Data Security
The main protection requirements associated with health care and treatment data, are
access control, authentication, non-disclosure of records, ensuring the confidentiality,
integrity and availability of medical information [27, 28]. Treatment information is
treatment data such as patient files as well as treatment records that can be applied
and monitored. Access to health records requires strict access control to audit the
query and reduce the risk of duplication of those records (PHR- and personal health
records) used [29, 30].
There are many ways to secure patient data, but they are not proven to be as
accurate as they should be, and disseminating patient treatment data can lead to real
world significances (such as patients’ risk of confidentiality to malicious attacks)
[30, 31].
7.3.2 Interoperability
Another major requirement of the healthcare industry is interoperability, which is

the process of sharing data between different sources [31]. Many records are created
every day and stored in a concentrated area in different hospitals [31]. Many records
are fragmented due to the centralization of health record storage systems. Data
authentication is centrally required to ensure a reliable database on the designated
network.
7.3.3 Data Sharing
Data sharing and access are both safety issues and underlying health issues, including
health records [32]. Sharing healthcare records is sometimes difficult because a
person’s extensive records can be stored in different places [32]. Patients do not have
a unified view of these scattered records and are applied to healthcare providers, as
they do not have access to their patient data if these records are located elsewhere
[32]. Healthcare records are divided into individual hospitals, making it difficult to
distinguish between record connections that cannot be divided as entity-based enti-
ties because it is a common identifier [32, 33]. The main problem with data sharing
is interoperability.
7.3.4 Mobility
As patients become more mobile, mobility in the healthcare industry has emerged as
a necessity. Therefore patient records must be met with the same level of portability.
As smart devices, sensors and other Internet-enabled devices become more prevalent,
the ability to transmit that data becomes important. Furthermore, sharing data from
anywhere on any device raises the challenge of realistic sharing and ensuring that
data is protected by law for access. The concept of mobility is divided into three
different categories: mobile health, wireless and IoT.
For the above requirements, we need some solutions to protect our health informa-
tion and interoperability, data sharing and data mobility. The purpose of this chapter is
to discuss blockchain implementation and how it will benefit the healthcare industry,
as well as the challenges and problems that the industry faces. We also discuss some
research guidelines in the context of blockchain in healthcare.
7.4 Applications
Blockchain has many healthcare applications. Some applications are described

below.
7.4.1 Patient Data Management
Healthcare industry faces challenges in the form of patient data management in from
unprofessional medical knowledge transmit to personalized medical care. Blockchain
helps professionals better manage these circumstances. The most important problem
in this case is that the patient does not have full ownership of his own data. Medical
data may be used or shared without permission. Blockchain can solve this problem
by collecting patient records and by storing it in the organization’s internal database.
Blockchain addresses this issue via smart contracts for access to patient data regulated
by patients and their respective regulations. Thus, a patient can share his medical data
on his own terms. Records may be kept anonymous or completely transparent for
research purposes depending on the needs of the patient. Also, by adding particular
rules to these smart contacts, a patient could share health information and sensor
readings (from a smart watch) with physician to personalize long-term care and
achieve efficient and optimal results.
7.4.2 Clinical Adjudication
An essential part of any new treatment medicine or product is Clinical trials. At

present, they present a difficult and lengthy procedure that takes lots of time to
complete and generates large amount of information. This procedure is particu-
larly subject to verification because its results can create or break a new drug or
device. Doing so could also invalidate manufacturers’ claims about the potency and
effects of any drug/product on the individual body. The authentication capabilities
of blockchain technology make sure that any data contained in shared bookkeeping
is easily reached and can be accessed by all stakeholders—not only by the creator of
the bookkeeping or a third party.
7.4.2.1 Claims Adjudication
Healthcare industry suffers from billing inefficiencies, 5–10% of estimated healthcare

cost cheating due to overbilling, and billing not provided. For example, it may be more
precise and easier for the patient to apply the entire process automatically through
the blockchain. The claims are usually written in the context of a sophisticated
(legal) language, perhaps subject to a separate interpretation in court. This approach
is inherently wrong when it comes to healthcare, as contracts complicate matters
so that they are likely justifiable from a legal point of view. As an alternative, they
should spotlight on communicating the cost of healthcare to a patient in a healthy
and crystal clear way. Blockchain-based smart contracts have been able to solve the
problem. Contracts are written in computer programming language rather than legal
language and therefore there is no chance for dual interpretation. Smart contracts
standardize and make research into the claims process at the same time.
7.4.3 Medicine Supply Chain Management
Medical sector needs to be able to fully track their supply chains from suppliers and
suppliers to their manufacturing facilities. A producer identifies a produced drug—
creates a “hash” and uploads the information the blockchain. Then, a merchant check
the product. A pharmacy worker can verify product proof at a later time before
selling it. Finally, any people purchasing a medicine can trustly examine its source
and production history. Short-term detection of counterfeit drugs or prescriptions
not only helps medicine manufacturers/sellers financially, but can actually save a
patient’s life. The scalability of this problem is astonishing, as the fake drug business
itself has become a $75 billion industry. So many initiatives has been taken to develop
Ethereum-based Mediliogar project, supported by industry leaders such as Genertech
and Pfizer, have launched a drug tracking solution aimed at optimizing medicine
supply chains and reducing fake products.
7.5 An Example Application: Medshare
Blockchain has much potential for healthcare technology. A diversity of application

exist highlighting blockchain enabled healthcare and we discuss one such application
in details and a few others are mentioned in Table 7.2.
MeDshare [31], designed by Xiaod, Asamoh, Sifah, Du,Guizani, and Gao is a plan
developed to address the problem of medical information sharing amongst medical
service providers that stores information in a centralized database. The main goal is
to store sensitive medical data in cloud, including the ability to obtain and monitor
sensitive data for sharing medical data with medical community entities, for which
shared records data privacy does not pose a risk to patients. Maintaining confiden-
tiality for patient data and reducing the risk of malevolent activity in medical data
is a major problem in the healthcare sector. MeDshare observes entities that access
medical information and verifies for malicious access to any party attempting to
access that data. In the MeDShare system all data transactions are shared from one
entity to another, all functions are securely recorded to be tamper-proof. The design
uses smart contracts and access control systems to track data and to revoke access to
any malicious entity after detecting any rule violations within the system.
The first level is a user level that includes different categories of users who want
to access information from within the system.
The second level is the data query layer, which is a set of query structures that
use, process, forward, or respond to the queries used in the system. These processes
are divided into two main components, namely: the query system responsible for
Table 7.2 Blockchain research in healthcare—challenges and benefits

Ref Application Advantages for the Difficulties Shortcomings Area of
Healthcare work
Mettler Gem Health Data shared Not applicable Scalability, Third-World
[34] Network through Decentralized and key Countries
Network and legal replacement such as
issues addressed capability is Estonia
not addressed
Roehrs OmniPHR Patient Data sharing Not Scalable Data should Laboratory
et al. [33] be as standard
as OmniPHR
otherwise
rejected
Azaria MedRec Health Data Sharing Not addressed No key Laboratory
et al. [32] Mining replacement
rewards capability,
Security, and
legal issues
are not
addressed
Zhang PSN Health data on IoT Not applicable Scalability, Laboratory
et al. [35] Devices Sharing key
management
and leakage is
not addressed
Samaniego Virtual Health Data stored in a prospective Scalability, Laboratory
et al. [36] Resources framework that is standardization no key
persistent data that is replacement
safe, secure, and capability
scalable Addressed
Siddiqi Context of Health Data Storage Not applicable Security and Laboratory
et al. [37] driven Data and put in a level of no key
Logging assurance to data replacement
logging capability not
addressed
Xia et al. MedShare Security, authentication Not applicable no key Laboratory
[31] and sharing ofmedical replacement
information capability,
latency
problems and
Scalability
Shaeet al. trial and Integrity and data Not applicable Latency Clinical
[38] Precision access security problems, Trial
Medicine Scalability Databases
and no key
replacement
capability
(continued)
Table 7.2 (continued)

Ref Application Advantages for the Difficulties Shortcomings Area of
Healthcare work
Yue et al. Healthcare authentication,Security, Not applicable Scalability is Laboratory
[39] Data and legal issues of data not
Gateways sharing addressed, no
key
replacement
capability
processing the request and the trigger responsible for translating tasks from the
smart-contract environment. The third level is the data structure and the progress
level, which consists of individual components that assist in the process of accessing
data from existing database infrastructure through multiple entities. These units are
the verification, processing and minimization nodes: smart contract, smart contract
permission database and blockchain network.
Database infrastructure layer is the last layer, which includes database systems
already installed by individual parties to perform precise tasks. Medicare [31] has
proven that it adds a level of protection to cloud-based communications through its
protection. However this increases delay as the number of requests for cloud-based
services (key limitation of the system) has increased.
Though, MeDshare was capable to make a level of trust and data prowess, but
there was a significant amount of delay and downside to adding or retrieving data.
The issue of content management and retrieval was also not addressed.
Smart Contracts in Medshare
A smart contract performs as a finite state machine that executes instructions to
activate an exploit based on examples. Smart contract is employed to report the
activity is performed by a requester on the information requested from a data propri-
etor’s system (See Algorithm 1). The data reported on the data proprietor’s system
is indexed, processed, and transmitted to a blockchain network. In some cases, the
report is used to save and request and use the Smart Contract Permission Database
where the data used by the requestor contains a set of data owner tasks. Data is
indexed based on the requested and used data id where the data owner’s set of tasks
is applied by the applicant. The main verbs used in the smart contract are set; Read,
delete, copy, write, and remove. These actions when performed on the data will
trigger a smart contract to send a report based on established rules for that particular
data. For Activity Monitoring, a contract is published in smart contract scripts by
getAction. Data sensitivity is classified into two levels; High and low. These levels of
sensitivity are processed by sensitivity reduction nodes based on the data set obtained
from the database infrastructure. Depending on the sensitivity of the package, some
of the steps taken in the data are either excluded from the infringement list or act as
infringements. The agreement requires that all actions performed in the data classi-
fied at the beginning of getAction should be reported for effective monitoring of the
activities performed so that data breaches can be detected. The identification required
to facilitate efficient identification of unique blocks is categorized into specific data
by a requestor, the data owner, and the transmitted data. The advantage of mentioning
these in the smart contract is to create an effective way of processing and matching
the sensor quantities and process nodes and verify specific blocks. Comments are
generated in the form of statements to describe the work done in the data. These
typically combine the retrieval statement with an antenna statement to remove an
encryption key, which will be reported to the data owner’s Smartphone database
to remove the encryption comments. An encrypted process is used to finalize this
process. In smart contract scripts, the act of reporting and sending comments to the
reporting subordinate nodes is quickly removed with a report statement. The function
represents the permissions set by the access control data owner that will be executed
simultaneously with the smart contract permissions database. In violation of the data
agreement, data access is revoked and the data owner has a pending review, with the
option to access the request or retrieve the data from the request.
Algorithm 1 : Smart Contract: Medshare
Input: Action, Sensitivity, RequestorID, OwnerID, DataID, Key, MetaIndex,

comment, Genreport, accessControl;
Output: secure comment passing corresponding to an action
1. /* -------------------------- Setup the functions ---------------------------- */
Sensitivity_get(); /* function to get consensus report on a particular request
i.e., low or high */
Action_get(); /* function to get request from users to access data */
Comment_get(); /* based on report, generates a comment corresponding to an
action */
AccessControl(); /* withdraw or provide access to a medical data */
/* ---------------------------------------End of Setup ------------------------------*/
2. Action ← Action_get();
3. {RequestorID, Potray, Data with DataID} ← Decrypt(Action); /* Decrypt
Action */
4. retrieve (Key.OwnerID); /* to retrieve the secret key from list of keys */
5. comment ← Comment_get();
6. Encrypt(comment); /* encrypt comment */
7. Genreport ← {comment || RequestorID || OwnerID};
8. Sensitivity ← Sensitivity_get();
9. If (Sensitivity = = Low) then
10. Action ← Action_get(); /* Exemptions on data */
11. Exit();
12.else if (Sensitivity = = Low) then
13. Action ← Action_get(); /* Not exemptions on data (violation) */
14. comment ← Comment_get(); /* Data violation concatenated with
DataID */
15. AccessControl(); /* Revokes access to data */
16. retrieve (Key.OwnerID);
18. Encrypt(comment);
20. Exit();
21. else /* i.e., Sensitivity = = High */
22. Action ← Action_get(); /* Violation */
23. comment ← Comment_get(); /* Data violation concatenated with
DataID */
24. AccessControl(); /* Revokes access to data */
25. retrieve (Key.OwnerID);
27. Encrypt(comment);
29. Exit();
30. end if
Other researches on healthcare system are enlisted in Table 7.2. Table 7.2 also
mentions the challenges and benefits of the respective applications.
7.6 Possible Attacks in Blockchain
Blockchain seems to be the ultimate security system with immutability, distribution

consent, established trust, distribution identity, and perpetually verifiable claims. But
new defense attacks are coming out, which can be extremely complicated and cause
heavy irreversible damage. Considering these invasive vectors is very significant for
the development and deployment of blockchain solutions. So it is better to prevent
than cure. Figure 7.5 shows the types of possible attacks in blockchain. Following
are the possible attacks in blockchain.
(a) Peer to peer network based attacks
(b) Smart contract based attacks
(c) Wallet based attacks
(d) Consensus and Ledger based attacks.
Further shown in Fig. 7.5 and some are described.
Eclipse attack—Node “x” will depend on the selected node using the peer selection
technique of the node, which takes into account the distributed ledger. However, if an
attacker alone can create a node to select an “x” numbered node from its malicious
Fig. 7.5 Types of attacks in blockchain
nodes, it can capture the concept of the original malware and present its own variants
for the node.
Man in the middle attack—In this attack, the attacker is secretly related and warns of
possible communication between two parties who believe they are communicating
directly with each other.
Sybil attack—When the Eclipse attack is directed at the actual leader of the user, the
Sybil attack targets the whole network. In a Sybil attack, an attacker would try to
persuade the network by flooding the network with many nodes under a pseudonym.
Although these nodes are not related, the back appears to be operated by a single
operator. The purpose is not to target any user, but to have multiple nodes or networks
as a whole and, if possible, to allow the attacker to double the cost and carry out
other attacks making a fork.
The DAO attack: The “DAO hack” is the biggest exploit in the history of cryp-
tocurrency. The decentralized autonomous body Etherium had aspiring features. The
project called “The DAO” started gathering crowds by an organization called Slok.
This Crowdfunding, collecting 12.7 million ethers valued at $ 150 million (then $
2.2 billion), received a strange response. Then an attacker identifies susceptibility in
the code that allows repeated withdrawals to be performed without examining the
agreement of the ongoing transaction. As a result, the attacker started the attack by
giving a trivial amount and requesting a withdrawal with a repetitive task. This way
he was able to draw about $70 million dollars from crowdfunding. Then it turned
to an interesting event. The attacker was pressurized by the Ethereum Foundation
to stop the attack and give away the account. Then the attacker replied that he was
playing by agreement and would violate the intervention agreement with a soft or
hard fork, which he could take to court (attacker’s open letter). At last he called off
the attack. Later money was raised by the Ethereum Foundation to restore, though
the decision raised so many concerns about the sovereignty of the smart contract.
This hard fork is the result of two Etherium coins—Etherium and Etherium Classic
and lots of controversy.
Parity-Multisig-Wallet Attack: It was also the case of openness, including the
attacker’s hacked parity customer’s wallet, as a result of holding 500,000 ethers
(today $ 77 million). Wallet deals are supplementary logic that can be made in
the customer’s purse for regular automatic payments. For reducing gas or transac-
tion fees, Parity Multisig Wallet uses a central library agreement to operate (like a
multisig wallet bank having multiple owners). He did, however, leave some impor-
tant work open, which led to the attacker using vulnerabilities by adding his account
as the owner to the attacker’s library agreement, so that the attacker became the joint
owner for all wallets applied after the due date. He then started a kill function, which
was deposited in a wallet in the coin. They originally locked in $155 million as of
the day, forever on cryptographically in accessible wallets.
Finney attack: One has the opportunity to spend money if one can mine a block and
steal it with any of one’s transactions. If a mercantile accepts an unspecified trans-
action, you can transfer it to the previous trading currency. After that, you released
a previously mined block that was secretly placed before your new transaction was
confirmed.
Race attack: The slight variation of Finney’s attack is Race attack. In this attack
the attacker does not need to pre-mine the block with his transaction, which he
wants to spend twice as much. During an attack, the attacker submits an unscheduled
transaction to a merchant (victim) as well as another transaction he transmits through
the network. If the attacker is directly connected to the merchant’s node, it is easy
to launch the attack. This will give the merchant the idea that his transaction is first,
but the attacker never submits to the blockchain network.
51% Attack: When a miner or mining group controls the mining power of a blockchain
network by 51% or more, then this type of attacks happened. While this is very
difficult for large networks, it is 51% more likely to occur in smaller networks. It can
foil certain transactions or even reverse old transactions if a group has majority have
power over transactions on a blockchain network.
Timejack attack: In some blockchain networks, the nodes rely on internal time
derived from median times, as indicated by their peer nodes such as bitcoins. For
example, you depend on your friends to find the time. We say that an attacker puts
lots of malevolent people on your friends list, and then he can handle your time. An
eclipse attack on the target node may be the first stage of this attack. After completion
of this attack on the target node, the target node will not receive the block from the
actual network because the timestamp of the block will not match its timestamp. This
allows the attacker to spend twice as much or transact with the target node because
these transactions cannot be stored on the original blockchain network.
Mining malware: The computing power of victims’ computers is used by the malware
to hack crypto currencies for the hackers. The malware infected more than a million
computers and assisted the attackers with 26 million tokens of a variety of crypt
currencies.
Selfish mining attack: It is considered that the longest chain is the latest version of
the ledger in many blockchain. Then a selfish miner might try to put the building
block in furtiveness mode over the existing chain, and when he can lead two or
more blocks in the network compared to the current chain, he reveals his personal
fork which will be accepted as a new truth because it is the longest chain. He can
transact on public networks before releasing his long stealth series as opposed to
newly transacted. This effectively gives the attacker a small window to do double
spending to make stealth chains by making enough blocks lead (Finney attack).
7.7 Issues and Challenges to Design Secure Protocol
Blockchain technology is on the rise, it is not yet fully developed and it has many
potential challenges, which should be taken up for the healthcare industry.
Transparency and confidentiality: The first challenge is transparency and confiden-
tiality. All are visible to everyone on the blockchain network. Medical data needs to
be stored off-chain itself and only tag information in a blokchain.
Speed and Scalability: Speed and scalability is the second biggest challenge.
Blockchain transactions are much slower than credit card transactions. The number
of transactions in the healthcare industry is very high. So the blockchain revolution
has to endure this momentum.
In a blockchain-based system, node is a important component It is the basis
of technology that represents every entity connected to the network. Logarithmic-
associative, if more nodes are added to the network, the inter-node latency increases
with each additional node. In addition, the resources considered in the IoT envi-
ronment increase the number of nodes. As the number of members or patients
in the system increases, so does the difficulty of running blockchain-based appli-
cations. Subsequently, the perceived need for whole blockchain infrastructure has
increased.Thus, it is important for research and judgment to ensure that blockchain
applications are effective [19]. Light weight nodes known as partial nodes rely
on complete nodes to perform tasks. Although there is no need to save the entire
blockchain, the more number of light nodes can considerably increase the workload
on blockchain servers. As a result, flow of blockchain applications and the scalability
will be damaged. Blockchain involving a large participants or community has high
reliability and gives higher reliability and higher security. However, as the number of
organizations increases at each stage, this participation will decrease performance,
which requires multiple computer resources. In particular, although the definition of a
large population is a major problem, it has not yet been addressed or adequately tested.
In the healthcare sector, large population connections can be expected, including

the use of blockchain. Thus, due to the increasing use of blockchain, high volume
transactions will be generated and recorded. Blockchain-distributing ledgers will
add new transactions to any transaction after the agreement on different entities in
each transaction associated with the transaction. Although this process may seem
complicated, it is effective due to the limited size of the blockchain. Effective pre-
approval payments reduce the amount of memory used in the blockchain by some
parties sharing short-term data. There is another problem with the blockchain process,
which is identifying, validating or using previous transactions. Therefore, with a
large number of processes occurring in real time, the effectiveness of the system
deteriorates with the larger dimension of the blockchain.
The 51% Attack: Another challenge is the 51% attack threat. This is a theoretical but
potential risk and should have a clear solution. Though blockchains are extremely
secure, Blockchain are vulnerable to 51% attack (known as majority attack or double-
spending attack). This occurs when a mining team or a miner controls more than 50%
of the whole mine hash rate in the network and is able to reverse the entire transaction
or intercept new transactions. A malevolent user is able to generate blocks at a faster
rate than the rest of the network, and the longest chain rule, forcing the network
attacker to switch series by controlling more than 50% of computing power. Although
51% of attacks are possible, the chances of a successful attack are extremely low.
Many believe that blockchain technology can change the healthcare industry and
beyond, but no one has seen evidence to support their belief. The things we need
are not in line with expectations, but a real case that demonstrates the potential of
blockchain technology.
7.8 Conclusion and Future Direction
Finally, one of the most promising featured applications in the healthcare industry is
the blockchain technology. This is due to the most powerful mastery of the blockchain
technique in the area of healthcare, such as: security, integrity, decentralized nature,
readiness, and truly general account of infrastructure related to the blockchain. The
healthcare industry is facing of problems for a rising technology framework, focusing
on IoT, Internet-enabled, devices, sensing devices and smart devices. These technolo-
gies enable the healthcare industry to serve its patients in a growing world, malicious
actors can access and copy data on these technologies as well as exploit vulnerabilities
(as well as process and users), leading healthcare organizations to share information
harder. There may be outdated data that may result in misdiagnosis or health prob-
lems and also problems to verify patient’s identity. The healthcare sector has a clear
ability to use blockchain technology to solve many such current problems. Present
applications focus on issues of record sharing, authentication, usability, integrity,
IoT protection, patient empowerment and edge host protection. The objective is to
provide ownership and patient’s control of sharing their own treatment data. Though
so much progresses for smart phone applications and medical applications, there are
still clear security problems, because blockchain is not without possible challenges.
The industries including healthcare those who wants to use blockchain-oriented tools
may need to continue to study these areas and help to create an advanced ecosystem
to create better patient-oriented data empowerment. The possible future direction of
the research areas as follows:
Research is to be done to focus on precise blockchain-linked attacks and issues,
such as blockchain and the encouragement of blockchain mining. Research is to be
done in the area of blockchain-oriented scalable healthcare. It is a major problem
because healthcare industry is growing fast, especially as our society is growing. As
blockchain-oriented application systems grow, it will become increasingly difficult
to run when the number of members or patients grows with time. Further research
with real-world datasets is needed for allowing other researchers to check results and
disseminate results from open-source. Many should focus on experimental concepts
and explore opportunities that will help us to use real-world healthcare records to
assess proposed systems (for performance, safety, privacy-protection and scalability)
to help health organizations and researchers. More research should be done on protec-
tion and key management that will able to replace easily compromised or lost keys.
Also research should focus on identity verification opportunities. Many tests focus
on allowing the patient to be able to access the patient’s data in advance, but in
emergency there should be backup plans that can be used to allow doctor to access
data without permission. The blockchain has many advantages that can be applied
to solve various problems in the field of healthcare data sharing and protection. But
blockchain which is not a solution can be enforced under any circumstances. As an
alternative, we should focus on specific blockchain issues and an evaluation of how
they are affecting the healthcare industry. The mining incentives issue, which is the
central part of blockchain, has not been totally considered in the healthcare industry
and also there are some specific blockchain attacks that could dissuade the entire
system.
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https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-016-0574-6.Epub. 26 Aug 2016. PMID: 27565509
Chapter 8
Application of Blockchain as a Solution
to the Real-World Issues in Health Care
System
Amrutanshu Panigrahi, Bibhuprasad Sahu, Satya Sobhan Panigrahi,

Md Sahil Khan, and Ajay Kumar Jena
Abstract Blockchain technology now a day is becoming a more secure and effective
way for information sharing in various areas such as the financial sector, SCM in
different industries, and in the field of IoT as well. Along with these fields currently,
blockchain technology is playing a vital role in the field of Health Care System. This
technology brings the attention of the researcher toward the health care system as it
aims to solve various issues such as interoperability and information security during
the information sharing and data management. The interoperability and security
enable the HCS application to share the information flawlessly among the patients
and vendors. Lack of such characteristics finds out the difficulty for the patient in
accessing its own health status. Hence, implementing blockchain technology will
demolish such a disadvantage for making the HCS more effective and efficient.
Because of this kind of potential benefit, it can be applied to various aspects such as
patient data handling, SCM of medical equipment and pharmaceutical things, billing
and telemedicine systems, etc. In this book chapter, we have tried to focus on the
various issues present in the HCS along with the detailed study of potential benefits
that have been achieved while integrating the blockchain with the health care system.
Also, in this chapter represents the systematic review of various use case scenarios
for blockchain in healthcare practice.
Keywords Blockchain · Health care system · Interoperability · Information

security · Data management
A. Panigrahi (B)
ITER, SOA University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
B. Sahu · S. S. Panigrahi
Department of CSE, Gandhi Institute for Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
M. S. Khan
Department of IT, College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
A. K. Jena
School of Computer Engineering, KIIT Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69395-4_8
136 A. Panigrahi et al.
8.1 Introduction
Blockchain implies an advanced framework for executing and recording exchanges

that can be pictured as a structure block built from keen calculations and gathered
information and made sure about by cryptography. Regardless of whether in money
related markets, medical care, or the military; ventures and governments are utilizing
blockchain advances to overhaul hey tech standards [1]. As per Gartner, blockchain is
among the main 10 vital innovation patterns for the years 2018 [2]. In [3] it is clarified
that utilizing a public blockchain can eliminate the requirement for trusted focal
experts in record exchanges also, debate assertions. This is on the grounds that trust
is incorporated with the model through unchanging records on a circulated record.
Blockchain innovation is considered by a few as the most noteworthy innovation after
the Web and is broadly foreseen to determine trust issues through distributed systems
administration furthermore, public-key cryptography arrangements [4]. It usually
concurs that the innovation needs time to develop [5, 6], yet we should be prepared
for the appropriation of this uncommon archetype. The capability of blockchain
innovation to drastically change communications should raise basic inquiries for
governments what’s more, society. Figure 8.1 gives a clear picture of the evolution
of healthcare.
Blockchain 1.0 was dealing with cryptocurrency such as bitcoin where the secure
transaction can be performed between different users. This also enables Distributed
Ledger Technology or DLT. While in blockchain 2.0 the smart contracts are the key
point. The scalable UI for the user end and the decentralized application is the main
focus point in Blockchain 3.0. The DAPPS is the combination of the user-defined
front end with the smart contracts. Blockchain 4.0 is fully dedicated to Industry
4.0. Blockchain is in its beginning phases however it charmed huge reactions and
enthusiasm from the organization and the researcher in different fields like banking,
Fig. 8.1 Blockchain evolution

8 Application of Blockchain as a Solution … 137
IoT and health care system, etc. Blockchain along with DLT can contribute various
advantages to the medical industry. Blockchain innovation’s different highlights like
decentralization, security, protection, bitcoin, and smart contracts by means of cryp-
tographic calculations [7] have the ability to address the current issues of the clinical
and health care segment. It can ease dependence on a solitary incorporated position
which is more helpless against mistake and frailty. The interoperable framework of
blockchain will upgrade the information trade among different health care points to
improve coordination, QoC, advancements, and market rivalries emphatically [8].
This problematic innovation could possibly resolve the issues of fake medications and
billing systems as it gives chronicled data to follow the root of exchanges making
all the activities straightforward [9]. This innovation can change over the current
expensive frameworks to cost-saving or even cash creating frameworks [10] as the
clients are remunerated with advanced money as a motivating force for their commit-
ment. A blockchain-based foundation can be conceived for improved decentralized
maintenance of different patient and other health-related records, information trade.
Blockchain has a huge potential to change the current medical services foundation.
Be that as it may, there are a few difficulties that have been distinguished such as
security, confidentiality, and sustainability [11].
8.2 Features of Blockchain
The features of blockchain such as immutable, decentralization, security, DLT,

consensus, and quick settlement make it more adaptable.
• Immutable: This characteristic ensures the user that the data cannot be changed
which makes the peer-to-peer network more constant and unchanged network.
Once the data is stored in the network then for modification purposes the permis-
sion is needed from every node present in the network for a secure transaction.
Those are validating the modification request and the transaction is called the
miners. By using this characteristic, the blockchain becomes more secure [12].
• Decentralization: If the organization is decentralized then it doesn’t have a soli-
tary individual taking care of the structure or maybe a gathering of hubs keeps
up the organization making it decentralized. This is one of the key highlights
of blockchain innovation that works impeccably [12]. Due to this feature, the
blockchain has some significant benefits such as
– Reduced failure
– Transparency
– No Scam
– Zero Third party
– Robust network
– The high rate of transaction
– Authentication.
• Security: In addition to the decentralization the cryptography plays an important

role in the blockchain. Every stored data is being hashed by using some key to
maintain the CIA property of information security. The process of hashing is quite
tough and it is almost impossible to alter the hashed data. A simple change in the
hashed data creates a different ID which will mismatch with the original ID. Since
each of the present nodes in the blockchain network has the same data then the
attacker needs to change the hashed value at each side which is impossible in
nature. Due to this the blockchain now the day is becoming a more prominent
factor in technology [13].
• DLT: It stands for distributed ledger technology which contains the transaction
information and the participant information. IT opens in nature and it is not
being stored privately. A blockchain is a public record that gives data of the
apparent multitude of members and all computerized exchanges that have ever
been executed. A square is the “overarching” part of a blockchain that should
keep the record of the ongoing exchanges, and once they are finished, it goes into
the blockchain. Squares are included consecutive way with the following square
containing a hash of the past square. Another square is produced when the past
square gets entered into the blockchain information base [13].
• Smart Agreement Algorithm: The blockchain is designed in such a way that the
decision-making process will be more active and dynamic throughout the network.
This can be achieved by implementing some SA algorithms such that every node
has an equal chance to become a decision-maker. This means there is the trust-
worthiness in making a unique decision with the presence of heterogeneous type
nodes [14].
Quick Settlement: Legacy banking system is quite slow in nature and it can take
many days to make a transaction successful. One node is responsible for authorizing
the transaction which pruned to a single-point failure. Also, there is a chance if the
authority becomes malicious then the whole transaction becomes malicious. This can
be avoided by using the blockchain technology where every node has the fair chance
of becoming the authority to sanction the truncation. The person who will allow the
transaction will choose randomly, hence the chance of malicious transaction will be
very less. The person is elected on the basis of some problem-solving techniques.
One puzzle will be supplied to each and every node present in the network and the
node who will solve the puzzle will become the authority to sanction the transaction.
The puzzle which is being given to the nodes is known as NONCE. NONCE means
the Number only used ONCE is a number which is being added to the hashed data
which has to be solved by the miners to authorize the transaction. In this way, the
process becomes more secure and reliable in the case of blockchain [15].
Table 8.1 Literature survey

Reference Platform Methodology Use case
Agbo et al. [15] Public PBEDA and ECDH key EMR
agreement protocol to
solve the sharing
problem inpatient
health-related data
Azaria et al. [16] IoT Digital Signature EMR
Scheme and Merkel
Hash function
Xia et al. [17] Ethereum WSN with IPV6 Interoperability, SCM
protocol and RPi v3
Zhang et al. [18] Ethereum Encryption, NONCE, Security
Decryption, Hash
Function
Zhou et al. [19] Ethereum Quorochain Algorithm Interoperability
and Smart Contracts
Mytis et al. [20] Ethereum UIDs, Transaction SCM
History
Tandon et al. [21] Ethereum UID, Transaction SCM
History, Digital
Signature
Afrooz et al. [22] Permissioned Fault Tolerance EMR
Blockchain Algorithms, Smart
Contract
Agbo et al. [23] IoT WSN controller, Hash Biomedical Research
Function, IPV6
Ahmad et al. [24] Ethereum UID, Big Data EMR
Omar et al. [25] Public Digital Signature, Hash Smart Contract
Alla et al. [26] Ripple WSN, DAPPs, ADB, Patient-Centric
and Machine Learning Information Sharing
Angelis et al. [27] Open Chain Hash Function, Digital Insurance
Signature, Smart
Contract
Angraal et al. [28] Ethereum UID, Encryption, Hash EMR
Function
Arrieta et al. [29] Ethereum Digital Signature EMR
Aznoli et al. [30] Ethereum Transaction History, SCM
UID, Consensus
Algorithm
Badr et al. [31] Ethereum Peer Network, SCM
Transaction History,
Digital Signature
Behera et al. [32] Ethereum DNN, Cryptography SCM
Algorithm, UID
(continued)

Reference Platform Methodology Use case
Brogan et al. [33] IoT Authentication, Research
Blockchain concept
Campbell et al. [34] Public Digital Signature Smart Contract
Casado-Vara et al. [35] Ripple Android, GPS, Patient Centric
Authentication Protocol Information Sharing
Chattu et al. [36] Ethereum UID, Hash Function EMR
Cios et al. [37] Open Chain Cryptography, Hash Insurance
Function, Smart
Contracts
Dagher et al. [38] Bitcoin PKI, NONCE, Hash Payment platform
Value
Devadass et al. [39] Ethereum DAPPS, DLT, UID EMR
Dhagarra et al. [40] Steller UID, Digital Signature, SCM
Hash Function, Peer
Network
8.3 Literature Survey
Table 8.1 will represent the detailed study of research work that has been done in the
blockchain in the health care system.
8.4 Working of Blockchain
Blockchain consists of 3 main components such as Block, Node, and Miners. Block
will contain 3 things data, nonce, and hash value. Miners are responsible for creating
the new blocks in the network and the process is known as mining. While creating
the new block the hash value of the previous block needs to be taken care of and
referenced [15]. Along with the creation of new block miners also take part in solving
the NONCE to become the authority for sanctioning a transaction. Miners use dedi-
cated software for solving the NONCE problem. For modification in any block needs
remaining as all of the blocks that will come after the intended block. When a block
is being mined successfully then every node present in the network will agree on
the same value and the miner will be financially awarded [16]. Node is the most
important factor in blockchain technology. Nodes are the electronic device that will
maintain the DLT and keeps the network in functional mode. The nodes have their
copies of blockchain and the network must approve any kind of mining process that
is occurring inside the network. Since the blockchain is transparent so each operation
on the DLT has to be checked and viewed by every participant. Figure 8.2 describes
the working principle of the blockchain.
Fig. 8.2 Working procedure of blockchain
When a miner or node wants to initiate a transaction then it creates a block that
contains the data, hash value along with the NONCE. After creating the block, it
immediately sends the block to the network for approval. Each participant will mine
the block and will try to solve the NONCE puzzle by using some dedicated software.
The node which will obtain the solution for the NONCE provided in the block will
have the authority for the current transaction. After approval from every participant,
the node which has created the block will forward it to the destination by including
the hash of the previous transaction [17, 18].
8.5 Application of BlockChain
Traditional health institutes are utilizing outdated ways to handle health-related data.
The data includes patient health records, drug reports, patient insurance information,
etc. This outdated data handling will put an impact on patient treatment. Most of the
health care organization has its ways to deal with the health-related data which will
reduce the degree of transparency in between the patient and organization. Patient
health-related data are just like a puzzle that will lose its integrity and accuracy while
misconfiguring the data. A small change in the data will intend in improper treatment.
With the presence of a large number of patients, it is very difficult to handle those
data [19].
The use of blockchain will make a huge change in the data management system
which will enable the health care system to share the patient-related data more effec-
tively and securely. Blockchain can help to build up Blockchain clinical records.
This cuts away superfluous managerial expenses and furthermore takes into account
legitimate health information usage. Furthermore, the utilization of the blockchain
can lessen the need to go to the third party to administer the trading of indispensable
health information. Distributed Ledger Technology or DLT will be used in blockchain
for storage purposes [20].
DLT which stores the information in a permanent way and updates the data
progressively has been reshaping the health care area in entirety. The conventional
models in this scene end up being profoundly wasteful as far as conveying quality
medical services which are reasonable in nature by the people [21]. Blockchain-
based medical services applications are fit to be utilized and change the health care
establishments over the world. Blockchain works for improvising the transparency
and effectiveness, different groups are related to the health care framework, and
patients get profited. The administrative process is now a day simpler to oversee.
Improvement can be found in the business tasks utilizing the inventive innovation.
The customary medical service framework is moderate and costly and furthermore
includes different delegates into the framework; all such issues get settled with the
assistance of the blockchain technology [22]. The health care industry is generally
energized for changing to blockchain method. Change to a blockchain upheld health
care framework would reduce expenses and improve the security and interoper-
ability of wellbeing reports. The blockchain medical services genuine models and
cases utilize keen agreements which they could use so as to handle the medical proce-
dure receipts effectively and productively, and development of emergency clinic bills
among the medical clinic, understanding, and the protection supplier. A patient can
cooperate with a blockchain-based medical services framework so as to see every
one of his cases, clinical history, and past due installments effectively and in a supe-
rior way. With the assistance of smart contracts, the people can likewise utilize the
blockchain to plan and book appointments and commitment with their staff, which
can be begun when the enrollment sum is paid, and the specialist affirms accessibility
[23].
Proper clinical information management is one of the key points of interest to
Blockchain and medical care. Numerous issues influencing the medical services
industry, for example, interoperability, information fruition, misrepresentation, and
even information loss during a debacle, can be removed. Blockchain can do ponders
regarding the recovery process. Since health information wouldn’t be put away in a
solitary area, there wouldn’t be a primary failure point. In the event that any given clin-
ical office crumples because of some catastrophic event—health information would
be protected [24]. The capacity to guarantee that health information is right is basic
for the arrangement of suitable clinical administrations. Admittance to appropriate
clinical information guarantees that medical services suppliers can give legitimate
diagnostics. This is additionally reinforced by the way that, when any informa-
tion hits a Blockchain, any modifications to it become almost inconceivable. It is
significant that clinical information can be put away in a Blockchain from different
sources like computers, wearable devices, mobile, etc. that can help in reducing the
expenses of clinical organizations. Another incredible territory in the medical care
part where Blockchain and medical services can see use is drug recognizability—
remedy detectability, however fake medications also. All information went into a
Blockchain that is unchanging and time stepped. This diminishes the opportuni-
ties for fake medications to hit the underground market, notwithstanding remedy
misusing [12, 25, 26].
8.5.1 Blockchain in Health Care System Use Case
This section will focus on all possible health care use cases where the blockchain
can be implemented (Fig. 8.3).
Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is the most important use case of the health
care system. As a unique and safe record of a patient is maintainable by using the
DLT. This DLT will contain all types of data such as test results, a list of medications
used during the treatment, prescription details, etc. for an individual patient which
is being stored in a decentralized network from where it can be accessed anywhere
anytime [27].
Prescription Compliance: Medicine provided to each different patient is costly and
millions of patients are being hospitalized. After treatment, the patient can visit the
hospital for a follow-up process. At that time the cost can be reduced to medicine.
Motivation can be accommodated any improvement in medicine through application
program interfaces (APIs) which will gamify the clinical solution taking cycle. Data
that can put away on the blockchain will be available to the two specialists and
patients [28].
Health Insurance: The patients are spending millions on the treatment. Health insur-
ance plays a vital role in bill settlement. By using the smart contracts, the validity,
and verification of the claim from the patient. After the verification, the claim will be
automatically done without including the third party. By using the smart contracts,
the degree of fraud towards the insurance sector reduces severely.
Personalized Patient Care: Due to the maintenance of DLT for an individual patient
which can be shared among the patient-related and the doctor for better treatment.
Supply Chain Management: The industries which are supplying medicines and
medical equipment to the hospitals for the treatment of patient have to maintain
a supply chain. When the same medicines are demanded again then the industry will
face difficulties to supply the corresponding medicine for the intended patient. By
using blockchain the industry is able to maintain the transaction history from which
easily the previous history can be found for the corresponding patient. Hence the
supply of wrong medicine will be reduced [28].
Clinical Trial: In the health care system many patients are there with different diseases
and their complexity. Hence the clinical trial is done on a patient with a goal to cure
the person. After each trial, the results are being stored along with the test result and
patient statistics which can be accessed by the researcher at any time in the future.
This will reduce the time to cure another patient having the same disease.
Payment Platform: The user can set the amount in the smart contracts which can
be automatically forwarded to the health care industry. The fund stored in smart
contracts can be used for emergency medical purposes.
Data Security: The patient data are stored in a block that needs to be shared between
the doctor and the patient. The digital ids are being used to authenticate the sender
and the receiver. As per the principle of blockchain technology, it is very difficult
to manipulate the data stored in the block. For modification, the NONCE has to be
solved and permission from each participant present in the network is being required.
Smart Contracts: The smart contract is a computer-based protocol which is being
automatically executed upon the requirement. Basically smart contracts come into
account in three different health care parts such as Insurance, Telemedicine, and
patient-related records. Smart contracts along with the blockchain represent the future
Fig. 8.3 Healthcare use case using blockchain

of the health care system. Smart contracts make the use of an encryption process for
secure data storage [29].
Biomedical Research: The clinical trials are stored along with the prescription and
medicine details which can be traced in the future for research purposes. The biomed-
ical researcher can retrieve the patient-centric data for improving the treatment
procedures which can reduce the time and the cost for the patient.
Patient-centric Information sharing: In the blockchain, the DLT is maintained for the
individual patient. Whenever necessary the DLT can be shared among the doctor and
the patient relatives for better treatment. While sharing the DLT five things need to
be taken care of such as aggregation, information liquidity, identity, the correctness
of the data, and access protocols for the secure exchange of DLT along with the
transaction history.
Interoperability: It has been focused on the health care system for exchanging the
data between the sender and receiver. Sender and Receiver can be the doctors, the
hospital management system, and the patients. FHIR or Fast Healthcare Interoper-
ability Resource indicates the data formats while sharing the patient-centric data in
a public API [30].
Trustable Clinical Data: The use of blockchain technology in the health care system
make sure about data safety during the transaction. Once the data has been stored
in the block it will be hashed and one NONCE will be added in order to secure the
data. Without solving the NONCE no miner can interfere with the data. For any kind
of modification, the miner or node needs the permission of all available participants
in the peer network. The block is publically stored at each node side [27]. So a
slight change in the data will create a different hash value that will mismatch with
the original hash that is being already stored at different participants. During the
transaction, the hash value will be cross verified, and if mismatched the transaction
will be strictly discarded. For any kind of modification, the miner needs to solve
the NONCE and the solution is to be submitted to the owner. After verification and
permission from every participant, the third party is allowed to change the data. In
this way, the patient and clinical data are safe when the blockchain is implemented
[16].
8.5.2 Key Benefits of Blockchain in Health Care
Health care system has various advantages as per the blockchain feature such as peer
network, cryptography, DLT, NONCE, smart contracts, trustworthiness, permission
transaction, hash function, etc., as shown in Table 8.2.
Table 8.2 Benefits of blockchain in healthcare system

Blockchain characteristic Benefit in healthcare
Peer Network Secure Infrastructure
Cryptography Encrypting the stored data for preventing the unauthorized access
DLT Cost Reduction, Reduced Operational deficiencies, Access Control
Decentralization Removes the single point failure
NONCE Better Authorization for a successful transaction
Smart Contracts Increases Transparency, Increased Speed of Communication,
Paperless work, High Efficiency
Trustworthiness Secure Transaction due to random authority election per transaction
Permissioned Transaction The reduced degree of Interference in stored data as permission from
all participants is mandatory for any kind of modification in the
stored data [17]
Hash Function Increases degree of Integrity as each data is hashed with the public
or private key and stored at all nodes present in the network. A small
change in data will change the hash value which will mismatch at
another nide side whenever asked for permission for a successful
Transaction [17]
8.5.3 Challenges of Blockchain in Healthcare
Along with the various benefits, it has several challenges such as storage capacity,
dynamic data, scalability issue, privacy, lack of interest, shifting the legacy system to
blockchain technology are making the scenario difficult in implementing blockchain
in the healthcare system. Table 8.3 shows the parameters along with the way they
are becoming the most prominent barriers in blockchain implementation.
8.6 Conclusion
Now a day the medical records such as prescription, test results, and analysis reports
are stored on a paper. Hence it can be easily deleted which will create a problem. The
solution is to store all data in the form of an electronic record. But the disadvantage is
having a centralized admin to maintain the record which is pruned to a single-point
failure. In this chapter, we have described the blockchain technology, its working
principle, and the key features for solving the issues of the traditional system. We
then defined the BCT for the healthcare system along with the use-case, benefits,
and challenges to accept the BCT as a real-world solution to the healthcare system.
Despite the several key benefits like cryptography, DLT, NONCE, and decentralized
nature, still, there are few drawbacks such as scalability issue, storage limit acts as a
barrier.
Table 8.3 Challenges of blockchain in healthcare system

Parameter Effect in Implementing BCT
Storage Capacity The number of hospitals and patients is large so
numerous amount storage is needed for storing
those data which is practically very difficult [19]
Dynamic Data The health care data is dynamic in nature. The
data are changing every second which needs to be
stored in the blocks of blockchain regularly. The
modification process is very long as it needs
permission from every participant is mandatory
which will increase time complexity indirectly
[19]
Scalability Issue The decentralized framework of blockchain
makes difficulty in adding more health care
system to the existing blockchain. Every time the
node has to be elected which will do add the new
system to the existing one [19]
Privacy Due to the independent, decentralized nature, a
less number of regulations are there for
controlling the BCT
Lack of Interest Various systems are there who do not have any
interest to share health-related data as they are
maintaining the data in their own convenient way
[21]
Shifting the Legacy System to Blockchain Many doctors are dependent on the paper while
Technology making the prescription to the patient and not
showing their interest in EMR. It is very difficult
to shift the legacy system into the BCT
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Chapter 9
UML Conceptual Analysis of Smart
Contract for Health Claim Processing
Subhasis Mohapatra, Smita Parija, and Abhishek Roy
Abstract Block chain and current economic scenario allow decentralization of data
profile over peer to peer network. In this research work authors take the help of
UML (Unified modeling language) to build a framework for health insurance claim
processing that is using block chain to built smart contract. Smart contract application
in health insurance industry incorporate user profile, electronic medical record, health
insurance profile and linked bank agencies to automate claim settlement walk out on
any third-party control. Smart contract is providing a promising solution to support
insurance data validation over peer to peer transaction. Health insurance industry
is untangling power of smart contract. Embedding UML analysis for block chain
network build intelligence that showcase a conceptual processing of insurance data
transaction. Though substantial research work in this regard is going on in numerous
fields but still it needs more conceptual analysis before it’s real time implementa-
tion. So, in this experimentation authors pinpoint block chain basic UTXO (Unspent
transaction output) and UML test bed analysis for smart contract in health insurance
service. This meticulous research outcome is justified by factual analysis of block
chain. Moreover, it is given with context aware sequence analysis of smart contract
in health insurance.
Keywords Smart contract · UML. UTXO · Health insurance · Sequence analysis

cloud computing
Please note that the LNCS Editorial assumes that all authors have used the western naming conven-
tion, with given names preceding surnames. This determines the structure of the names in the
running heads and the author index.
S. Mohapatra (B) · A. Roy

Department of Computer Science Engineering, Adamas University, Kolkata, India
S. Parija
Department of Eletronics, CV Raman Global University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69395-4_9
152 S. Mohapatra et al.
9.1 Introduction
Blockchain use case provide a specific level of security to any business model. In this
perspective block chain is associated with a huge context to untangle some common
security misconception [1]. Bit coin is offering certain common plan of security by
using proof-of-work algorithm. To add block in a transaction it must validate all
transaction block that is performed by repeated calculation which is called hashing.
It is combining with one famous technique i.e. commonly known as longest chain
rule to mine own subversive chain. There are three kind of blockchain (1) Public, (2)
Private, (3) Permission. In public block chain there is no need of approval that indicate
any one can read and write data over this network. If any discrepancies will happen
then no boss is allocated to solve this issue. For example, Bit con in this anybody can
join and leave without any restriction [2]. It is an open source wallet application. In
private block chain all the participant is known and trusted. Here access is provided
to limited number of participants. It can control access to business model. Now the
third-party permission block chain falls in this category it is collaborating with parties
for ease of governance ex-Automobile, health service industry. Bit coin and block
chain don’t provide any inherent security against read access Indeed block chain is
a mechanism that can copy data to all relevant participant in this way consensus is
achieved in network. Block chain is providing a remedial solution against hacking
espionage system. So, the fertile ground of hacking surface is ruined by block chain
application up to a remarkable extent. It is emerging as the most resilient technique
compared to centralized system Peer to peer transaction in block chain provide multi
redundancy.
Specifically, block chain introduces a vital concept of smart contract it consents
claim service of citizen from citizen to bank end. Furthermore, the aim of this
UML ontology in smart contract utilizes block chain technology. It supports peer
to peer policy access without any third-party access control. A number of block
chain researcher already working in this claim processing domain to verify different
aspect of autonomous claim governance system. But it still needs some compre-
hensive overview to further analyze characteristics of ownership in claim. In smart
contract intelligent business logic interact with each other autonomously to process
claim request. In mean time smart contract reduce market counterfeit and manual
processing of claim. Here in this research finding authors deal with a business proto-
type of smart contract through Unified modelling language-sequence diagram. This
prototype model provide solution in smart contract. It concentrates upon different
mode i.e. Bank, claim company, and peer group etc. By the use of smart contract
everyone would get a clear idea of claim processing path and company policy.
Despite of several advantages of smart contract majority of claim processing still
need external expert suggestion before being resolved. From the model point of
view authors has given a suitable choice to embrace a combination of public and
private block chain. The private block chain is suitable for tracking policy record
and claim, and the same time public block chain deal with refund of tradable crypto
9 UML Conceptual Analysis of Smart Contract for Health … 153
currency (e.g. Bitcoin, Ethereum). The above policy definitely holds company’s repu-
tation and trust. As we all know block chain work without intermediaries so no one
could steal claim credential of a person. In this research outcome authors has given
credential checking mechanism of citizen in terms of User id and pass word. This
paper provides precise analysis of participating nodes i.e. (Insurance company, Bank,
Person). Smart contract can exploit various business logic for technology enhance-
ment in health insurance claim industry. In addition to this smart contract authors
have sincerely tried to accomplish business logic for health insurance claim. This is
the future technology which gains momentum to exploit massive business opportuni-
ties in claim. Here authors have given certain future direction to extend smart contract
logic for back office transaction. It comprehends between insurers and re insurers.
Typically, when a claim is initiated insurer must verify its re-insurance content and
channelize the logic with re-insurers for re-insurance recovery. A smart contract
logic can be embedded on a block chain plat form to initiate recovery of transaction
instantly. Smart contract in health claim processing will gradually add new revenue
sources for micro level transaction. It is nothing but a pay per use insurance model
that reckon on public block chain.
So many organizations opt for this application because certain significance level
of security make it unique in compared to other application [3]. The underlying
significance i.e. cryptography and digital signature i.e. enforcing arbitrary read and
write access rights. So historical record adheres to transaction can’t be modified
easily. If anybody want to change this content that can be easily traced in block chain
as all the record hash is linked with previous block hash if one hash has changed then
it exhibits a wrong matching it is the underlying fashion of immutability in block
chain. In current scenario block chain is emerging as a box of technology from which
different item can be put in different ways to create different solution. For a easy
understanding one analogy is given block in block chain is compared with page in
a book as the page contains contents and header information in a similar way block
contains information and implicit hash value of previous valid block [4]. It showcases
a nice way of validating data to provide internal consistency if any intruder wants
to meddle with record then he has to generate all hash from the current position so
it is accumulating accountability feature that make access control more imperative
to centralized system. Now new paradigm shift in block chain strengthen digital
backbone of block chain crypto currency is rather a proven technology in block
chain is considered as type-I, in type-II currency and business logic is embedded,
in type-III only business logic is embedded Ex-Hyper ledger under Linux [5]. It is
adding cryptographic proof to some part of block chain it is enhancing cryptographic
auditability. Crypto currency is a digital currency which is a medium of exchange
nobody is authorized to change unless specific condition is fulfilled for ex-Ethereum
is a Turing complete programmable currency it is used in distributed application [6].
It would not work with Bitcoin. Another example is Ripple it has not taken advantage
of block chain rather it is mapped on iterative consensus process [7]. Ripple is faster
than Bit coin but more vulnerable to attack. In digital world two things are vital
authorization and authentication. Some innovative crypto currency is given as below
for reader guidance [8].
• IOTA (Internet of Things Architecture)
It depicts an open source distributed ledger architecture for internet of things. Also,
uses break through ledger technology i.e. named as tangle. Sender in a transaction
must adhere to proof-of-work that approves two transaction [9, 10]. So, it ultimately
eliminates dedicated miners from the framework [11].
• NEO (Network of Smart Economy)
It is a smart contract network ex-all kind of financial transaction contract is based on

this application [12].
• DASH (DASH formerly called as dark coin)
This is a two-tier network the first tier is deal with miners which secure network
and second tier is master node it is capable of relaying transaction. At the same time
enable private sender to type transaction [13, 14].
• QTUM (Pronounced as Quantum)
It is a conglomeration of bit coin and Ethereum technology for broad business

application [15].
This model enables a platform for others to access records by granting access
to patient and practitioner. The remainder of this paper is organized as follows the
remainder of this paper is organized as follows. In Sect. 9.2, we present some basic
concepts of Block chain. Section 9.3 describes transaction in block chain. Section 9.4
explains Ethereum block chain. Section 9.5 depict motivation and contribution of
the proposed work. Section 9.6 survey upon smart contract contribution in health
insurance analysis. Some related study presented in Sect. 9.7. Analysis of UML
modeling for block chain technique explained Sect. 9.8. Smart contract terminology
is depicted in Sect. 9.9. Section 9.10 describes gas Terminologies in Smart Contract
and finally conclusion is presented.
9.2 Basic Elements of Block Chain
Orchestration of three technology guide the internal framework of block chain

private key, internet and protocol governing E-transaction in this perspective the
basic element in block chain is given as below.
1. Block store data in block chain it is prefaced by block header and protected by
proof of work. A chain of block is preceded by referencing [16].
2. Block header contains 80 bytes; it signifies size of block chain which is hashed
repeatedly to create proof of work [17].
3. Block height is the number of preceding a particular block on a block chain-
genesis block has height zero because it the first block in block chain [18].
Fig. 9.1 Block diagram of Merkel tree computation
4. Block reward signifies the amount that miners claim as reward for creating
a block It is equal to sum of the block subsidy plus transaction fees paid by
transaction. [19].
5. Maximum block size as per current consensus rule is four million height unit
[20].
6. Merkle tree it is nothing but a binary tree where each internal node contains hash
value of the children node. Hashing is paired with data in children node it goes
on until a single root is generated i.e. called Merkle root. the leaves are almost
always transaction from a single block [21]. The Merkel tree computation
block diagram is given in Fig. 9.1 here T1 to T4 are depicted as transaction in
each internal node computation is done as below Fig. 9.1.
7. Mining is the act of creating a valid bitcoin block. miners are nothing but device
that mine complex cryptographic puzzle. People own these devices [22].
8. Miners fee indicate the amount remaining when the value of all output in a
transaction are subtracted from all input in a transaction. It is paid to miner
who includes that transaction in a block.
9. Wallet is a software that store private key and monitor block chain to allow
user to spend and receive Satoshi’s.
10. Satoshis is a denomination of bit coin value one bit coin is equal to 100,000,000
Satoshis [23].
11. Peer is a machine that is connected to bit coin network, Genesis block is first
block in block chain.
12. A fork is a term defines when two or more miners find block at the same time
it is a part of attack.
13. Double spend is a transaction that uses the same input as already broadcast
transaction. The duplication of transaction is adjudicated by only one of the
transactions [24].
14. Network difficulty signifies how hard it is to find a block relative to difficulty
of finding the easiest possible block.
9.3 Transaction in Block Chain
The basic element of block chain is transaction block is added to it in a consensus

process. One special power node is called miner. The fundamental element of block
chain is UTXO (Unspent transaction out) which is input to a transaction it is held by
participant node. so, a block is given input UTXO and in output it generates output
UTXO. UTXO include Unique identifier of transaction it is created at the initial stage
of transaction, Second one is index of UTXO, third is condition under which output
can be spent which is optional. Transaction is termed as (Tx) it includes reference
number of current transactions, reference to one or more input UTXO, reference to
one or more output UTXO i.e. newly generated by the current transaction. Block chain
operation is done in a decentralized network by peer to peer participation here peer
is nothing but a node for example server rack, laptop etc. validation of a transaction
gathers valid transaction for block creation. So, it achieved by broadcasting. There are
two major participants in a block chain one that initiate transaction and second one is
miner, Miner verify, broadcast, and compete to build a block. Miners are members in
a network with high level of computing power that compete to validate transaction by
giving a solution to complex coded problem and win a reward for this (Bit coin) Miner
efforts confirmation to get bit coin. The concept of block chain transaction is given in
Fig. 9.2 it propagates easy understanding to reader. Now in this block chain context
authors gives a brief overview of Bit coin it is first appeared in 2008 white paper by
Satoshi Nakamoto. It is a P2P (Peer to peer) E-cash system transferred directly any
intermediary. It is a digital transaction based on cryptographically protected block.
Miners compete for solving puzzle when the block is solved it is broad casted to
network, after verifying new block it is added to chain. TX [0] has no input UTXO
coin base transaction currently it is 12 BTC. Here block chain aim is to create a single
consistent chain. Transaction is a broad concept in this regard every node needs to
Fig. 9.2 Flow of block chain transaction

keep update different version of event. Now script is added to transaction ex-smart
contract.
9.4 Ethereum Block Chain
Its main component is depicted as follows

• Block header
• Transaction hash
• Transaction root
• State hash
• State root.
The major component of Block header is given as a pictorial representation in
Fig. 9.3.
It establishes trust in a block chain SHA-3 algorithm Kecck can compute block
header in smart contract. Every state change in smart contract require re computation
of state root hash for verification and integrity. Hashing and encryption are the two
major component in smart contract. Block header is computed by SHA-256 algorithm
twice. It is calculated by each node for establishing verification in a network. once
is a variable element it is changed by miners to try numerous sets of permutation
to achieve a specific difficulty level. Smart contract is changing current economy in
term of trust building which is given in Fig. 9.4.
Validation process in Ethereum is not a single step process it needs to verify syntax,
signature, timestamp, nonce, gas limit, sender account balance, gas point of resource
and transaction signature hash. Gas value is nothing but the pricing mechanism to
build a transaction in Ethereum smart contract [24].
Fig. 9.3 Ethereum block header

Fig. 9.4 Confirmation steps of new block addition in a block chain
9.5 Motivation
The entire gamut of block chain application in healthcare service domain show
case service redistribution with peer to peer management and abolishing third party
control. The feasible solution march towards resolving queries of service seeker and
service provider. Block chain authenticate streamline access of service to service
seeker. The block chain administration automates linking of information i.e. policy
tariff in a non-disputable manner over smart contract. Now the question arise why
block chain logic penetrates like wild fire to every sector, the feasible answer is
immutable control. Here each data is associated with unique hash. Hence it prevents
against single point failure. Though it gathers popularity in every single day but still
some resilient research is needed in timestamp based immutable linking of business
record.
More over in this research exploration authors collected various approximate
information to build this conceptual model, so it must revamp health insurance
ecosystem. The model includes vale added service design to bank, claim company,
beneficiaries. The interaction among them is given in sequence diagram in Fig. 9.8.
The complexity of claim processing in smart contract is shown in a piecemeal manner
through various class node i.e. citizen, kiosk, smart contract, policy claim and bank.
The effective key parameter of this research outcome include how it mitigates central-
ized control from multiple stake holders. The information flow between different class
node is participative parameter to exchange data. It creates a tamper proof authentic
model for a trusted domain like health insurance which needs qualitative attention
in this regard. The model analysis showcases operational efficiencies to simplify
complex time bound decision logic in smart contract.
9.6 Survey of Smart Contract in Health Claim Processing
This section of article propagates a comprehensive survey of health insurance data

management and peer to peer self automation. Health care communities still need
direct integration of citizen, claim organization, bank and block chain to achieve
smooth integration. In this section authors have given reports on UML ontology
development and concept building frame work in health insurance. That helps to
achieve operational resilience. In addition to this block chain overcome certain
architectural short coming in health insurance. Block chain is a ubiquitous secu-
rity enhancement research trend. It categorizes usage pattern of immutability. Health
insurance is at the peak of hype curve as per recent market survey. So for quality
enhancement in health insurance it need block chain integration As we can shift our
focus from decentralized architecture to peer to peer accessibility. The potential of
block chain collects useful security enhancement option i.e. smart contract, chain
code etc. It provides tamper proof and highly decentralized solution for health insur-
ance record dissemination. In block chain each peer is appropriately authenticated
and authorized. Health insurance continuously face privacy leak over exchange of
data over electronic media. So, block chain provide solution to this problem. The
major step taken by block chain is decentralized infrastructure that concept truly
help to built the security ecosystem in health insurance. As block chain creates an
opportunity in health insurance domain. It has tremendous potential to track citizen
insurance information over Claim Company and bank. At some point insurance
record monitor patient’s credential in terms of how much claim is covered, how
much premium patient has paid, and personal information. These are information
which need zero exploitation. Each day rise in cyber vulnerabilities aims to explore
existing internet infrastructure so from consumer end health insurance industry are
shifting their legacy ecosystem to block chain. So, in respective section authors prop-
agate idea of block chain integration opportunity as a future research direction. As we
know block chain is redefining health insurance sector in terms of improving quality
and effectiveness of data mobility. Every country has their own law over protection
of data in their code of law (privacy and owner ship of data).so consumer information
under transient environment need enforceable security infrastructure like block chain
to protect against cyber attack.
9.7 Analysis of UML Modelling for Block Chain Technique
UML modelling diagnoses efficiency of system in research area before its imple-
mentation. The recent research area includes support service for patient claim in
personalized medical service through smart contract. The autonomous management
of patient claim request is designed in this paper. Subsequently communication
through class component is studied effectively by sequence diagram. Its further coor-
dinates action constructively among method within the class by use case analysis.
It processes citizen request and provide quality of service in placing claim request
and processing. This is an adaptive model for real life implementation. The behavior
of model is going to monitor judiciously patient response for claim. The research
including online e-payment request processing through bank. It is elaborated in
Fig. 9.5, in this section.
Further it consists of claim processing from citizen to bank in an interoper-
able efficient load distribution technique. We judiciously focus upon object-oriented
Fig. 9.5 Basic model of smart contract in insurance processing
modelling technique for a group of class cooperation leading towards effective coor-
dination of job. Here in Fig. 9.5 rectangle component at the top indicate class (Citizen,
KIOSK, Smart contract, Policy claim, Bank).
The proposed infrastructure of the model is given in Fig. 9.5. It amplify user
understanding in this perspective it focus on three level of abstraction (1) Human
understanding, (2) Technological aspect behind smart contract, (3) Digital interac-
tion. Smart contract provides interface logic between digital interaction and human
affective understanding. In Fig. 9.4 Meta model of smart contract define roles and
responsibility of each three level of abstraction. This intuitive block model identifies
potential ontology behind smart contract for future implementation.
Recently healthcare industry giving more emphasis towards placing of patient
claim request settlement in peer to peer manner. It can be extended to provide
helpful information to health management and citizen. It minimizes the action of
virtual health broker who misguide citizen in the name of help. Here we propose
an interactive sequence analysis to carry out claim feedback from citizen, Smart
contract, and bank. We also add flowchart analysis as subject of research in this
paper. It concentrates study upon interactive method call. It is studying functional
feature of each component to validate a model. It can be enhanced further in provision
of claim guideline rule. The key aim behind this paper urges reader to harness the
potential of digital claim intervention in health industry in addition to this, the funda-
mental class components can realistically address all vital function for real life model
implementation. The UML analysis can accelerate exchange of information between
components for effective web-based application. The eventual impact of this anal-
ysis can access the entire financial ecosystem in health industry at a glance. In health
insurance processing eco-system, a large volume of data is generated every day. So
it needs proper processing in an intelligible manner in block chain environment each
data is bound to certain technique and linked hashing concept.
Automating transaction is the vital aspect achieved through smart contract. The
given UML application of smart contract can specify domain specific knowledge for
analysis in block chain network. The UML sequence diagram incorporates semantic
method for insurance application. i.e. pacing of claim service request, key genera-
tion, and transaction confirmation. It depicts ontological encoding behavior of smart
contract. As smart contract is one of the prominence field in block chain that has been
leveraged across several industries, supply chain, healthcare, finance, and insurance.
This research work relies on smart contract sequencing rule and functionality for
of smart contract. The detailed analysis of Figs. 9.5 and 9.6 will surely help further
research work in this domain. Smart contract is governed by self executing rule and
embedded program logic it is a challenging task over which way to select embedded
logic so UML approach design give a precise validation. It not only enforces end to
end traceability between classes but also give dynamic overview of business level
application. Here in this application dynamic aspect is distributed within citizen,
kiosk, smart contract, policy claim and bank class. Smart contract helps to minimize
Fig. 9.6 Sequence diagram for claim service in smart contract

intermediaries as intermediaries in some cases channelize citizen specific personal

information. In this finding authors has given a knowledge-based framework in
Fig. 9.5, it can serve as a meta model for sequence diagram in Fig. 9.6. The vital
component of UML ontology is class and relation so adhering to this concept this
research work helps smart contract over Ethereum virtual machine. Knowledge repre-
sentation in UML put standardization for client understandings this UML ontology
stipulate functionality aspect of smart contract in block chain network. For example,
when a citizen claims for insurance service her credential is checked and verified by
KIOSK (GUI based application). Moreover, it makes a block of citizen information,
claim service and secret key. The secret key would generate transaction over citizen,
claim company and bank.
So, it will offer a robust mechanism under smart contract. Smart contract offers
an innovative solution against data leakage. The latter advantage of this paper is to
protect movement of personal data. Smart contract is not only providing law-full data
processing but also it preserves legal obligation of insurance holder. It protects insurer
data protection rights. Smart contract grant person’s consent before its declaration so
it accomplishes insurer data protection regulation (IDPR). UML sequence diagram
given in Fig. 9.6 elaborate a vital user centric approach for the development of smart
contract. It preserves transparency and un-ambiguousness. Relevant to insurance
holder personal data leakage will destroy overall privacy of a company so in this
research work authors propose a specific framework. It gives a overview of how data
is filled in a GUI application (KIOSK) then processing over smart contract, claim
processing and bank. The sensitive data has been accessed through cryptic key. It
enforces a vital concept of block chain i.e. integrity and non-repudiation. So un-
authorized user can’t alter subject of data. Here aim of this research work is to build
a citizen centric solution in health-insurance domain. State of art technology of block
chain protect against malicious un-authorized attempt of intruder. Smart contract is
providing an intelligence component class in this section. So, it can protect real-
time user privacy in terms of policy disposal to specific policy holder. So, this UML
reference model helps in future for risk assessment and supported implementation
in smart contract that will surely saves time and money.UML approach potentially
guide software analyst to decide technological aspect that is the basis of business
model.
9.8 Algorithm
Algorithm for Sequence diagram
Step 1.
Start
Step 2.
User provide its credential to perform claim service. That include Unique
MEC-NO (), USER_NAME (), PASSWORD () in KIOSK which is a GUI
(Graphical user interface).
Step 3.
If patient credential is correct acknowledgement is sent ACK (), then it will
go to next step otherwise time out go to END.
Step 4.
Citizen must initiate term and condition to build Smart contract, In subse-
quent step Claim company and bank must sign necessary credential to built
smart contract.
Step 5.
Citizen create service key ENTER _SERVICE_REQUEST () AT Kiosk
at the same time CREATE_SERVICE_KEY () is created for building smart
contract, at the succeeding step claim company and bank request for this service
and key through smart contract.
Step 6.
In smart contract class it will check on Key-1 and Key-2 value, Key-1 is
held by citizen and Key-2 is held by claim company.
Step 7.
Bank class provide service by giving acknowledgement to smart contract.
It check authenticity of transaction by SIGNED_TERM_CONDITION () with
smart contract and at the same time it verifies CITIZEN_POLICY_CLAIM
() If verification is successful PUBLISH_CLAIM_AMOUT OF_PATIENT()
otherwise verification failure message is given in KIOSK application to citizen.
Step 8.
Transaction End.
9.9 Smart Contract Terminologies
Before insurance transaction between insured and insurer authors have given some
common terminologies and set of concepts that define data, rules, and concept in
smart contract. The smart contract lays foundation of business model that facilitate
interaction between transacting parties’ smart contract is nothing but an executable
code which help to invoke operation in block chain. It invokes operation in block
chain ecosystem. It opens door for new business possibilities for any business model.
Here in Fig. 9.7 execution logic of smart contract is specified in a block diagram
which surely improves business logic in terms of insurance request action flow. So,
Fig. 9.7 Smart contract terminologies for health-insurance
in Fig. 9.7 business logic is interface between Insured (Person who claims insurance)
and claim organization (Provider of health insurance). Hyper ledger fabric defines
concept of chain code where as smart contract and chain code both refer to same
thing. Chain code logic of block diagram is given in Fig. 9.8a, b. It encodes domain
independent canon for system interaction. Chain code establish independent business
logic in block chain network. Consequently, for reader reference authors simplify
Fig. 9.8 a Insurance chain code logic in block chain, b Health insurance chain code logic in block
chain
the concept as transaction logic. It controls lifecycle of a business object contained

in world state. It is then packaged into a chain code followed by deployment into
block chain network. Smart contract observes business transaction at the same time
chain code set the principle for smart contract packaging and deployment.
9.10 Gas Terminology in Smart Contract
Gas is the vital aspect of smart contract. Ethereum block chain needs gas as it is
utilized for transaction to pay off miners. Which in terms secure block chain transac-
tion. Here the question arises how the amount of gas is decided for smooth operation.
Subsequently what will be amount of gas and how maximum limit of gas will be set
it is a challenging task for block chain developers. A precise amount of gas is needed
to initiate a transaction as it sets transaction. If gas amount is low then transaction
can’t be initiated. At the same time miners lose the amount of remuneration. Block
chain architect smartly decide amount of gas to set a robust platform the fundamental
aspect of gas economy should be designed in such a manner that the smart contract
platform pick right dynamics. Gas economy always try to minimize energy waste
for long winding transaction. The gas economy judiciously set a priority by which
important transaction compute cost in a priority basis to secure miner cost over the
network This add legitimacy in smart contract.
Gas economy in my Ether wallet (Ethereum blockchain, Ethereum virtual
machine) there is a field known as gas limit it sets maximum amount of gas, block
chain designer provides different amount of gas limit for variety of transaction if we
will provide little amount of gas transaction will prematurely. It makes transaction
in an incomplete state. Right amount of gas boost network in a correct direction. In
design time gas limit is an important guideline so gas limit reflects intelligence of
network designer. As from miners’ point of view miners has the ability to increase
or decrease gas limit of block it sets right propagation in smart contract. Now the
question arises if we set the gas limit high what will happen to block chain network?
As per general convention high fees proportional to faster operation in certain
smart contract service gas price and gas limit is set automatically. The fees are
calculated in gas unit. But in certain case manual setting of gas limit is also possible,
faster operation need high charge too little gas amount make transaction risky. Here
in this section authors have given an example of Ethereum gas refund scenario. In
Solidity there are two command that guarantee gas refund mechanism, (I) Suicide—
It describes kill operation in smart contract and get back of 24,000 gas, (II) SStore—It
means storage deletion and refund of 15,000 gas, here one example is taken for easy
understanding of user, Example—A smart contract designer is using 13,000 gas and
want to delete storage then refund gas amount will be (15,000 − 13,000 = 2000) in
this case miner will be in loss situation as he has done certain computation in block
chain network. Hence to get rid of such scenario one condition is imposed i.e. refund
which has been accumulated can’t exceed half the gas used up during computation.
As in example smart contract use 12,000, gas limit is 21,000. As per command
SStore Ethe creator get back (21,000 − 12,000) as an unused gas, thus command
theoretically refund 15,000 gas to creator but 12,000 gas is used by smart contract
as per condition [15,000 > 12,000/2], so, refund will be 6000 + 9000 = 15,000. In
Suicide operation suppose smart contract use 70,000 gas, as this operation delivers
24,000 gas so condition is given as follows [24,000 < 70,000/2], In this scenario gas
refund will be 24,000 + unused gas amount. Gas trade of maintain balance of smart
contract design complexity.
9.11 Conclusion
Now a days, block chain technology plays a vital role in all kinds of fields as it’s one
of the most important creative developments as well as discoveries. Smart contract
will provide a unique identifier-based computing platform in claim processing. It
abolishes third party intervention that play a crucial role in insurance industry. Smart
contract is a major monitoring parameter in block chain application that signifi-
cantly enable secured real time claim processing. Meanwhile It increases threshold
of trust among service provider and service seeker. Smart contract evaluates unique
delivery component of claim processing by assessing a cryptic code. Interestingly it
employs better performance by adding cryptic defense layer against intruder attack.
Smart contract in claim request processing add a hybrid detection mechanism such
as security protection and legal binding of code. Due to massive digitization in health
care and rise of claim processing has attracted many challenges like data theft, loss
of privacy and integrity. It opens a new research field among investigator. Claim
settlement over electronic media involves many sensitive information that include
medical work flows, data of service seeker and provider for claim, etc. So, these
components are taken into consideration for smart contract architecture. So, in this
research outcome authors indicate conceptual solution of smart contract by reviewing
on various relevant research outcome. Smart contract will surely provide a reli-
able healthcare solution in electronic health management system. Smart contract is
next generation of high dimensional data security to decentralized claim processing.
Smart contract split information between computing node by embedding business
logic. Here the sole objective is to speed up the process of claim settlement by
executing smart contract. It can reduce administrative burden by embedding general
purpose business protocol. It can act a smart solution for automated monitoring of
insurance claim. Smart contract is the current need of claim industry. It can be imple-
mented in complex medical ecosystem to streamline claim procedure. However, in
this paper authors focus upon demanding aspect of health care industry and limita-
tion of current claim processing in health care. The ultimate goal of smart contract
can ensure fine-grained and robust ecosystem in claim processing domain.
Block chain technology stirs in the direction of revolution and change. In this
research work authors have proposed a framework in respect to health insurance
domain. So smart contract accumulate money from citizen. (e.g. Ethers, Bitcoin)
The research finding in this section give a broader aspect to reader for harnessing
potential application of smart contract. This study will further analyze scalability
and potential outcome for different sector in claim i.e. micro claim, re-insurance
claim and death claim etc. The model given in section—give a initiative plan for
investigation of smart contract solution in healthcare claim processing. It is the future
smart insurance model. It grants personal data management for comprehensive model
development in smart contract. This UML ontology would provide reference model
for assessment of underlying risk in their supported real time implementation. It defi-
nitely guides future insurance organization to unify understanding in terms of smart
contract attribute building. Consequently, it standardizes insurance asset transac-
tion over smart contract. The following research work focus on model accuracy and
security assessment.
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Chapter 10
Enabling Smart Education System Using
A. R. Sathya, Sandeep Kumar Panda, and Sudheer Hanumanthakari
Abstract Blockchain Technology is gaining lot of attention in recent days due to its
distinct characteristics like decentralization, reliability, security and data integrity.
Many companies are researching the possibility of adapting Blockchain Technology
in their respective domains to utilize the potential of blockchain to the fullest. In
spite of its rapid growth very little is known about the state of the art of blockchain
in educational sector. The book keeping process of degrees and certificates can
be one such potential area where blockchain can play a major role. This chapter
presents the detailed analysis of Blockchain Technology and its application in educa-
tion. Its emphases on (i) Blockchain Technology and its diversified application (ii)
Digital Signatures and (iii) Blockchain based educational solutions. This chapter also
highlights the challenges of blockchain in education based on an intensive research.
Keywords Blockchain applications · Blockchain in education · Decentralization ·

Digital signatures · Certificates · Book keeping
10.1 Background
Digital files could be as ephemeral as paper that vendors often issue to consumers in
proprietary formats; the organizations can’t read or validate the records without the
necessary tools. In many cases the verification process can be slow and unpredictable
even with access to the appropriate tools. The same applies to digital signatures: even
where laws have required their adoption, digital signatures come in a broad range
of formats with different security levels, most of which are not regarded as legal
A. R. Sathya (B) · S. K. Panda · S. Hanumanthakari

IcfaiTech (Faculty of Science and Technology), ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (Deemed
to be University), Hyderabad, India
S. K. Panda
S. Hanumanthakari
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69395-4_10
170 A. R. Sathya et al.
evidence. Another problem with digital documents is the way it was shared. One
primary method is sharing them digitally via highly insecure email. Hence it is neces-
sary to build proprietary transmitting infrastructures to send sensitive documents like
certificates, health records, bank statements. On the other hand, other transmission
methods create interoperability issues. Ultimately, as with paper documents, it is also
possible to manipulate digital documents in ways that are hard to discover.
10.2 Introduction
Blockchain is a distributed ledger that allows us to record and share informa-

tion across a distributed network. The information could be any digital transac-
tions, contracts, digital assets, digital certificates and signatures or anything that
are in digital form. Information in blockchain is permanent and transparent thereby
allowing any nodes in the network to entirely view any transaction history. All trans-
actions are compiled in blocks and every new update is added in a new block and
is appended to the chain of blocks that already exist through cryptographic tech-
niques. Whenever a transaction is initiated in a blockchain, the set of nodes in the
network validates, distributes and records them on the public ledger. Each network
node maintains a copy of this ledger. Blockchain replaces the need for intermediate
third parties as every node in the network solves complex computations to maintain
the integrity of the data. A typical blockchain transaction stores information like
transaction number, transaction timestamp, sender and receiver information and the
transaction asset.
Blockchain the technology behind Bitcoin came into limelight after the success of
Bitcoin. As bitcoin becomes popular, a lot of researchers recognized the potential of
the underlying technology. The distinct nature of Blockchain such as immutability,
transparency and trustworthiness made it applicable to domains beyond Bitcoin. The
development of blockchain is categorized as Blockchain 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0. Blockchain
1.0 focuses on cryptocurrencies and simple cash transactions and Smart Contracts
were introduced in Blockchain 2.0. Whereas Blockchain 3.0 spotlights the applica-
tion of Blockchain in various domains like Government, FinTech, Supply chain,
Healthcare, Education and many more. Applications of Blockchain in different
sectors are shown in Fig. 10.1.
10.3 Blockchain Application in Educational Sector
Education is ubiquitous. Blockchain provides solution to concerns related to privacy,

security and vulnerability. A distributed blockchain based ecosystem was proposed
in 2016 [1] using which the educational records can be stored. Using blockchain
based solutions educationalists can store student’s learning achievements, educa-
tional certificates, credit management etc. Any information related to an educational
10 Enabling Smart Education System Using Blockchain Technology 171
Fig. 10.1 Applications of blockchain technology
institute can be stored which can later be used for analysis and decision-making
processes. To carry the research article publication in a timely manner blockchain can
be adopted. Through this submission, reviewing and verification process can happen
on time and even counterfeit of research articles can be avoided. The first institute
to store academic certificates in blockchain is University of Nicosia [2]. Later, MIT
Media Lab along with Learning Machine a software enterprise developed Blockcerts,
an open source environment for creating, broadcasting and validating the blockchain
based educational certificates. Smart contracts, asset transactions, digital signatures
and certificates can generally be stored in blockchain with respect to education. Smart
contracts are referred as a set of programs that will be executed automatically when
certain conditions are met [3]. Whereas asset transactions are ownership evidence
documents of any tangible or intangible assets. Certificates are proof of achievements
and signatures are proofs that the certificate is issues from and to authorized persons.
Some of the areas where blockchain can be adapted in educational sector is listed
below [4, 5].
10.3.1 Secure Storage of Certificates
Majority of the educational institutes across the world issues certificates either in
paper or digital format. Paper certificates are easy to store and recipients also find
it easy to carry and show it to others for any purpose. However, the process of
issuing, verifying and maintaining these certificates are time-consuming and expen-
sive process. However digital certificates acts as an alternative to paper certificates.
Digital certificates use digital signature which requires an intermediate entity to issue
and verify the certificates. In this case, the proofs of the certificates can completely
be recorded in blockchain in a safe and secured way. Even if the institute that issues
the certificate closes, the certificates will still be available in the blockchain. In case
of digital certificates, the issuing institutes can use a public blockchain to keep the
digital signature in blockchain.
10.3.2 Multi-step Verification
Regarding education, there is a lot of scope for fake degrees. Every education insti-
tute must be verified by an accreditation entity for verifying the quality of the
institute that issues the certificate. In order to check whether a certificate has been
issued by a genuine institute, an individual might verify with the concerned institute
whether it really issued the certificate, Can check for the accreditations the organi-
zation owns, may check the quality of the accrediting body itself in private sector
circumstances. This is very much time consuming and needs experts in managing the
accreditation process. In this case, the accreditation body can put their digital signa-
ture in blockchain. By doing so, a multi-step verification can happen. That is, the
student’s certificate issued by authentic institute which is accredited by an authorized
accreditation body.
10.3.3 Student’s Credit Transfer
Instead of uploading the digital signature alone, if the certificate itself is uploaded in
a blockchain, it will be stored permanently and immutable. There is no need for inter-
mediate person to manage those certificates. The learners can provide the employer
or higher educational institutes the access to view his/her profile, the complete educa-
tional history of the learner can be made visible and can be verified. In case of credit
transfers, a smart contract can be written based on certain condition being fulfilled
the credits can be automatically be transferred from one institute to the other.
10.3.4 Intellectual Property Tracking
Educators can use a blockchain to mark the publishing and documentation of free
educational resources. This would require notary of the publication date for purposes
of copyright and enable monitoring of the extent of re-use of any given property. The
same is the case of journal articles. Tracking of journal citations is a costly process
and needs a third party to do the process. Through blockchain, we can avoid the third
party and can allow anyone to publish articles and can track the citations without much
access restriction the original articles. A rewarding system may also be introduced
for the authors based on the amount of the resource re-used.
10.3.5 Fee Payment
A specific currency is used by students for their fee. Especially when they go outside
their country many institutes accept payments digitally. Under these circumstances,
the students can make payments through cryptocurrencies. In this case, both the
student and the receiving organization should have a wallet to accommodate the
cryptocurrency transaction.
10.4 Certification Process
Certificates are proof of statements issued from an authorized entity to another

because of certain achievements made by the recipient are true. The key compo-
nents of a certificate are the achievement—the fact for which the statement has been
issued. For example, the student has completed a course successfully, the issuer—the
authorized source who has verified and validated the achievements of the learner, the
receiver—the learner who has achieved the fact mentioned by the issuer, the certifi-
cate—a document of proof that includes the achievement, the issuer, the receiver,
and the evidence if there are any. Once the learner has received a certificate based
on the blockchain it is possible to share it by the learner on demand.
10.4.1 Traditional Certification Process
Traditionally the certificate issuing process includes issuing, verifying and sharing
of certificates. The issuing process includes the activities involved in including the
certificate information like the issuer, learner, achievements, logos, signature, etc. this
information usually will be stored in a central repository. The verification process
involves a third party to check the authenticity of the certificate issued. This can
be done in various ways like checking the in-built security features of the paper
certificates or checking with the issuer itself asking about the details. Sharing means
the receiver on receiving the certificates can share it with a third party via post or email
or in-person in case of higher education or employment. The whole process needs a
centralized system for storage or a trusted third party for verifying the certificates. It
is time-consuming and needs lots of security mechanisms and regulations for issuing
and verification process. However, digital certificates have certain advantages over
paper certificates like fewer resources needed for issuing, verifying, maintaining and
using. But there are no proper global standards available for digital signatures. Also,
it needs third-party verification for the digital signatures and digital certificates are
easy to counterfeit without signatures.
10.4.2 Digital Signatures
A digital signature is not an electronic signature. Rather it is a cryptographic mecha-

nism used to authenticate that a document is signed by a specific person. To digitally
sign any document, one needs a pair of private and public keys and a timestamp
and a hashing function. In blockchain SHA-256 hashing technique is being used. A
public key is a publicly available id which is used to identify an entity. A private
key is a secret key that is mathematically linked to the public key of the user. The
framework of a digital signature is given in Fig. 10.2. The digital document is signed
by combining the contents of the documents and the private key of the issuer and
a timestamp. In case of blockchain it includes the sender’s private key, receiver’s
public key, achievements of the receiver and a timestamp. A hashing function is
applied on this data which produces a unique hash value which would be stored in
the blockchain [6]. Any smallest change in the document also will result in a different
hash and the integrity of the data can be maintained. However, since hashing used the
signature cannot be reversed to identify the contents of the document or the issuer’s
private key.
The verification process of blockchain certificate that are digitally signed is shown
in Fig. 10.3. The signatures can be verified by comparing the hash value of the digi-
tally signed document and the hash value on blockchain matches. And the signature
is cryptographically matching the public key of the issuer. Thus, the process doesn’t
Fig. 10.2 Framework of digital signature on blockchain

Fig. 10.3 Blockchain based digital signature verification process
need any private key to be revealed. The process of digital signature needs a public
key infrastructure (PKI) which generally depends on third parties for generating
public and private keys, to timestamp the documents and to verify the signature. But,
in blockchain by design only all the above steps can be done and does not need a
PKI for digital signatures.
10.5 Blockchain-Based Digital Certificates
Blockchain resolves the problems of paper and digital certificates and provides and
infrastructure to access for verifying and sharing the certificates in a secured way.
By using Hashing techniques, it keeps the document containing issuer, receiver and
achievement details and whatever data need to be incorporated in the certificate in
the blockchain which is spread across the network. Therefore, forging the certificates
is almost impossible in the blockchain. Since the certificates are available over the
network it is possible for anyone who has access to the blockchain thereby eliminating
the need for third-party verification. Only the hash of the document is stored in
the blockchain and not the document itself [7]. Therefore, the privacy of the user
is maintained. Thus, the benefits of the receiver of this blockchain based digital
certificates are data independence and ownership. Recipient has the control over
the achievements and can share wherever he wants to share. At the same time the
data record is permanent and cannot be destroyed. The workflow of blockchain
based digital certificate is shown in Fig. 10.4. For commercialization few vendors
like Learning Machine, Sony Global Education, Attores Solutions, Gradbase and
Stampery are building innovative blockchain based certificated in market [8–10].
10.6 Benefits and Challenges in Approving Blockchain

in Education
The significant advantages of having blockchain education can be more security,

improved students’ assessment, controlled data accessibility, transparency, low cost
Fig. 10.4 Workflow of blockchain based digital certificates
transactions, identity authentication and many more. Reliability can be achieved by

digital signatures and cryptographic hashes. Even though blockchain has great poten-
tial in education domain there are quite several challenges which cannot be ignored.
Scalability the well-known issue of blockchain can be a challenge. Acceptance of
any system based on sensitive records needs guidelines, standards and regulations.
System interoperability is more vital in such case. Development of tools to support
digital certificates is not fully shaped and needs proper meta-data standards for digital
records. The need for open standards is mandatory, if we expect people to be able to
carry and validate their data across the world as data transferability and operability
is significant. As applications of blockchain are in its early stage without proper
implementation illustrations it is difficult to make people understand the potential
of blockchain technology. In cases where multiple institutes should agree to share
their data, it might be difficult to make all institutes to agree to share their data.
Presently, blockchain is in its evolutionary stage, so framing standards for digital
certificates may not be easy and optimal. Blockchain has high storage cost and
extremely high computational cost needed to process the cryptographic activities.
Even though only the hashes of the documents are stored in the blockchain it doesn’t
suffice the energy and storage constraints of blockchain. Adapting blockchain needs
technical knowledge to use. Therefore, dependencies on third parties are unavoidable.
10.7 Conclusion
Despite having several benefits, many implementation models of blockchain are in

pilot stage and an extensive research must be carried out to conclude the appropri-
ateness of blockchain in education. Therefore, to attain the complete potential of
blockchain in education a systematic and balanced approach is needed. In future,
blockchain can bring the concept of digital certificates into mainstream.
References
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record, reputation and reward, pp. 490–496. Springer International Publishing, Cham (2016)
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Chapter 11
Blockchain Technology in Smart-Cities
P. Chinnasamy, C. Vinothini, S. Arun Kumar, A. Allwyn Sundarraj,

S. V. Annlin Jeba, and V. Praveena
Abstract With the fast pace of population, intelligent city wants effective and
sustainable smart solutions in transport, climate, energy, and government affairs.
Amongst the most sensible solutions is the smart city platform which includes IoT,
Big Data and the Internet of Energy. It faces many issues, including such inade-
quate IoT security, trouble maintaining and improving efficiency, higher operating
expenses of large amounts of data center construction, good permeability to damage,
difficulty building confidence in electricity internet users, quick leakage of consumer
privacy and a business model which is not acceptable etc. Blockchain is one of today’s
most disruptive technologies. As part of the overall efforts to shape the urban future,
numerous cities around the world are launching blockchain initiatives. With a range
of potential advantages, digital transformation poses many key issues like data secu-
rity and confidentiality. This study proposed a security architecture which utilizes the
blockchain-based with smart devices and provide a secure communication system in
an intelligent city.
Keywords Smart device · Blockchain · Bitcoin · Secure communication ·

Intelligent city · Consensus · Smart contract
P. Chinnasamy (B)
Department of Information Technology, Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology,
Coimbatore, India
C. Vinothini · V. Praveena
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology,
Coimbatore, India
S. Arun Kumar
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology,
Sikkim Manipal University, Majitar, East Sikkim, Sikkim, India
A. Allwyn Sundarraj
Department of Food Technology, Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology,
Coimbatore, India
S. V. Annlin Jeba
Sri Buddha College of Engineering, Padanilam, Kerala, India
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69395-4_11
180 P. Chinnasamy et al.
11.1 Introduction
The last few centuries can see a stratospheric increase in the world’s population
residing in metropolitan areas. Upwards of 55% of the total population currently
living in cities, and this proportion is estimated to hit 70% within next three decades,
like an unprecedented 25 million people in the world are projected to transport
to the cities in 2050 [1]. Due to destructive increasing population, the eco system
and economic issue emerge both at the technological and institutional levels. The
number of enterprises are also strongly involved in implementing the ‘intelligent’
principles for optimizing use of both physical and transitory assets. In this aspect, it
is suggested that idea of “Smart City” using new information and communications
technologies (ICT) in an articulate way focused at creating a healthy pedestrian areas
and enhancing the QoL. In industrialized democracies, the smart city appears to
have a broad range of uses including smart devices to monitor surface temperatures
and lighting systems, smart electric power management, enhance healthcare use,
stimulate the educational systems through advanced technology, and strengthen the
digital money exchange through smart governance structure.
Unlike conventional approaches, blockchain technology (which was initially
created for digital currency) enables peer-free transfer and exchange currencies.
Bitcoin has seen a tremendous increase in the financial sector since Santoshi
Nakamoto was founded in 2009 [2]. Blockchain is a distributed ledger, freely acces-
sible and irreversible digital ledger that pioneered how members regulate payment,
communicate, register and monitor transactions while removing the use of a central
body to handle operations altogether [2]. The information gathered by the smart
sensors devices was stored in traditional systems in a central database for future
smart city study. These central servers are vulnerable to many threats, including the
leakage of sensitive data collection due to use of unsecured server as well as the
need for more than one management authority [3]. This underlines the need for a
new approach to establish efficient architecture for data storage and processing in a
decentralized fashion. In this situation, blockchain seems to be the only opportunity
to connect with a decentralized peer-to-peer network, exchanging data and resources.
To the best of authors’ knowledge, however, there have not been any recent studies
discussing the issues of security and privacy in smart cities. This study presents
the governor-of-the-art blockchain technology for resolving the privacy concerns of
smart cities. The contributions are as follows
1. This research presents state-of-the-art blockchain technologies such as
blockchain architectures, consensus processes, implementations, trade-offs and
problems.
2. This study concentrates more on analysis to implement blockchain technologies
to enhance smart cities’ effectiveness, secure, and sustainability.
3. This study examines the usefulness of blockchain in different smart soci-
eties, including healthcare, transport, supply chain management, and accounting
systems.
11 Blockchain Technology in Smart-Cities 181
The substance of the article is structured as follows: Sect. 11.2 addresses the
history and functionality of blockchains. In Sect. 11.3, various features of a smart
city are addressed. Section 11.4 sheds light on the reasons for applying emerging
technology to smart cities. Section 11.5 explores new blockchain developments in
the various implementations of smart cities. Section 11.6 discusses future problems
and study questions, finally concluded in Sect. 11.7.
11.2 Groundwork of Blockchain and Its Architecture
In simple terms, blockchain is a rapidly growing block chain designed to store all
the accumulated activities with the aid of a shared database in which all interactions
are cryptographically validated and authorized by all miners. In this section, the
detailed description of blockchain structure, various types, and different consensus
mechanisms.
11.2.1 Block Structure
Analogous to a distributed ledger, blockchain is a series of nodes that collect data

about all transactions and are connected together through the previous block. Every
block header contains a hash, authenticated proof of transactions, and hash values of
preceding block. The block structure must have the following information as shown
in Fig. 11.1,
1. Hash: A hash value is something which accepts any long messages as input and
returns distinctly fixed sized text as output. Unless the input is changed, then
there is a complete change in the output. Through blockchain technology hash
functions are used everywhere. A person called Alice, for examples, attempts
to create and modify the structure contained in a block. When changed, ensures
that the changed blocks contains a completely new hash value, ensuring that
each nodes or miner in the system will ensure the visibility of the change by
refreshing all users’ blockchain copies [4].
2. Merkle Tree: Growing node is expressed as a leaf in a hash tree or Merkle
tree, and is highlighted with a marker. This Merkle tree permits the system to
securely and efficiently manage the huge data repositories [4].
3. Timestamp: Using that, we could monitor any document’s creation or alteration
time in a secured manner [4].
4. Nonce: A nonce value is practically a 32 bit value looking directly at 0 and
increased every time hash computation is done [4].
5. Previous Block: A sha-256 hash which points to the previous block header [4].
Fig. 11.1 Skelton of block header
11.2.2 Blockchain Types
Blockchain strategies have been widely divided into three groups based on influ-
ence and authorization mechanisms, which include public, private and consortium
blockchain. Similar forms are listed as following as shown in Fig. 11.2 and detailed
summary are listed out in Table 11.1.
1. Public Blockchain (Permissionless): Anyone with an internet access will
engage in reading, writing or internal audit activities in this blockchain [4].
Decision-making in this form happens with the aid of various distributed
consensus mechanisms such as PoW and PoS. The Bitcoin, Ethereum, and
Litecoin are examples of public blockchains.
Fig. 11.2 Classification of blockchain

Table 11.1 Blockchain types

Services Public Private Consortium
Nature Federated and secure Governed and filtered Governed and filtered
Consensus methods PoW, PoS, DPoS PBFT, RAFT PBFT
Transaction Time-consuming Moderate Tiny
processing
Categories of Robust and unverified Confidential and Confidential and
participant discovered discovered
Approvals Permission less Permissioned Permissioned
Limpidity Low-slung Great Great
Utilization of Extraordinary Low-slung Low-slung
energy
Scalability Extraordinary Extraordinary Low
Illustration Bitcoin, Litecoin, Bankchain, R3 Hyperledger,
Ethereum, and Multichain, and
Block-stream Blockstack
2. Private Blockchain (Permission): The applicant can still participate in this

form upon receiving the approval from its system administrator [4]. Bankchain,
R3 would be an illustration of private blockchain.
3. Consortium or Federated Blockchain: It is a hybrid of private and public
blockchain, through which a number of entities feel responsible for approval
and cryptocurrency enforcement. Blocks in these networks are mined using a
multisignature strategy and the miner objects are still only considered necessary
if accepted and authorized by the regulating. Types of consortium blockchain
systems include Hyperledger, Blockstack and R3CEV.
11.2.3 Consensus Algorithm
A consensus is a method for achieving a collective bargaining agreement on a multi-

Objective network, hierarchical or decentralized [4]. It is really significant for the
machine which passes the message. Assuming a possibility for commanders to invade
the city, whom has surrounded the city with some kind of portion of a Byzantine
Army. In this case, a few of the leading commanders supported the possibility of
destroying the city whereas the other commanders favored the withdrawal decision
as in Fig. 11.3. However, when only a portion of the commanders invade the city,
the invade would really be ineffective [4]. In a propagated setting such ineffective
attempt results in consensus.
1. Proof of Work (PoW): The consumer publishes the new block throughout this
proof of work, by first solving the mathematical problem. Several mathematical
procedures have to be performed to test the user or node when resolving the
problem. Although it is hard to solve the puzzle in PoW to confirm that even a
Fig. 11.3 Mechanisms for consensus
method is legitimate [4]. Following the resolution of the PoW puzzle the frame
will be telecast to other endpoints as seen in Fig. 11.4. Types of PoW are the
bitcoin, ethereum.
2. Proof of Stake (PoS): In PoS the transaction validity is verified determined by
the amount of cryptocurrencies that the consumer owns. Ultimately the new
terrain transactions or blockchain should be checked meaning that the sum
would be granted through reward otherwise it would be confiscated. It needs
low processing power similar to POW processes. Types of PoS are indeed the
Ethereum, Casper, Krypton.
Fig. 11.4 Consensus mechanisms for PoW

3. Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT): It is just an algorithms for exag-

geration generated to recognize byzantine faults. PBFT manages up to 1/3 of
byzantine fraudulent reproductions. The whole process is classified into three
main parts, including pre-preparation, preparation and committing. Also the
node is allowed into another step after collecting 2/3 of the ballots from many
of the nodes in the system. The evaluation of the transaction is conducted on the
basis of 3 phases. In the first phase, distributed a predicting block. In the phase
2 a block or transaction is precommitted. Legitimizes a block or transaction in
the third phase and transmits the contribute for that too [4].
4. Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS): It is just like the PoS specification, which
aims to achieve a global consensus in a blockchain network [4]. The biggest
example of DPoS include the Bitshares, Steem, Cardano, and EOS.
5. Proof of Authority (PoA): Authoring nodes on cryptocurrency networks, users
can demonstrate and verify their identity. Then it’s only appropriate to approved
strong confidence blockchain [4]. Sources for PoA include the Ethereum, Kovan
testnet, POA Chain.
6. Proof of Elapsed Time Consensus (PoET): The key ultimate goal is to create a
prototype that is somewhat analytical than PoW, with strong safety assurances.
The new block that is released depended on spontaneous queue length from a
stable infrastructure [4, 5]. Illustration for PoET was its Hyperledger Sawtooth.
7. Raft: Raft [6] is a consensus-based voting mechanism suggested to render the
Paxos process more realistic situations achievable and recognizable. The initial
Paxos methodology attempts to solve the problems of accuracy relevant to the
generalized byzantine problem. Both Paxos and Raft gain comparable perfor-
mance and are algorithms insensitive to pre-Byzantine faults. Raft depends on
two main activities, such as the collection of members and the duplication of
logs. The leader controls the organizing of transfers and the new candidate is
chosen using periodic timeout in case the original manager loses.
8. Ripple: Ripple [7] is an open-source payments application that provides use
through publicly authorized, large-scale network segments. Ripple seeks to
regulate and control the roles of payments, currency trading and clearance. The
network elements are categorized as: a client exchanging money, and a server
participating in consensus protocols. The client makes transactions inside the
system, and the verifying clients or monitoring clients relay them to the entire
system. Such verifying domains are necessary to respond to the application for
register from the recipient and also some transmitting financial data.
11.2.4 Architecture of Blockchain
Blockchain works in a decentralized network that is backed by many technolog-

ical innovations include distributed consensus protocol, computational hash, and
digital certificates. The blockchain architecture generally consists of the following
6 components as shown in Fig. 11.5. A complete explanation of all these levels and
their process is performed throughout the sub-chapter below.
1. Data Layer: This layer handle the various information acquired from different
sources [8–11]. This module is primarily responsible for encapsulating the time-
scribbled information blocks. In the block body, authenticated messages are
stored whereas the genesis block contains the current description of the block,
time, Nonce, Merkle root and hash. The new block contains past block hash
(parent block) to link to its preceding block. The time-stamp shows the block’s
formation date. The two crucial elements for block chain are time stamp and
Merkle tree in this layer. Time stamp allows the blockchain data to be placed
correctly and traceably. This could also include time-dimensioned blockchain
data to allow the recurrence of previous data histories. The Merkle tree will
preserve the transactions within this given period of time using a binary hash
tree to authenticate the integrity and presence of such activities effectively.
Fig. 11.5 The architecture of blockchain

2. Network Layer: The architecture’s center stratum is recognized as the network

layer. This is also occasionally defined as the Point-to-Point component (P2P).
It is responsible for the interaction between the internodes. It is also responsible
for discovering nodes, transactions, and block perpetuation and integrations to
establish the authenticity of the current state in the system of blockchains [8–11].
3. Consensus Layer: It is the main body of the system of blockchains. It tackles
different consensus mechanism. A consensus mechanism is cohort mechanisms
that synchronize between communicating entities and force people to reach a
common contract, also widely acknowledged as unanimous agreement, on the
current transaction data status in a cloud environments [4, 11]. For strongest
base station of many communicating entities, a conventional wisdom algorithm
is used to generate the cryptographic keys. Consensus mechanism have three
main components: safety/coherence, liveliness/affordability and sensitivity to
faults. The different types of consensus protocol is clearly shown in Fig. 11.3.
4. Incentive Layer: The incentive module’s fundamental purpose is to inspire
modules for ability to contribute in blockchain data security validation. Every
other module in the public ledger is evaluated by a mining operation using
complicated mathematical processes, called consensus computations on the
consensus layer. A node consumes its computational power and electricity even
during authentication process. Blockchain incentivizes the expected to partici-
pate node or nodes with a digital currency based on as cryptographic techniques
to encourage them to take aspect in the verification process. The component
incorporates 2 methods for such a reward in a procedure called as assemble and
launch mechanism [8–11].
5. Contract Layer: It is responsible for monitoring commercial logic-based trans-
action inquiries. It incurs the contract elements, such as scripting script, system
of algorithms, logical contract, etc. A consensus mechanism is a conglomeration
of corporate rules and procedures in the form of technology programs, wherein
the system devices in the ethereum blockchain activate once predefined terms
of the agreement are achieved. Smart contracts generally compiled just use a
syntax of high standard like ethereum platform (EVM), solidity, etc. As well
defined as the modelling interface is the contract layer [10, 11]. The contract
layer could well struggle from different types of attacks, including a threat on
reentrancy, access control, assault on structural rigidity growth, etc.
6. Application Layer: It enables the customer with a functionality via an appli-
cation programme. The app and so it could can be enforced in any computer
language and it can be implemented across a number of platforms. Safety of
application level is among the most challenging issues of the block chain [4, 8–
10]. It can suffered from security breaches to an exchange server, DDoS transfer,
host protection for workers, malicious codes infection, faint password attack,
selfish mining attack, etc.
11.3 Smart City: Features, Stone Walls and Regulatory

Standards
Smart City relates to the notion of a synchronized application of all accessible

resources and services to formulate and implement, liveable and environmentally
friendly urban center. All the well-known smart city technologies in western cultures
encompass smart energy to optimize energy usage; smart building equipped of inde-
pendently controlling power usage, ventilation and protection across the board; smart
technology to enable cutting-edge methodological choice and smart city networking
capabilities; smart maneuverability to license innovation initiatives; Smarter health-
care to allow interconnected medicinal products and smart systems to enhance diag-
nostic testing, patient monitoring and healthy lifestyle; intelligent protection to miti-
gate privacy issues to prevent breaches, assets and even people; and smart gover-
nance to provide government digital services and programs; Building a smart city
to save highly valued efforts and money requires a certain level of internet connec-
tivity which could lead to security flaws to security [11, 12]. This problem has been
exacerbated by connected systems that capture information from diverse sources
and migrate it to a centralized backup system. It also enhance the texture of the
assaults by constructing an adversary access point which facilitates their encroach-
ment. These assailants will weaken the efficiency of smart applications by initiating
a large range of threats including certain unauthorized access, embedded scripting
Language, Denial of Service (DoS), snooping and hashing assault [13].
11.3.1 Features of Smart Cities
A smart city is built on asset condition include conservation, cleverness, industri-

alization and social functioning (Life Quality). Conservation is the first mode of
thought in industrial growth and the introduction of smart cities is really the result of
widespread conservation recognition. In [12], emphasized a need to preserve smart
urban sustainable growth through the protection of energy technologies and cultural
resources. A city’s right to conduct its activities and maintain natural ecosystems
in most all services is recognized as sustainable. The willingness to boost the city’s
collective social, economic and environmental metrics is called cleverness. Enhance-
ment in QoL is an indicator of residential resident’s economic and personal quality of
life-being. The transportation infrastructure, cultural, technical and regulating inves-
tigation report in urbanization transition are defined as urban expansion. Figure 11.6
shows interconnectedness and interrelatedness of all these attributes.
Fig. 11.6 Features of smart cities
11.3.2 Pillars of Smart Cities
It’s often thought that smart city is focused on 4 philosophies/key elements, including
physical, institutional, social and economic infrastructures. The principal obligation
of these elements is shown in Fig. 11.7 and described as follows.
1. The physical infrastructure involves ensuring sustainable growth of the resource
and perfect operational processes in the city. It consists of the fabricated trans-
portation system and environmental assets. With the aid of an efficiency IoT
device network and Infrastructure facilities, Smart City is recognized. The
physical infrastructure also includes smart technology, construction upgrades,
sustainable urban design and intelligent architecture [14].
2. The institutional infrastructure focuses on improving smart city democratic
accountability through participation in decision-making, based rehabilitation,
consistent management and social service providers. Gaining greatest benefit
from the intellectual resources and working with the civilians for convenient
system of government and also improving the city is crucial. The operational
framework works with both the national and regional authorities to optimize
the smart city’s value. In addition to provide enough requisite coordination and
Fig. 11.7 The pillars of smart cities
collaboration through institutions, it incorporates regional, political, public, and

commercial institutions [14].
3. Social infrastructure consisted mainly of living organism, QoL and technical
expertise. In a smart city, societal development tends to preserve competitiveness
as citizens’ awareness, visibility and dedication relate to popularizing the idea
of smart city [14].
4. The economic infrastructure pertains to the fairly consistent strength of the
economy and job opportunities in order to increase the performance of the city
by using e-business and e-commerce methodologies [14].
11.4 Smart Cities Security Requirements
In almost some area of our real experiences, ICT has played a crucial role, from
learning, family and wellness existence to domestic security. Many federal agen-
cies have implemented smart city initiatives to handle healthcare, water, electricity,
transport, security and stability aspects. In order to facilitate our lives, the smart
cities also pose many security threats due to growing interdependence, networking
and sophistication between themselves. A good understanding of the determinants
is of extreme significance for the successful implementation of the smart city. In this
chapter, we’re discussing the most influential criteria that really need to be addressed
to create a safe smart city [15].
11.4.1 Communication Security
Smart city architectures depend completely on communication protocols to combine

multiple elements to take advantage, share and disseminate information thru the smart
city. Protecting all wired and wireless connectivity in a smart world ensures that basic
safety standards including privacy, honesty, authenticity and integrity be guaranteed
[3, 15]. Mahmood et al. [16] presented a modified streamlined shared trust model
focused on encryption techniques directed at evaluating the costs of communica-
tions and productivity thereby suffering consequences in key enabling technologies.
Alternatively, Lara et al. [17] suggested a flexible remote user authentication system
ideal for Named Data Networking (NDN) projects providing IoT services through in-
network persistence, state-of-the-art routing and integrated heterogeneous distributed
verification.
11.4.2 Secure Management of Data
Data collection technique is an important prerequisite for any program committed to

the identification and analysis of unauthorized activities. IoT devices which gather
and transmit data are susceptible to malware such as intrusion of inaccurate or false
data sources. To react to a dubious behavior or an assault, the framework must
anticipate eradication or reaction techniques. In dissolution plan, the framework
must effectively eradicate or involuntarily segregate the affected parts of the sensor
node while the communication plan recognizes the resilience to be countered by a
structured incident management procedure. This surveillance control system was first
developed by Cisco [18] and offered security protection guidance using the principle
of disaster recovery. The acceptability of the research proposal is indeed restricted
to network devices from Cisco [17, 19].
11.4.3 Authentication and Access Control
It is important for IoT systems to monitor and manage the data created by the sensor
nodes while at the same time detecting unauthorized access. Smart cities had to be
possible to deter illegal entry by retaining secure user access, building encrypted
connection and IoT systems authentication. A few other access control and autho-
rization mechanisms including Identity Based Encryption (IBE) [19–21], Role-Based
Access Control (RBAC) [19–21], and Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) [19–21]
have been developed to ensure data protection in cloud-enabled smart cities. The
above protocols help smart cities manage the legitimate access and withdraw their
authorization privileges as well.
11.4.4 Application Security
In a traditional smart city, different approaches ought to be leveraged concurrently

to recognize security vulnerabilities and ensure security toward possible attacks that
could be initiated in an intelligent city. Many current systems could be used to protect
apps for IoT devices. For example, it is possible to maintain the privacy of mobile
apps by protecting the cellphone’s IMEI, MEID, and Unique Device Identifier (UDI).
Besides this, current cryptographic algorithms and data security strategies can be used
to safeguard the network connectivity, thus enabling safe data transmission between
various elements of smart cities.
11.5 Blockchain in Smart Cities
There are comprehensive Smart City major ingredients, like smart healthcare, supply
chain management etc. This should offer the opportunity to gain insight towards how
blockchains would be implemented in the smart city environment.
11.5.1 Healthcare Using Smart Devices
A traditional health-care system represents a range of hospitals purchased, operated

and funded by a centralized authority. Yet, one single point of failure is susceptible
to all these tightly regulated healthcare services. In fact, satisfying citizens’ expecta-
tion is a daunting challenge for conventional healthcare schemes attributable to the
increasing urbanization. The inconsistency between some of the constrained capacity
with the ever-growing demand shows a need for reliable, informed and affordable
healthcare. Blockchain is the famous approach to deliver the significant level of
democratization in healthcare services and thus improve their defense.
Realizing smart healthcare dependent on a variety of subsystems, including smart
patient transport systems, smart clinics, smart watches and emergency service. The
exchange of resources by the physician is quite crucial for efficient medication, as
it can allow researchers justify making real-time decisions about the treatment of
people by assessing their situations sometimes in distant communities.
The processing steps in using blockchain to protect health care systems are shown
in Fig. 11.8 and explained below
1. IoT devices gather and track medical patient information including systolic
pressure, glucose level, heartbeat, blood pressure, temperature, etc.
2. The managers track the information recorded and produce reports for the
patients.
3. The obtained review will be conducted by the physicians, who often prescribe
the treatment needed.
Fig. 11.8 Securing healthcare system using blockchain
4. Doctors can opt to use central database to exchange the care documents for
more review.
5. It shares the authenticated documentation in encoded file.
6. Patients are demanding access to medical records history from the cloud service
provider (CSP).
7. Upon positive confirmation, the patient receives the encrypted message of the
medical record.
8. To access the actual care report, patients decode the downloaded encrypted
message to use their own secret key.
11.5.2 Smart Transportation
In recent years, smart transportation often gained widespread popularity primarily

due to the advent of ICT. It helps to strengthen pedestrian safety for cars, increase
transport quality or provide comfort for both customers and drivers alike. Blockchain
technologies can enhance knowledge exchange, promote vehicle performance and
improve network lifetime reliability. In addition, blockchain strengthens the trans-
portation industry by creating shorter turnaround times, quicker security checks,
inspections and data management. In [22] proposed that blockchain technology
could manage privacy and security concerns relating to the intelligent vehicles (ITS)
appropriately. The subsequent paper summarizes research activities on intelligent
transportation approaches focused on blockchain.
Electric Vehicles (EVs) over the recent decades, EVs gradually received more
popularity because the need for sustainable transportation networks to be built in
several nations. EVs are powered by a rechargeable, and have a communications
system that enables the exchange of knowledge between various elements. They will
need reimburse the battery systems, which are conveniently hidden in metropolitan
centers, a certain quantity of funds to guarantee regular fast charging of such EVs.
Smart contracts and blockchain technology allow the exchange of such energy among
fast chargers and EVs.
In [22], created a four-stage mechanism for Electric vehicles (excavation, selling,
examination and trying to charge) that allows for automatic, privacy-conserving
and efficient distribution of charging points based on cost and proximity to the EV.
In [23] suggested Blockchain-based consortium to strengthen electricity vehicles
distribution. The electrical transaction data is registered by a mutual ledger and
an incremental multiple intervention technique is followed to maximize the elec-
tricity rates and the volume of resources exchanged. Likewise, in [23] suggested a
blockchain technology and Smart Contract (LNSC) that could be commonly adopted
with previous methods to secure exchange among charged stacks and EVs. In [24,
25] proposed a two-stage protection system throughout the Internet of Vehicles (IoV)
to defensive towards polling competition among electors.
11.5.3 Vehicular Adhoc NETworks (VANETs)
VANET is amongst the most advanced technologies in which automobiles can

interact even without any centralized authority being associated with the borderline
device. Fortunately, the competitors may insert inaccurate and misleading details in
an independent system in order to obtain private gain.
Yang et al. [26] suggested a trust monitoring system focused on blockchain for the
VANETs. Originally each vehicles scores the neighboring vehicle and accesses the
ranking to the nearby vehicles (RSUs). Then-RSU measures the develop practices
of such devices and uses PoS and PoW consensus procedures to combine together it
into block. Li et al. [27] introduced a blockchain based announcement of network,
which confirmed the announcement. Luo et al. [28] introduced a blockchain based on
mutual respect that allowed the VANETs privacy protection scheme. Markov random
distribution-based trust evaluation framework is structured throughout this function
in just such a way that either the founder-operator or the recipient can comply mostly
with the authorized vehicle. The truthfulness of the vehicle is documented on a chain
which is accessible to the public however any vehicles could obtain counterparty
transaction records.
11.5.4 Smart Grid
Most of nationwide generated power is extracted through coal and oil. Given that
over-use of natural gas will translate to increased levels of carbon dioxide and environ-
mental destruction, sustainable energy needs to be used. With emergence of energy
generation technology, users appear to be wealthy by producing and supplying their

extra energy from several other renewable sources. P2P based power exchanging
is an important viewpoint in smart grid whereby consumers and providers share
electricity. As electronic transactions are recorded throughout this phase of energy
markets, various security schemes have been suggested to safeguard similar activities
and to preserve the identification of the clients. Smart grid is recommended in this
respect, providing a stable, efficient, effective and productive national grid system.
Besides supporting the creation of a distributed electric grid that is secure, efficient
and confident. The Decentralized framework also enhances the data protection and
reliability of such systems [29].
11.5.5 Supply Chain Management (SCM)
A supply chain [30] is constituted by a group of objects including the firms and people
instantly relating to the distribution of services, information, and ingredients between
origin and suppliers. All these complicated supply chains had already permitted
various types of products to be manufactured and sold around the world, however
the organizations in those chain system also have constrained information about
product development cycle. Fortunately, sufficient commodity knowledge is vital as
customers need such ways to enhance overall trust, and companies need such data
to make financial decisions or forecast industry trends. Thus, the prime element in
chain management is data exchange that could be accomplished through the latest
developments in blockchains [31, 32].
11.5.6 Financial Systems
A traditional banking process is driven by consumer, creditor, lender and borrower

exchanging of money. Hence protecting the consumer’s privacy and ensuring transac-
tion data protection are the two most significant challenges. To this extent, blockchain
is the right approach suggested to guarantee secure control of transactions inside a
banking sector. In [33] suggested a payment processing Management monitoring
system that would store all transaction records into the cloud. In [34] introduced
a decentralized platform named Corda devoted to documenting and managing the
significant contributing.
11.6 Open Research Issues
The technique of smart city is already emerging, as well as the sophistication

and responsiveness characteristics of smart city systems that rely on blockchain
makes this an incredibly dynamic and fat-moving field. Consequently, several major
research issues ought to be tackled mostly in coming years before its successful inte-
gration. The rest of this section addresses numerous problems and potential trends
as part of the research.
11.6.1 Confidentiality and Integrity
The smart city is full of a multitude of sensor networks. For security solutions, there-
fore, it becomes important to concentrate on a defense mechanism instead of deliv-
ering appropriate defenses. Consequently, clear guarantees of security and complex
strategies to protection becomes essential to a smart city [32, 35, 36]. The security
and privacy is the huge challenge in smart city systems. In a block chain, the primary
cause of security issues would be that consumers of these networks become entirely
anonymous instead of fully identifiable. The transactions are generally accessible
and open to those user groups, due to the greater transparency of cryptocurrency.
This may result in user behaviors being tracked and members’ real-world identities
exposed. These records may be used to facilitate the sharing information. Thus, real
privacy must be assured.
11.6.2 Secure Storage
Maintaining and processing such details is an objectives to accomplish, pertaining

to the exponential rise in the quantity of data produced by recent technologies.
Numerous studies have classified cloud storage as a most suitable method throughout
this aspect because cloud service providers has massive data storage and computa-
tional resources [32, 37, 38]. Fortunately, in key enabling technologies, maintaining
data into the cloud is insecure and unsustainable, as exporting services to the cloud
storage may induce significant delays or maybe even violate integrity of the data.
In addition, the cloud service providers’ fraudulent actions or untrusted behavior
making it important for a data owner to check the credibility of an outsourced
data. Towards this extent, it introduced multiple distributed cloud storage mecha-
nisms. Such strategies are susceptible to single point failure and malicious attacks,
conversely. Blockchain highly centralized storage solutions were suggested to solve
those problems.
11.6.3 Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency plays a very important role because of the increasingly growing
energy bills in smart cities. Numerous consensus techniques like PoW are computa-
tionally efficient, even as sensor nodes require computational power to mines a next
block. Because of such extensive and intermittent calculations in PoW, it produces
enormous power usage yet is not recognized an energy-efficient approach [32, 39,
40]. Considered to be highly encouraging, additional research is needed on this
consensus algorithms as PBFT requires robustness and PoS protection has not yet
been rigorously investigated.
11.6.4 Interoperability
The adoption of rules for blockchain systems is still not widely recognized. Numeric
organizations like NIST and IEEE would be in the process of establishing guidelines
for blockchain adoption, and protection. [32, 41]. This ambiguity is again enhanced
when the self-governing blockchain networks implement different consensus frame-
works. For e.g., Hyperledger requires PBFT, and Ethereum utilizes the PoW
consensus algorithm but these two processes have to be coordinated to allow effi-
cient process. Consequently, in order to promote streamlined content management
framework, it is important to transfer data between one blockchain into the next.
Therefore, the concept of integrated data applications for smart city technologies
blockchain-based data requires more research.
11.7 Conclusion
The rapid urbanization and population growth in emerging markets, associated with
the rapid development of cities, continues to challenge the economic and environ-
mental affordability of the cities. Towards this extent, it is suggested that its idea
of “Smart City” leverage conventional ICT through an effective manner to create
a healthy metropolitan services and develop the lives of the people. But security
breaches are spreading rapidly in smart cities. Because of its highlight the impor-
tance like interoperability, efficiency, intractability and democratization such issues
could be proposed to resolve through use of blockchains. The opportunities and impli-
cations of adapting blockchains to smart cities and their trade-offs are discussed in
this article via a detailed survey. The study begins with many recent comprehensive
scope of the issue and context information about blockchain-based smart cities. It just
addresses the inspiration behind its adoption of blockchain technology in growing
technologies. In addition, the article attempts to combine the two approaches by
investigating the usefulness of blockchain in several systems, like smart healthcare,
intelligent vehicle, smart grid, supply chain management, and banking sectors. Even-
tually, various open opportunities for the future prospects of science in important
areas are highlighted. In extending block chain to emerging technologies, this study
is supposed to address as a body of knowledge and comprehensive guidance for
future consideration.
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2020.2969706
Chapter 12
Blockchain Technology and Fashion
Industry-Opportunities and Challenges
Gautami Tripathi, Vandana Tripathi Nautiyal, Mohd Abdul Ahad,

and Noushaba Feroz
Abstract Fashion and textile industry are one of the fastest growing sectors that
involves a complex supply chain at local and global levels to procure raw materials
and supply finished products to the market. The complexity of the industry demands
for a system which is transparent, distributed and can protect the intellectual property
rights. With key characteristics like decentralization, immutability, consensus etc.,
blockchain technology has the potential to enhance the exiting fashion industry by
adding an extra layer of security and trust to it. One of the major challenges faced
by the fashion industry is the counterfeit products flooding the market place. These
fake products have a negative impact on the brand image and value. Blockchain
has the ability to protect and secure the digital identities and establish authenticity
in fashion industry. Despite of the exponentially growing popularity and interest in
this technology, very little is known about the current state of application and use of
blockchain in fashion and textile industry. This paper discusses the various aspects of
the use of blockchain technology in the fashion and textile industry highlighting the
benefits that blockchain could bring. The role of blockchain in providing potential
solutions to the existing issues and challenges faced by the fashion industry are
discussed with an insight into the current state of the blockchain technology in
fashion industry. Further, the work also discusses the challenges in the integration of
blockchain into the existing processes of the fashion and textile industry.
Keywords Blockchain · Fashion and textile industry · Intellectual property ·

Fashion supply chain · Transparency · Counterfeit products
G. Tripathi (B) · M. A. Ahad · N. Feroz

Department of Computer Science and Engineering, School of Engineering Sciences and
Technology, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India
V. Tripathi Nautiyal
MIT Institute of Design, MITADT University, Pune, India
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69395-4_12
202 G. Tripathi et al.
12.1 Introduction
Blockchain technology is considered as one of the most impactful technological

breakthroughs in the last decade. The unique features like decentralization, trans-
parency and immutability has gained considerable attention from researchers across
the globe and has helped blockchain technology to move beyond the financial domain
and register its presence in other areas. A blockchain is a transparent and dynamically
growing ledger which stores a permanent record of all the current and historical trans-
actions in a secure, chronological, and immutable way. Initially incepted as a “peer-
to-peer” ledger for registering the transactions of bitcoin cryptocurrency, blockchain
is now becoming popular in many other application domains that require trust-less
exchanges in decentralized distributed environments. In the last decade, blockchain
technology has seen exponential growth in its popularity. Blockchain technology is
based on the concept of digital distributed ledger technology that enables to maintain
a timestamped record of transactions and other events and store it into blocks. The
concept was initially developed for financial transactions with the introduction of
bitcoin in the year 2008 by Nakamoto [1]. The technology gets its popularity from
the fact that each block in the blockchain has a unique identifier called the block hash
that is linked to the previous block in the blockchain. These cryptographically linked
blocks of information are immutable and makes it difficult to change or modify
any information in the blockchain as all the blocks forms a part of a verification
process which makes changing data expensive [2–4]. Another important feature of
the blockchain technology that makes it popular is the removal of the intermediaries
and the third parties from the whole transaction process. Despite being a decade old
technology blockchain has gained rapid popularity across various domains. The key
characteristics of blockchain technology as presented in Fig. 12.1 provides potential
solutions to ensure the transparency, security, anonymity, privacy and robustness of
various processes across industries and businesses. Today many solutions based on
this technology are being used across an array of industries like healthcare, agricul-
ture, education, banking, smart cities etc. [2, 3, 5, 6]. Fashion industry being one of
the rapidly growing industries has also seen significant technological innovations in
the way of its working. The unique features of the blockchain technology makes it
a potential solution to overcome the difficulties faced by the fashion industry. This
chapter is divided into 6 sections. Section 2 discusses some of the major challenges
and issues faced by the fashion industry highlighting the prime issues of supply
chain management, intellectual property rights and sustainability. The next section
presents a study of some of the related researchers in the area of fashion industry and
blockchain technology. Section four highlights the role of blockchain technology in
the fashion industry by providing insights into some of the major benefits and poten-
tial solutions to overcome the existing issues faced by the fashion industry. Section
five presents the challenges in the integration of blockchain technology into the
fashion industry processes. The potential challenges that may affect the successful
implementation of blockchain into the fashion industry are discussed. Section six
provides the conclusion and future scope.
12 Blockchain Technology and Fashion Industry-Opportunities … 203
Fig. 12.1 Key characteristics of Blockchain
12.2 Issues in Fashion Industry
The global fashion industry is growing rapidly due to several factors and is all set to
take its graph further to a higher level in the coming times. Over the period of time,
various digital technological advancements have played a major role in enhancing
the capabilities of fashion industry to provide value and seamless experience to its
customers across the globe. Bridging the gap between fashion and digital technology
and especially blockchain technology can lead to solving various crucial issues that
persist in Fashion Industry today. Coupling fashion industry with blockchain tech-
nology can help business achieve better service to their customers. In view of this
situation below are the main key issues existing in Fashion industry today which can
probably be address with the help of block chain technology.
12.2.1 Supply Chain Issues
Supply Chain Management constitutes the sequence of key business processes from
procurement of raw materials to getting the product delivered to the end user.
Fig. 12.2 Supply chain in fashion industry
Supply chain in fashion industry is very long, complex and demanding in nature.
The ecosystem of an apparel supply chain generally comprises of sourcing of raw
material (fiber, yarn, fabric) from in-house or from outside vendors, manufacturing
of apparels which can be again done in-house or through outside vendors, distribu-
tion of apparels through distributors and wholesalers and finally the apparel product
reaches the retailers from their it reaches the customers. There are many intermediary
parties in between especially vendors, logistic and other supporting partners which
are involved as a part to complete supply chain network as presented in Fig. 12.2.
Longer lead times, shorter seasons and global sourcing adds to complexity of
fashion supply chain [7]. Also, high degree of uncertainty of consumer demand
affects the flow of supply chain making it complicated. In order to meet the consumer
demand on time the supply chains need to be quick in response without delays and
to achieve this the information flow at various points should be smooth, accurate
and on real time basis. In traditional system of supply chain, information sharing
at each step of supply chain is very minimal and difficult to obtain. With the help
of enhanced ERP systems this problem is reduced but cannot be totally resolved.
Moreover, implementation of an ERP system is a complex, large scale project, which
has significant strategic, operational and increased business cost implications for the
organization [8]. Finding an ERP solution to fit specific need of a fashion business
is another challenge [9].
Also, with the increasing demand of radical transparency from consumer’s side
it is pushing business to be more efficient in monitoring and disclosing their supply
chain activity. Customers are proactively interested in complete transparency and
traceability throughout supply chains. However, most brands are still following the
legacy supply chain frameworks which lacks transparency and traceability [10].
12.2.2 Intellectual Property Right Issues
The fashion industry is much more than just clothes and apparels. It is more about
creating and manufacturing novel designs with an aim to monetize with intellectual
proprietary rights [11]. Fashion managers must be able to timely identify the valuable
assets and their business relevance in order to safeguard the intellectual property
rights [12]. The universal selling point (USP) of any fashion business is innovation
and creativity. Therefore, such businesses are primarily focused on creating new and
innovative design and manufacturing ideas and invests a good amount of time and
Fig. 12.3 A typical lifecycle of a counterfeit product [16]
money in such initiatives. However, it is pertinent to protect such initiatives from

copyright infringements and IPR issues. Counterfeiting design ideas and products is
a crucial problem for fashion business and as well as for consumers which needs to
be tackled effectively. Especially luxury brands in a globalized market are the most
affected segment [13]. But counterfeits are not limited to luxury products, it has an
ill effect on the reputation of the brands as well [14, 15]. Counterfeit products once
enter the supply chain, disrupts the supply with identically similar items of poor
quality. A counterfeit product has highly devastating effect on a brand which results
in loss of sale revenue and profit. Figure 12.3 presents the life cycle of a Counterfeit
Fashion Product [16].
The designers for fashion brands process some unique and creative work which
is simply copied and sold by others without consent from brands which is treated
as infringement of intellectual property rights by a business. This act of copying
severely affects the fashion business revenue and overall brand image. The protec-
tion of design copyrights is very much crucial in fashion industry. The design and
appearance of the clothes and apparels are one of the most crucial determining factors
in consumer choice. The designs in Fashion industry can be protected as under Patent
Act, Copyright Act and Design Act. But mostly fashion designs are not registered
under these protection acts due to short product life cycle which does not justify the
time and cost involved in getting protected and there is no other alternate solution to
this problem. In such scenario the Intellectual property rights available at the moment
are not much relevant and practical to Fashion businesses.
12.2.3 Sustainability Issue
Sustainable fashion has become one of the most talked about concepts amongst the
fashion community. Many big design houses and renowned brands are opting for
environment friendly processes and moving towards sustainable fashion. However,
the mass adoption of this concept of sustainable fashion is still far from reality.
Sustainability in fashion depends of three major aspects namely the environmental
aspect, the social aspect and the economic aspect.
The environmental aspect deals with the best practices to ensure that the various
production processes are nature friendly. The major part of environmental impact
come from the usage of various chemicals and natural resources leading to nega-
tive impact on the environment. The social aspect of sustainable fashion aims to
ensure healthy working conditions for the labours. In most parts of the world the
fashion industry provides harmful working environments and unfair labour practices
to the artisans and labours. The economic sustainability aims at making the fashion
affordable while balancing the environmental and social aspects.
To establish equilibrium between these three aspects is a major challenge for the
fashion industry. The efforts to cut costs and make fashion affordable have a negative
impact on the environmental and social sustainability as it results in minimizing the
budget for chemical waste treatments, resource recycling, low labour etc. On the
other hand, improving the environmental and social sustainability leads to increased
cost of production. These increased costs create an overhead for small and medium
scale industries thus making environmental and social sustainability less feasible
and less desirable. Figure 12.4 provides the various environmental and sustainability
aspects in fashion industry.
Sustainability issues in the fashion industry is surfacing across the globe and is
gaining ground in Fashion industry. Moreover, shift in consumer behavior towards
sustainable lifestyle lays emphasis on developing circular economic models which
are sustainable. Fashion business are trying to push themselves towards ecological
integrity and social justice while earning profits to balance the triple bottom line of
sustainability [17] as shown in Fig. 12.5.
Businesses are trying to build brands that are for people, planet and profit. Sustain-
able Fashion business conduct themselves in an ethical and fair way. Fashion is a
labor-intensive industry and the welfare of the people or human capital involved
in fashion ecosystem is the responsibility of businesses. This includes the workers,
laborers, artisans and other people directly or indirectly working in the industry are
treated fairly, have good working conditions, and receive fair wages and appreciation
for their work. Also, the businesses should be concerned about their impact on other
people around them and specially their customers. Fashion industry is one of the
biggest culprits for pollution on this earth. Caring about the planet by reducing the
impact on environment by making clothes in a more environment friendly manner is
one of the triple bottom lines of sustainability. Fashion business these days vie hard
to incorporate sustainable materials, sustainable design and manufacturing process
in their business to reduce the size of their ecological footprint as much as possible.
Fig. 12.4 Environmental and sustainability aspects in fashion industry
Fig. 12.5 A triple bottom line of sustainability in fashion business

Also, customers should be made aware about the initiatives that the business take
to make better choices for people and planet. These thing needs to be promoted,
educated and communicated to the customers in a very transparent way which can
help build trust between the businesses and customers. Also, this will empower and
generate healthy revenue and profit streams not just for the shareholders but for a
broader community. Fashion business are trying to pioneer in sustainability aspect to
leverage the commercial opportunity. Business need to start measuring their sustain-
ability performance and develop strategies to achieve sustainability goals and also
inform consumer in a transparent way to enable trust.
12.3 Related Work
The last decade has seen a significant increase in the researches, academic debates
and publications in the fashion domain. The growing interests in fashion has helped
to establish it as one of the major industries in today’s world [18]. The authors in
[19] highlights the main characteristics of the modern fashion industry in terms of the
volatility, velocity, variety, complexity and dynamism of the fashion industry. The
paper also focuses on the management of the supply chain in the fashion industry
as characterized by the time to market, time to serve and time to react. The authors
used systematic, comparative and logical research approaches for conducting their
research and analysis. The authors in [20] discussed about the possibility of designing
and adopting sustainable fashion designs. The various challenges associated with
it are also discussed. The paper further presents a model for designing sustain-
able fashion that identifies the principles and best practices to be implemented
for achieving sustainability in fashion designs. The authors in [21] highlights the
importance of innovative sustainable business models in fashion industry. The study
comprises of interviews and case studies to propose a framework that showcases
the various trends and drivers of sustainable and innovative models of business in
fashion industry. The work discusses the concept of circular economy, corporate
social responsibility, collaborative consumption and sharing economy, consumer
awareness and various technological innovations. Further the authors also discussed
about the various fashion-based startups that are focused on innovation and sustain-
ability. The work presented in [22] highlights the changes that have occurred since
1990 in the fashion industry. The study focuses on the emerging trends of fast fashion
from the perspective of the suppliers as well as the consumers. In [23] the authors
discussed about the technological interventions in the fashion industry by high-
lighting the role of Information and Technology (IT) in bringing a paradigm shift
in the overall consumer experience in the online shopping environment. Further the
author also discussed about the influence of online shopping experiences on the
fashion consumers based on a survey conducted on 439 consumers from UK. The
authors in [24] proposed an innovative and sustainable model for fashion industry
that redefines that redefines the manufacturing process to reduce the carbon foot-
prints. The authors used the blockchain technology to improve the Emission Trading
Scheme (ETS) that enables to measure and record the carbon emissions for fashion
apparel manufacturing industry. The results of the study show that blockchain inte-
gration into the ETS helps to significantly improve the performance of the system
and provides environmentally sustainable solutions. In [25] the authors highlighted
the data quality issues in the fashion industry and its impact on the sustainable supply
chain operations. The authors further advocate the use of blockchain technology for
enhancing the supply chains and presents an environmental taxation waiver scheme
for social welfare. The study presented in [26] shows how blockchain technology
can provide a solution for Intellectual Property related issues in the fashion and
other industries by enhancing the process of registration, transaction processing,
enforcements, payments, licenses, distributions and agreements. The authors in [27]
highlighted the potential of blockchain technology to create a transparent system in
the fashion industry by filling the gaps in the efficient implementation of Intellec-
tual property rights. The paper focuses on how blockchain can help the small and
medium scale industry and new designers to defend and protect their IP. The use of
smart contracts to eliminate the intermediaries and third parties in the IP law process
is also discussed.
12.4 Blockchain for Fashion Industry
Blockchain technology has disrupted almost every business domain ranging

from transportation, agriculture, healthcare, education, manufacturing etc. Fashion
industry is no exception. The new age fashion industry is harnessing the unique char-
acteristics of blockchain technology to improve the capital expenditure and opera-
tional expenditure. The blockchain technology not only brings transparency but also
gives the ability to provide real-time tracking of the goods and services. In a typical
fashion industry, copyright infringements are common. With blockchain technology
a unique identity can be provided to the designs and products of the designers and
brands which is immutable. Another important aspect that blockchain technology
brings in fashion industry is the ability of tracking of raw materials and finished
products from source to destination with a much more precision and less cost as
compared with the legacy tracking mechanisms. As a result of the unprecedented
features of the blockchain technology, many fashion brands and startups are already
implementing the technology in their core business models. Figure 12.6 provides the
domains of fashion industry where blockchain technology can be used.
12.4.1 Inventory Management
Blockchain based inventory management provides a transparent mechanism to main-

tain inventory and real-time updates on inventory. Since it is a linked block of
immutable chains, it can easily trace and track the inventory items. We can also
Fig. 12.6 Blockchain in fashion industry
provide better forecast of the inventory items and thus cater to dynamically changing
demands.
12.4.2 Distributed Management
Blockchain provides a distributed means to organize data items. These items

are linked together through an immutable chain of blocks. Therefore, instead of
depending upon a single server, a peer to peer network of goods and services can be
maintained using the blockchain technology. This mechanism makes it much more
effective and easily manageable and highly scalable with the growing needs of the
customers.
12.4.3 Supply Chain Management
With the transparency of blockchain technology, the tracing and tracking of goods
and services can be managed in real-time. With the help of advanced analytics and
blockchain technology, better and informed decisions can be taken to maintain the
balance between the supply and demands.
12.4.4 Security
Blockchain technology makes the system more secure and immutable. In blockchain,
only the legitimate entities of the system are allowed role-based access on mutually
agreed smart contracts. No other entity (external or internal) can have access to the
system. Furthermore, the anonymity of the blockchain technology enable the users
to interact with each other without the fear of compromising their personal and other
information (which is not needed).
12.4.5 Copyright and IPR Infringements
In fashion industry, the main USP of the fashion brands is the uniqueness and quality
of the designs and products. The blockchain based IR tags and chips can be used
to ensure the legitimacy of the goods and services as well as track them throughout
the product life cycle from raw materials to the finished products. Blockchain based
digital designs are highly secure and are not prone to copyright infringements.
12.4.6 Tracking of Raw Materials and Finished Products
Blockchain technology helps in tracking and tracing the raw materials. The
blockchain based IR tags can be used to track the goods and services and provide the
customer with the history of the apparels in order to make them aware about things
like from where the raw material is procured, what is the product life cycle, what
procedure is involved in making the finished products etc. Figure 12.7 shows the life
cycle of Apparels and Garments.
Raw Material Procurement

Integrating blockchain at the raw material procurement stage make it possible to track
the source and origin of the raw material. The quality and authenticity of the raw
materials used for the production can be ensured using the blockchain technology.
The compliance with international labor and environmental laws can also be ensured
through blockchain technology.
Textile Production
At this stage, the blockchain technology can be used to oversee the production steps
including yarn development, textile thickness, quality etc. in a transparent manner.
Fig. 12.7 Life cycle of apparels and garments
Design
Once the textile is developed, the next and the most important stage is the designing of
the product. With blockchain technology, the unique designs of the designers can be
protected against copyright infringements and IPR thefts. The blockchain based tags
can be used to uniquely identify the designs in a digital format which is impossible
to counterfeit.
Production (Final Goods)

After the finalization of the designs, the textiles are sent to the production warehouses
for bulk productions. The complete production life cycle can be tracked using the
blockchain technology.
Distribution
Blockchain technology makes it possible to track and trace the textile throughout the
transportation cycle till it reaches the destination.
Retail
Once the textile and finished products reach the retailers, they can use blockchain
technology to effectively manage the supply chain, inventory and thus reduce costs
and save time.
End Users
The garments and apparels which are created by integrating blockchain technology
makes it possible for the end user to identify the production life cycle, authenticity
and source of origin of the clothes giving them complete satisfaction.
The increasing awareness amongst the masses to opt for sustainable, cruelty free
and environment friendly products has led to the ideas revolving around the use of
technology in fashion industry. Many fashion houses, brands and startups are exper-
imenting with solutions to cater this demand. One of technologies that has gained
considerable notice in the last few years the blockchain technology. Many new ideas
have emerged on the integration of blockchain technology into the existing fashion
industry processes to make it more sustainable, ethical and efficient. Table 12.1
presents some of the organizations that have used blockchain in the fashion industry.
12.5 Blockchain for Fashion Industry-Issues

and Challenges
Blockchain has emerged as a revolutionary technology capable of transforming a

wide spectrum of sectors, including fashion industry. It offers a mechanism that
facilitates reliable, secure and immutable transactions, without the need of a central-
ized control. In the fashion industry, blockchain implementation enhances product
regulation, brand security, supply chain handling, and combatting infringement, thus
building an effective, accountable and profitable market [27]. While blockchain tech-
nology has several unprecedented advantages, the introduction of this platform in
fashion industry leads to certain issues and challenges briefly described in Fig. 12.8
[16, 25, 28–32].
12.5.1 Absence of Regulating Authority
The implementation of blockchain implies an end for intermediaries, eliminating the

dependency on a regulating authority. The regulating authority has conventionally
generated ample profit by eliciting desirable actions from agents to address external
vulnerabilities. As such, the absence of such an authority resulting from blockchain
deployment could render the fashion market vulnerable [28].
Table 12.1 Organizations using blockchain in fashion industry

Startups/Brands/platforms Key features Significance References
Loomia Developed a cloth The users own their data [33]
blended with circuits that and can share it with
collects data and sync it researchers for digital
on Loomia data exchange assets called Loomia
based on Blockchain Tokens
technology
Provenance Developed a transparent Helps brands to keep an [34]
fashion supply chain eye on the entire
production process to
restore the trust,
authenticity and values
CURATE Ehtereum based app The trusted comments [35]
brings together the various motivate the fashion
stakeholders of the creators to set new trend
fashion industry to create and increase the brand
a transparent community value and sales
using a reward system
Fashion Coin Developed a P2P stem Helps to create [36]
where the customers can transparency and trust
directly contact the amongst the stakeholders
various people involved in
the process of product
development like
designers, logistics, fabric
menders etc.
Faizod Setting up of global Provides real time tracking [37]
supply chain management of products this ensuring
for seamless interaction complete transparency
between producers, about how product are
intermediaries and made, transported and
consumers paid for and
Helping fashion industries
by providing a ubiquitous
supply chain management
platform for identifying
key bottlenecks as the
products are developed
VeChain Creates a digital trace of Helps to eliminate the [38]
the fashion goods using Counterfeit goods from
unique IDs, NFC Chips the fashion industry
and QR codes
LVHM Using blockchain for Put a check on counterfeit [39]
tracking of products and products illegally sold
their authenticity under the brand name
(continued)

Startups/Brands/platforms Key features Significance References
Martine Jarlgaard Used blockchain platform Provides information to [40]
provenance for tracking the users about the nature
raw materials at every and type of raw material
stage of production used, life cycle stages etc.
Levi Strauss & Co Used blockchain for Provided an anonymous [41]
workers wellbeing survey means to the employees to
for ensuring worker share their personal
welfare well-being information
which they are hesitant to
share face to face
Somish Blockchain Labs Working for promoting Helps the fashion brands [42]
CSR activities and to implements sustainable
identify cost saving practices using technology
mechanisms, better driven approaches that
worker wellbeing etc. also helps to discover cost
saving approaches and
ensures other aspects of
contracts
Arianee It is a protocol used for Every product has a [43]
certifying products for blockchain based
authenticity and certificate for validating
communication between its authenticity
fashion brands and users
SourceMap Build a network to Helps to improve the [44]
facilitate verified transparency in the
communication between fashion supply chain
people involved in the
supply chain process
12.5.2 Technology Immaturity
Blockchain technology continues to evolve and grow. This technology is still at its
initial stage and researchers are currently testing the beta stage of blockchain seeking
to overcome various issues associated with the technology [29].
12.5.3 High Cost
The expense of deploying and managing a blockchain-based infrastructure may be

high because of the intricate design involving multiple transactions. The high compu-
tational complexity arising from billions of transaction verifications could result in
a bottleneck, particularly for supply chain involving numerous items and related
details [29].
Fig. 12.8 Issues and challenges of blockchain deployment in fashion industry
12.5.4 Loss in Supply Chain
In the context of fashion industry, when the deployment of blockchain is costly and
the environmental expense related to the remaining commodity is substantially high,
it will benefit the society at large but it will lead to losses in the supply chain [25].
12.5.5 High Complexity of Blocks
The scale and number of blocks grows with growing information, commodity
complexity and supply chain partners, leading to higher processing and database
needs. The management of such circumstances involves examining and selecting only
critical product lifecycle phases and relevant details for the purpose of traceability
[29].
12.5.6 Lack of Standardization
Blockchain lacks standardization an interoperability, hence the concerned parties

need to compromise their data and policies considerably to generate maximum
compatibility. Moreover, being a novel technology, industries such as fashion
industry are reluctant to adopt blockchain [30].
12.5.7 Need for Two-Level Security
In the case of blockchain, the real product details may be retrieved by a bogus
product from the database with the intent of forgery. Hence, security framework
needs to be deployed at the business level (to facilitate secure information exchange
among supply chain players and businesses) and product level (to safeguard product
and traceability tags from forgery) [29].
12.5.8 Information Transparency
As blockchain renders the supply chain transparent, many stakeholders are hesitant to
reveal critical details about their trade since their rivals might steal this information.
Moreover, the collection and processing of this information is a tiresome task, thereby
requiring additional incentives to encourage the involved participants [29].
12.5.9 Intellectual Property Protection
The automated nature of blockchain poses concerns for intellectual property protec-
tion for fashion vendors, such as the inability to provide legal defense to intel-
lectual properties. The general theory is that blockchain cannot override existing
copyright legislation, and third parties cannot provide copyright defense without the
unequivocal permission of the lawmaker [31].
12.5.10 Blockchain Incorporation Challenge
Incorporating blockchain into the existing fashion industry can pose a serious chal-
lenge as the overall process could be highly expensive and time consuming. An
additional funding of human resources may be required for the successful cultural
transition from centralized to decentralized framework.
Consequently, blockchain deployment requires strong enthusiasm and anticipa-
tion among the concerned players in the fashion market [29].
12.6 Conclusion and Future Scope
In the last few years fashion industry has greatly impacted the social and economic
life of individuals. Today fashion has become a powerful medium of communication.
The consumers of fashion, use it as a medium to express themselves to the external
world where it has become a tool to represent the culture, personalities and social
status. With the large popularity of high-end fashion brands amongst the masses has
increased the demand of these products amongst all groups of people. Today the
markets are flooded with counterfeit products to meet the increasing demands. The
increasing demands has led to various malpractices in the fashion industry related
to the labor laws, copyright, sustainability, supply chain etc. This increased popu-
larity and demand of fashion products amounts the masses, has led to a consider-
able amount of attention towards the issues and challenges faced by the industry
and its impact on the social, economic and environmental aspects. Today fashion
industry is using various ICT tools and other technological innovations to trans-
form their processes and meet the demands of the market and at the same time
increase their profits. Blockchain technology has gained significant attention from
the fashion world in the last few years. The key features of blockchain technology
like transparency, immutability, decentralization, anonymity etc. are seen as poten-
tial solution to the existing issues and challenges of the fashion industry. The work
presented here explores the potential of blockchain technology in transforming the
fashion industry from an opaque to a transparent system along with the various chal-
lenges that might come in the way. Blockchain has the potential to address the issues
of the fashion supply chain by facilitating transparency and traceability along with
the elimination of intermediaries and third parties. The technology can also help to
achieve sustainability by addressing the various social, economic and environmental
aspects. Further the transparency and immutability of blockchain helps to protect
the intellectual property rights and fight against the counterfeit products. Being a
newly adopted technology the fashion industry the mass adoption of blockchain
is still far from reality. However, the study shows that integrating blockchain into
fashion industry operations can bring traceability, transparency, scalability and flex-
ibility in the system thus providing risk reduction, value creation, fault detection and
elimination.
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Chapter 13
Secure Event Ticket Booking Using
Decentralized System
Vihas Naman, Shanmukhi Priya Daliyet, Shagun S Lokre,

and K. Varaprasad Rao
Abstract Over the past years, it has been noticed that there is a steady increase
in the number of events being conducted across the globe, and the entry to these
events is monitored through a system of tickets. One of the biggest problems faced
by the event organizers regarding the current system of events is the duplication
and reselling of the tickets at a cost higher than the original cost. It has become
easier for the conmen to carry out this process as most of the tickets are purchased
through various online platforms. Therefore, it is important to establish a reliable
system to make sure that there won’t be any tampering of the ticket. The objective
behind this chapter is to introduce a new system of ticketing wherein, the issues
faced in the current system can be tackled with the help of blockchain technology.
In our proposed model, an online platform is engineered where the digital tickets
are linked to the purchasers with the help of their mobile numbers. All the events
are stored in the form of the ledger based on handling variance and tracking of the
system. Due to its characteristics of decentralization, transparency, integrity, and
immutability, blockchain can be effectively used to eliminate the above problems
and improve the proof of ownership, making the tickets tamper-proof. This system
will introduce trust between the participants involved in this chain and allows the
consumers to authenticate and verify the ownership of the tickets before purchasing
them. However, the usage of blockchain technology brings some constraints to our
model when it comes to a large population.
Keywords Events · Ticket · Proof of ownership · Blockchain · Decentralization ·

Transparency
V. Naman (B) · S. P. Daliyet · S. S. Lokre · K. Varaprasad Rao

Computer Science and Engineering Department, Icfai Tech (Faculty of Science and Technology),
ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (Deemed to be University), Hyderabad, Telangana, India
K. Varaprasad Rao
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69395-4_13
222 V. Naman et al.
13.1 Introduction
In the current time and day, there are a lot of frauds and scams in every monetary
field, due to the present growth of the e-commerce market worldwide. The annual
amount which is scammed by fraudsters in India is in the form of thousands of
crores [1]. This majorly happens in the banking, corporate, medical sector, and also
in the field of ticket selling for service or event management. With the latest facilities
provided by various online platforms, people prefer buying tickets over the internet
when compared to the traditional methods of waiting in the queues for a long time
[2]. Over the last decade, due to the anonymity of the customers on the internet, it
has become easier for the conmen to dupe customers. Even if the duped customers
want to contact the sellers of the tickets it is really difficult. Since up until the last
minute, the buyers do not know whether the ticket is fake or not, at which point in
time, the conman disables the medium of connection which was used originally, this
severs all connection methods to the conman. In this chapter, we propose a model as a
solution to this problem, which will reduce fraud-practices like ticket counterfeiting
and reselling tickets, by using blockchain technology [3–5]. Using this, we can make
all the transactions transparent and the counterfeiting of any ticket nearly impossible.
In this model, tickets are considered assets on the blockchain, similar to Ethereum and
other cryptocurrencies [6, 7]. Since the content on the blockchain cannot be changed,
the ticket or voucher once uploaded on it cannot be altered. The transactions are based
on a token system, which will allow us to track and identify each transaction [8].
The security features of the proposed system are that data related to transactions
and bookings are viewable, it is next to impossible to replicate the tickets for selling
using an illegal manner, there is never a data leakage as there is a minimal human
intervention which reduces most of the errors. There is no possibility for third party
attacks as the blockchain is a decentralized system which consists of nodes that are
mutually untrustworthy, and this property prevents the creation of malicious nodes
for false transactions [9–11]. As the major problems with the ticket vending are
reselling the ticket at an increased price and replication of the tickets, these problems
are solved using the proposed model.
13.2 Literature Survey
As of now, blockchain technology faces core obstacles related to scalability, regu-

latory limits, identity registration, consumer protection, laws and regulations, and
compliance requirements [12, 13]. This chapter is written based on the literature of
the previous research, combined with the benefits and the drawbacks of the scheme,
proposed a ticket booking system that is decentralized and supported by blockchain
technology. The proposed model resolves the problems in this field using the supply
chain management and it can trace the ticket and previous buyer’s information avail-
able in the chain nodes [14–16]. The design presented solves the matter within the
13 Secure Event Ticket Booking Using Decentralized System 223
current issues of ticket frauds and ticket traceability process with information stability
among the availability chain nodes [17]. The ever-growing greed for money is also
increasing along with the current progress of science and technology, leading to a
rise in the number of scam and fraud cases. The current understanding of blockchain
technology helps us make the world a better place by inhibiting scams in multiple
fields [1]. This chapter consists of research from various papers and the main idea
for this chapter comes from a lack of transparency and clarity in the transactions in
the event management field [6]. This takes place mainly due to the anonymity of any
user of the internet and the comforts of the internet. In light of recent events, it has
been noticed that counterfeiting is increasing at an alarming rate, and to control this
in the event management field, we are using blockchain for making various versions
of a single ticket required for attending events [2]. The key fact here is that even
the user who purchased a ticket can be accessed by him/her only before a stipulated
time of the event. The non-editable property of the data on the blockchain assures
that the tickets cannot be replicated by any means owing to the immutable property.
The smart contracts and the properties of the blockchain assure the security of the
ticket [18]. The main drawback of this model is that there can be a delay in scanning
the dynamic QR code, only if there is a large crowd there is a time delay [19]. The
papers we referred to and the insights we took from there are as follows: Li et al. [20]
have suggested a peer-to-peer networking architecture which will help the customer
understand the logistic information in real-time using a decentralized approach to
ensure clarity in the distribution of data in an up-to-date and timely manner. Ye
et al. [21] also took into consideration the encryption of personal data security which
allowed businesses to avoid divulging sensitive data when exchanging the personal
information and ensuring that the information was accessible transparently, trace-
able, and immutably. Lu and Xu [7] carried out a traceability procedure utilizing
the blockchain technology backed shared protocol, however, they did not take into
consideration the additional benefit of the blockchain through the existing structure
and hence the application of clever contracts. Salah et al. [9] suggested a way to
follow up and carry out transfers without the need for a trustworthy third-party entity
using an Ethereum blockchain of smart contracts.
Since the research done on blockchain to be used in the event management field
is still developing, there are not many platforms in the market that use the chain
information management systems which are supported by blockchain technology,
the theoretical research on the blockchain is yet to improve.
224 V. Naman et al.
13.3 Preliminaries
In this section, we discuss some of the detailed key points that are relevant and
important for the sake of understanding this chapter.
What is a blockchain?
Blockchain is one of the booming technologies that is gradually becoming more
prominent [15]. A blockchain can be described as a combination of a distributed
ledger database and a consensus algorithm that gives it certain characteristics
like distributed, decentralized, immutability, integrity, tamper-proof, etc. [22]. This
records all the transactions that have occurred in a network in the form of logs that are
verified and authenticated by the nodes in the network, making the entire procedure
transparent and irreversible.
This technology came into existence about 10 years ago when the cryptocurrency
Bitcoin was first introduced [23]. Now, blockchain technology is not only being
used in cryptocurrency but is also used in many applications such as the medical
industry, supply chain management, the travel industry, and many more [14, 24, 25].
It can broadly be divided into permission-less and permissioned blockchain, where
the permission-less or public blockchain is entirely decentralized as a node can enter
and leave a network at any point in time [26]. Whereas, the permissioned blockchain
which is further classified into private and consortium blockchains, has restrictions
regarding certain decisions to be taken in the network.
What are the Ethereum and smart contracts?

Most people go by the misconception that Ethereum and bitcoins are the same but in
reality, the only similarity they share is cryptocurrency [27]. Bitcoin is a cryptocur-
rency that is not Turing-complete and Ethereum, being Turing-complete generates a
cryptocurrency token named Ether [28]. However, Ethereum is also a decentralized
platform that runs smart contracts and can be used to replace internet third parties
[12, 29]. The other major difference is that the nodes of the network store all the
ether transactions along with the most recent state of each smart contract.
A smart contract is a self-executing piece of code containing the terms of the
agreement between different parties [13]. These contracts can be written in specific
high-level languages like solidity, which are then compiled into bytecode that can
be read and executed by Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) [17]. In short, smart
contracts are special applications that run on EVM [30]. Once these contracts are
deployed on the blockchain, they will be executed according to the predefined set of
rules after which, no one can make any changes to it.
What are tokens?

A token can be used as a tool for managing the rights of any existing physical or
digital asset or to transfer the rights to assets owned by someone else [16]. A token
can represent anything. The cryptographic tokens are issued using smart contracts
that are deployed onto the blockchain.
13.4 System Overview
As you can see in Fig. 13.1, the blockchain-built traceability system explained in this
chapter consists of organized entities such as users and events. Every node within
the network correlates to an Ethereum account, that represents its identity within the
system and it might not deploy the smart contracts. The organized entities within the
chain can be reviewed as Admin, Organizer, Events, User, and Tokens. The functions
of each of the following nodes are as follows:
Admin: Admin is the head of the department who plays a key role in this supply
chain network. Admin provides a web platform where the user can register for an
event that he has to attend and at the same time mints the tokens to the token entity.
Admin forms an agreement with the organizer who wants to organize the event.
Organizer: As a middleman in the process of forming an agreement with the admin
and organizing the event, the organizer is responsible for conducting events and
Fig. 13.1 An overview of the participants in the system of the solution proposed
226 V. Naman et al.
managing all the process planning for the event. When an organizer forms an agree-
ment with the admin, he will share every detail about the event with the admin so that
the application can be tweaked to display the right details for the usage of customers.
Event: In the workflow, the event is the entity that provides the details of the event
such as type of event, venue, date of the event, etc. to the users who want to register
and book their tickets.
User: User is the individual who finally decides whether he wants to attend the event
or not. The user signs up on a website provided by the admin by giving his details
such as his name, phone number, email, etc. Instead of giving his card details for
booking tickets, the user first pays the fiat cash using a gateway where this cash is
received and in turn, the value of the token in the e-wallet is changed, this token is
assigned to the user in an e-wallet provided by the admin at the time of registration.
Token: This is the entity which allows the transfer of ownership of the ticket(s) from
the admin to the customer, this token is assigned to the user when he creates his
account in the application. The user can change the value of the token by spending
fiat currency or he can also change the value by spending the deposited amount for
buying a ticket to any specific event.
Ticket: In the form of a QR Code, this is the most essential part of gaining access to
any event, the code is scanned at the event and the ticket holder is allowed into the
event. This is generated using the id of the customer and the details of the events.
This data is converted into a QR code and this is shown to the customer only before a
stipulated time of the event commencement, this is done so that there is no duplication
of the code.
13.4.1 Activity Diagram
Figure 13.2 depicts the activity diagram for the event ticket booking system in which
the flow between the activity of signing up, minting of tokens, organizing the event
is portrayed, and finally generates a dynamic QR code.
The main activities involved in this activity diagram are as follows: Sign up
activity, Choosing event activity, Payment activity.
Signup activity: The signup activity allows users to log in or create an account on a
particular website. The user should provide his details (name, phone number, email
id), by doing this the user account gets created. Once the user creates his account, an
OTP will be sent to his registered phone number/email id. Once the user enters the
password, his account gets created on the website and the user can proceed to the
next forum.
Choosing event activity: After signing up successfully, the user can set the location
and select the choice of the event that he wants to attend. Once he selects the event
Fig. 13.2 The activity diagram showing the activities carried out as a part of this solution
of his choice, he then has to select the number of seats required and check if they are
available or not.
Payment: The most important phase of this proposed model where there is no
involvement of third parties in the exchange for the currency. Once the user reaches
this stage instead of paying the amount through the card on an online portal, he will
have to pay fiat cash to the organization department from where the tokens are minted
and will be credited into the user’s wallet which is assigned to each user who signs
up. When the tokens are received, the user can do the payment through the gateway
and if the payment is successful the user will get a message of confirmation details
to his mobile number, and finally, the QR code gets generated and will be displayed
on the ticket.
Features of the activity diagram for the event ticket booking system include all
the objects (sign up, choosing an event, payment) that are interlinked. Users will be
able to register for an event by signing up on the online portal. The value of the token
changes every time there’s a fiat payment. Tokens are minted and assigned only when
a new user signs up, once a token is received and confirmed by the database, the user
can reserve the seats, get approval for them, and finally view the dynamic QR code,
which shows the full description and flow of booking a ticket, updating token value
and payment for the seats.
228 V. Naman et al.
13.4.2 Use Case Diagram
This use case diagram shown in Fig. 13.3 is a graphical depiction of the interactions
among the entities of the event ticket management system. It represents the plan used
in the system analysis to fetch, clarify, and organize the system requirements for the
model proposed. The main 4 actors involved in this process include user, admin,
database, and payment gateway.
User: The use case of a user includes signing up if he/she is new to the web platform.
Log in if he/she is an existing user and authenticate whether the user is a valid person
or not. Once the user is directed to the website, his/her next task is to select a location,
choose the event, check if the seats are available and if they are available then select
the type and number of seats required by the user. Once everything is done, the user
should pay fiat cash to increment the value of their token through which the tickets
can be bought.
Fig. 13.3 The activity diagram showing the activities carried out as a part of this solution
Fig. 13.4 Use case description between admin and organizer
Database: The main objective of the database is to store each information provided
by the user and the admin and once the payment is successful display the QR code
to the user.
Admin: The use case of an admin includes signing up, and responding to the user’s
actions such as reserving the seats, getting approval of seats.
Payment Gateway: The use case of a payment gateway is to verify the fiat cash
payment made by the user to increment the value of their token so that they can
purchase the required ticket/s.
Figure 13.4 depicts the various interactions between the admin and the organizer
which are explained below in detail. The relation between the admin and the organizer
must be clear and strong for the successful organization of any event without any
miscommunication or difference of opinions.
For that to happen, the organizer must inform the admin about the venue and
location of the event. They must also inform the capacity, facilities, seat hierarchy,
and layout of the venue. Along with these details, the price of each seat/ticket must
also be discussed with the organizer so that the individual profits can be decided
upon with mutual agreement.
The proposed model (Fig. 13.5) described in this chapter mainly includes orga-
nized entities and users which are secured through a decentralized network. The enter-
prise entities include organizers, organizations, events, and tokens. The responsibility
and individual roles of every network are given as follows.
Organization Department: The organization department is the head of the depart-
ment where the procedure of minting tokens is decided and the procedure of forming
an agreement with the event organizer takes place. In this department, the partic-
ular organization member is going to provide his name, email id, and phone number
230 V. Naman et al.
Fig. 13.5 The class diagram describing the properties of the various entities
(which is the primary key). These details are only visible to the organizer who wants
to agree with the organization member.
Organizer Department: The organizer’s work is to organize an event. They will
handle the whole process of planning an event and carrying on post-event evaluation.
This organizer shares his name, phone number, and email id with the organization
department and each organizer has a unique ID (primary key) which helps the orga-
nization department to identify what type of event is being organized and it helps in
forming an agreement signed between the organizer and the organization.
Event Department: This department includes the details about the event name, the
event type, venue of the event, date of the event. Even this department has a unique
ID (primary key) which allows the organizer to refer to the event and its details.
Token Department: This is the department in which the value of the tokens is
updated when the user pays the fiat cash for purchasing an event ticket. Tokens will
only be minted when there’s a new user and these minted tokens will be added into
the user’s wallet. It keeps the record of how much value has been spent and keeps
changing the value.
User Department: This department takes care of storing the details like name, phone
number (primary key), email id, address provided by the user at the time of signing
up, and assigns each user with a unique ID that is encrypted. This ID contains the
details of the user and helps maintain their identity. After the user is registered, they
are provided with a unique e-wallet that has a token and the unique ID linked to it.
Whenever a user wants to book a ticket, he needs to login onto the online portal and
pays the fiat currency to update the value of his token in the wallet. The user can then
Fig. 13.6 The state-chart description
pay for the ticket using the token and the generated dynamic QR code is sent to the
user’s registered phone and the value of the token is changed accordingly.
The above state (Fig. 13.6) diagram represents the flow of the process a user has
to follow to be able to log in, book a ticket, and exit the application. Firstly, the
user would have to register by entering all the details in the designated boxes, if
registration is over, then the user can directly login using the username and password
designated to the user during the registration process.
The user can check his previous transactions, the user can also book tickets by
setting the location which is comfortable to the user. He can then decide on which
event he wants to go to and he has to select the seats in the event.
After this, he has to update the value of the token using the payment gateway.
Using the updated token, he can buy the tickets for the value in the token. After paying
for the seats, the seats will get reserved under your name. The user will receive a QR
code that can be scanned at the venue of the event. After receiving the QR code the
user can then decide to log out of the application to exit it.
13.5 Smart Contracts
We have designed three smart contracts, they are User Registration contract, Wallet
contract, and Ticket Update contract for the sake of our model. The user registration
contract holds the address of the wallet contract, and the wallet contract holds the
address of the ticket update contract such that the contracts are linked to each other
and coordinated. In the user registration contract, every user is designated with a
wallet contract address when they register on the platform. In the wallet contract, the
user can update the value of the token possessed by the user’s wallet. In the ticket
update contract, the user is given ownership over a ticket after the user meets the
232 V. Naman et al.
required criteria. Any user can inquire about the transfer history of the acquired ticket
to verify the authenticity of that ticket. The individual functions of each contract are
as follows:
User Registration Contract: This contract is deployed by the admin. Furthermore,
it provides a user registration function register() which stores the registration infor-
mation of each user forever. The user provides information like name, phone number,
email, etc. and gets registered through a unique code (OTP) sent to the user’s unique
phone number. As soon as the user is registered, this contract will deploy the wallet
contract with the current user’s address. This will assign the current user with an
e-wallet that is linked to the user’s address in the user registration contract.
Wallet Contract: This contract is deployed by the user after registration and it
provides the function addWallet(). The wallet assigned to the user will contain a token
whose initial value is zero. This contract also contains another function buyToken()
through which the value of this token can be incremented after the user’s payment has
been verified at the payment gateway. After the buyToken() function is executed, the
ticket update contract is deployed. This contract provides the function of assigning
and updating the ownership of the tickets.
Ticket Update Contract: This contract is deployed after the buyToken() function
is executed and it provides the functions buyTicket() which decrements the value of
the token assigned to the wallet owned by the user and updateTicket() which updates
the owner of the ticket. If the ticket is purchased for the first time, the QR code is also
attached, otherwise, the hash of the previous transaction is referred. The acquired
transaction information is added to the list of transaction records managed in this
contract, including the hash of the current buyer of the ticket, the seller of the ticket,
the previous transaction’s hash, and timestamp.
Note: The list of transactions will only be revised if the current transaction is
completed successfully and it will be linked to the blockchain if the previous trans-
action’s hash is valid; else, an exception/error occurs. This guarantees that every
transaction added to the block is credible and legit, prohibiting the selling of false
tickets or multiple copies of a ticket.
13.5.1 Algorithms
Following is the explanation of the five algorithms that we have used as per the
solution.
Algorithm 1 register()
Input: Message sender (msg.sender), username (username), phone
number (phonenumber), Email (emailID), current timestamp (now), autho-
rization list (authlist), user count (usercount), wallet contract address
(wcaddr) (Fig. 13.7).Please check and confirm if the inserted citations of
Figs. 13.7–13.11 are correct. If not, please suggest an alternate citations. Please
Fig. 13.7 The decision chart for Algorithm 1
note that figures should be cited sequentially in the text.All the inserted citations of
figures from 13.7-13.11 are correct.
Explanation
The function register(), represented in Algorithm 1 allows a new user
to register on the online platform. This function takes the following inputs:
message sender (msg.sender), username (username), phone number
(phonenumber), email (emailID), current timestamp (now), authoriza-
tion list (authlist), user count (usercount), and wallet contract address
(wcaddr).
Here, the authorization list includes the list of all accredited user’s Ethereum
addresses in this contract. If the message sender’s address matches any address in
the authorization list, then the algorithm will check to see that no user with this
phone number has already registered. If both of these conditions are satisfied, then
the algorithm will register this user on the platform and stores the details like the
username, msg.sender, phonenumber, emailID, now and wcaddr to the
blockchain. The algorithm will then increment the count of the users by incrementing
usercount.
234 V. Naman et al.
If either one of the conditions fails, then the state of the contract is reverted, an
error is shown and the user is not registered. Once a user is registered, he/she can
then use all the facilities provided on the platform.
Algorithm 2 addwallet()
Input: Message sender (msg.sender), username (username),
phone number(phonenumber), Email (emailID), current times-
tamp(now), authorization list(authlist), user count(usercount), wallet
count(walletcount) (Fig. 13.8).
Explanation
The function addWallet() described in Algorithm 2 is used to assign every user
with a unique e-wallet which contains a token whose initial value is zero. This
function takes in the following inputs: message sender (msg.sender), username
(username), phone number (phonenumber), email (emailID), current

timestamp (now), authorization list (authlist), user count (usercount),

and wallet count (walletcount).
the authorization list, then the algorithm will check to see that no user with this
phone number has already registered. If both of these conditions are satisfied, then
the algorithm will assign an e-wallet and every user will have a unique wallet id. Then,
the phonenumber, walletID, msg.sender, username, and now are added
to the blockchain, linking the wallet to the user. The algorithm will then increment
the count of the wallets by incrementing walletcount and the initial value of the token
is made equal to zero.
error is shown and the wallet is not assigned. Once a user is assigned a wallet, he/she
can use the platform to purchase tickets to any event via the tokens.
Algorithm 3 buytoken()
Input: Message sender (msg.sender), phone number (phoneNumber),
money paid (moneypaid), wallet ID (walletID), token value
(tokenValue), authorization list (authlist), ticket update contract address
(tucaddr), current timestamp (now) (Fig. 13.9).
Explanation
The function buyToken() represented in Algorithm 3 is used to increment the
value of the token in the wallet of the user after the fiat currency payment has
been verified by the payment gateway. This function takes the following inputs:
message sender (msg.sender), phone number (phoneNumber), money paid
(moneypaid), wallet ID (walletID), token value (tokenValue), autho-
rization list (authlist), ticket update contract address (tucaddr), and current
timestamp (now).
the authorization list, then the algorithm will check to see that the user with this
wallet id and phone number is already registered. If both of these conditions are
satisfied, then the algorithm will increment the value of the token with the amount
of fiat currency paid after this payment is verified at the payment gateway. Then the
walletID, phoneNumber, tokenValue, now, msg.sender, moneyPaid,
and tucaddr are added to the blockchain.
error is shown and the value of the ticket is not incremented. Once the value of the
token is incremented concerning the fiat currency payment made, he/she can then
book the tickets for any event on the online platform.
Algorithm 4 buyticket()
Input: Message sender (msg.sender), phone number (phoneNumber),
event name (eventname), wallet ID (walletID), token value
236 V. Naman et al.
(tokenValue), authorization list (authlist), current timestamp (now),

ticket cost (ticketcost) (Fig. 13.10).
Explanation
The function buyTicket() represented in Algorithm 4 allows a user to buy tickets
for any event that is available on the online platform by consuming the value of the
token in the user’s wallet. This function takes the following inputs: message sender
(msg.sender), phone number (phoneNumber), event name (eventname), wallet
ID (walletID), token value (tokenValue), authorization list (authlist), current
timestamp (now), and ticket cost (ticketcost) (Fig. 13.11).
the authorization list, then the algorithm will check to see that the user with this wallet
id and phone number is already registered. After this, the algorithm will verify the
value of the token to be greater than or equal to the cost of the ticket. If all the three
conditions are satisfied, then the algorithm will generate a QR code and make the
user the owner of the ticket, keeping the phone number as the main constraint. The
value of the ticket cost is subtracted from the value of the token and the final token
value is updated.
If this user is the first owner of this ticket, then the tokenValue,
phoneNumber, walletID, msg.sender, QRcode, and now are added to the
blockchain, otherwise, the updateTicket() function is called. If either one of
the conditions fails, then the state of the contract is reverted, an error is shown and
the user does not get the ownership of the ticket. Once the ownership of the ticket
is given to the user, he/she can use this to either attend the event or sell it to another
user at a cost not more than the original ticket cost.
Algorithm 5 updateticket()
238 V. Naman et al.
Input: Message sender (msg.sender), buyer’s address (buyer), current

transaction (currentTr), previous transaction (previousTr), authorization
list (authList), transaction count (trCount), seller’s wallet id (walletID),
current timestamp (now).
Explanation
The function updateTicket() represented in Algorithm 5 allows the transfer
of ownership of the ticket between various users. This function takes the following
inputs: message sender (msg.sender), buyer’s address (buyer), current trans-
action (currentTr), previous transaction (previousTr), authorization list
(authList), transaction count (trCount), seller’s wallet id (walletID),
current timestamp (now).
addresses in this contract. If the message sender’s address matches any address in the
authorization list, then the algorithm will check to see that the previous transaction is
valid in the blockchain. If both of these conditions are satisfied, then the algorithm will
log currentTr, msg.sender, previousTr, buyer, now, and walletID
to the blockchain. The algorithm will then increment the count of the transactions
by incrementing trCount. If either one of the conditions fails, then the state of the
contract is reverted, an error is shown and the buyer is not given the ownership of
the ticket. Once the ownership of the ticket is given to the buyer, he/she can use this
to either attend the event or sell it to another user at a cost not more than the original
ticket cost and the seller no longer owns any right over this ticket.
13.6 Security Analysis
The blockchain traceability system proposed in the chapter meets the following
security requirements [31, 32]:
Data accessibility: As the system can be viewed to anyone, users can access the
system to see data related to their transactions and bookings.
Sale of non-valid or invalidated tickets: In today’s world, it has become easy to
produce a copy of the tickets without valid identifiers, but when it comes to blockchain
based-solutions it is close to impossible to replicate the tickets. The system proposed
allows only authorized tickets to be stored in the ledger. Once the ticket is identified
as an invalid ticket, the re-selling of the ticket is not allowed by the chain code and
the indivisibility which is vowed by the blockchain makes sure of a consistent state
for each ticket [33].
Data immutability: The selling of paper tickets allows a person to make copies of
the tickets and sell them to different buyers. The proposed model has a tamper-proof
functionality to provide true and reliable data to the users.
System autonomy: The data that gets exchanged in the system follows a fixed algo-
rithm, the nodes that are present in the system will exchange, record, and update data
on their own without any human interference [34].
Opposition to 3rd party attack: Since blockchain is a decentralized system, the
nodes within the system mutually cannot be trusted. Therefore, the system resists
3rd party attacks and prevents malicious nodes from producing false transactions
[35].
From a conceptual point of view, the proposed model need not require a
blockchain. For every ticket, there should be a trustworthy organizer to allow the
owner of the ticket to enter the event. But when it comes to a non-theoretical point of
view, however, blockchain allows the organizer to deploy the application to multiple
providers, trusting them fully.
Moreover, it seems fair for the organizer to run such a system hand in hand which
lets an increase in resilience by earning trust in their infrastructure and improves user’s
encounter by producing all valid tickets being governed in a single application.
240 V. Naman et al.
13.7 Conclusions and Future Works
It has become easy for the scammers to make a copy of a legally-acquired ticket and
replicate the same QR code which helps them in making illegal profits by selling
multiple fake tickets to the users via online platforms or at the event venue. In this
scenario, using blockchain provides a guarantee that the ticket the users are going
to receive is indeed valid and is not a counterfeit or copied ticket. The proposed
prototype shows how blockchain technology helps in recording this step-by-step
procedure in a ledger which cannot be changed with the help of smart contracts and
therefore the process of event registration, minting of tokens, and generating QR
code is conceived through the combination of smart contracts. The proposed system
has some evident decentralized characteristics, which at second hand reduces the
chances of altering data within the enterprises. All the occurrences can be listed
and safely stored in the blockchain via a log. The outcome of the security analysis
shows how the proposed model is identified by data accessibility, sale of non-valid
or invalidated tickets, system autonomy, and opposition to 3rd party attack.
For the betterment of the traceability system suggested in this chapter, future work
could be dedicated to enhancing the proposed prototype by:
1. recognize formatted upload of data with the help of IoT technology to reduce
the chances of manual internal inputs,
2. to make the whole prototype fully automated with no human interaction using
AI or ML.
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Chapter 14
Cloud Identity and Access Management
Solution with Blockchain
Soumya Prakash Otta and Subhrakanta Panda
Abstract Present solutions to problems of Cloud Identity and Access Manage-

ment are costly, inefficient with information duplication across service providers.
It also comes with additional overhead for users requiring to keep track of associ-
ated credentials of desired services. Securing same is difficult and has resulted in
worldwide huge breaches of personal data in recent times. A comparatively new
approach is required for identity management with ownership of cloud user and
also controlled by cloud user. Blockchain technology decentralize various services,
security, and verifiability, by offering a peer to peer system. Particularly Blockchain
operates by enforcing continuous storage of various transaction performed that are
secured by digital signatures and affirmed through consensus. This chapter provides
a detailed and systematic description of blockchain for identity and access manage-
ment. The specific characteristic features of this technology that could revolutionize
the management process are highlighted. Towards this end, comparative study and
critical analysis of many approached and related aspects are incorporated. In the
chapter, we bring out various shortcomings identified from the studied literature,
limiting ourselves to the aspects of blockchain technology and their relevance. For
addressing these gaps, our comprehensive study also points out some future direc-
tions and further enhancement to the blockchain technology. Depending on such
findings, we pin point several research gaps and associated fields that are significant
for research aspects.
Keywords Decentralized identity · Identity management · Authentication ·

Security · Blockchain · Distributed ledger
S. P. Otta (B) · S. Panda

CSIS Department, BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad, India
S. Panda
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69395-4_14
244 S. P. Otta and S. Panda
14.1 Introduction
Advancements in communication technologies permit verity of devices to be inter-

connected over networks. This provides various ways to communicate between
systems and users. This is reflected more relevantly in present data enabled society.
Simultaneously it has opened areas of concern for vulnerability regarding user
privacy, resources authorization, and user authentication. To prevent violations
regarding privacy and fraudulent uses, Information Technology (IT) assets require
safeguard and proper security mechanisms in place called Access Control Systems
(ACS). Such systems are designed to check any attempt for gaining access or granting
the desired access for the specific target resources. The need to ensure provisioning
of right resources to the legitimate users has opened research areas for Identity and
Assess Management (IAM). This is continuously evolving as enterprises face increas-
ingly complex and difficult digital identity problems. With respect to new enterprise
philosophies and models, IAM presently a crucial topic for industry and academia.
Cloud computing is being rapidly applied to many IT environments due to its avail-
ability and efficiency. Importance of IAM in terms of cloud security as well as privacy
issues have been deliberated considering vital security aspects namely confidentiality,
integrity, authentication and access control.
Access management of resources is a crucial task for any enterprise cloud infras-
tructure. Significantly in a cloud environment, functionality of Access Control for
external systems is made available “as a Service (aaS)” by a trusted third party (TTP).
As per Gartner Research report, worldwide cloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
market has grown 37.3 percent in 2019. Cloud services mostly make use of open
platform based Application Program Interface (API), ensuring that users do not get
specifically bounded to use any particular implementation. For instance, Amazon
users are offered an Access Control Service for IAM towards Amazon Web Services
(AWS). Hence Amazon users can manage their access for allowing or denying
to corresponding AWS services. There is a possibility that a TTP Cloud Access
and Control facility may intentionally trigger deny response from system, thereby
denying access to genuine user although enforced policy might have been granted for
the same. This could even permit without policy being effectively followed, thereby
granting access to a user not having legitimate right.
In blockchain, resource owners as well as subjects are empowered to check and
verify each access request that is executed for evaluating policy implementation.
Every transaction saved is immutable as every node of network saves all executed
transactions involving blockchain. Enciphering means like asymmetric algorithms
for encryption, digital signatures as well and hashing function to ensure data integrity
are employed. Value of attributes during execution and resulting access decisions
generated for corresponding access requests are stored. Hence, blockchain is capable
to ensure non repudiation of performed operations. Additionally, all transaction
involving blockchain are also traceable to every user with inbuilt timestamp. Notable
utilization of blockchain technology for IAM is adequately covered in [14], using
Bitcoin methodology for signifying, storing, and retrieving user policies mentioning
14 Cloud Identity and Access Management Solution with Blockchain 245
rights of users for various resources. This also permit the transfer of right among
users originating from any policy changes in the enterprise.
The organization of the rest of the chapter is as follows: Sect. 14.2 provides details
of Identity and Access management. Section 14.3 discusses some IAM Concerns.
Section 14.4 elaborates Blockchain as a technology and its application to address
IAM issues. Open research issues are covered in Sects. 14.5 and 14.6 concludes the
chapter.
14.2 Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Conceptually Cloud Computing has evolved from grid computing. This is used for
organizing and providing internet-based information technology (IT) management
functions for enterprises. Everything is delivered in enterprise computing as service,
where the user is required to communicate multiple service providers to perform
desired transaction. In this matter, identity federation in Enterprise Computing
model, is a security model which facilitate users to log into interconnected and inte-
grated system having single set of credentials for signing on, without considering
implementation technologies as well as infrastructure involved.
14.2.1 Access Control System
In cloud environment, ACS is designed for protecting resources of the system.

This is done by verification of access requests made from that system for corre-
sponding access events. ACS takes a decision to provide or deny desired rights to
perform the accesses being requested. Such rights are denoted by Access Control-
ling tokens that gets generated from access policies, consisting of various conditions
that are verified to take access decision. In some cases, the access rights are not
fixed. Hence, this verification is a continuous process for entire time of access.
This results in interruption in case this access permission gets expired because of
a change in access scenario. Various suggested access control models are Manda-
tory Access Control model (MAC), Discretionary Access Control model (DAC), Role
Based Access Control model (RBAC), Policy Based Access Control model (PBAC),
and Risk-Based Access Control model.
A detailed analysis that resulted in highlighting of various access control tech-
niques along with their advantages and disadvantages are represented in below
mentioned Table 14.1.
Table 14.1 Detailed Comparison Of Access Control Techniques
246
S. References Tech name Observation Advantages Disadvantages

No.
1 [2] Attribute based Encryption (i) Attribute expert creates (i) Collusion resistance in (i) To Encrypt Data, data owner
public key and master key as pivotal state and security required to use legitimate
per attributes level is highest users public key
(ii) The data owner encodes data (ii) Minimize the
with a public key and arrange communication overhead
attributes
(iii) Client decodes encrypted
data with its private key, sent
from issuing authority and
deciphered data is obtained
2 [4] Role Based Model (i) The data protector (i) This system provides (i) A productive cryptographic
mechanism encodes data of additional provisioning, technique to approve the
cloud with encryption more efficient access control incomplete ordering
strategy and conceals access and administration with connection among users
to clients having specified minimal representative
roles downtime
(ii) Particular set of role are (ii) ABE are difficult to set up
defined. Users are allocated and complex to deal with.
with every role having set of Access complexity is made
permissions robust by Role based encryption
strategy
(continued)
S. P. Otta and S. Panda
No.
3 [23] Identity Based Authentication (i) Identity framework creates (i) Complexity of encoding (i) Safe channel between user
identity functionality with process can reduce and private key generator is
many to many (ii) Certificates are not required required
correspondences (iii) Pre enrollment is not (ii) Encrypted data is decoded
(ii) Trusted outsider creates a required just by one user hence this needs
private key (iv) No need to revoke key advance information sharing
(iii) Public key is distributed as because of key expiry
users’ public key and user can
process private key by joining
public key. In this way client
can decrypt data
(iv) In this method pre
appropriation of verified secret
key is not feasible. Hence
distribution among users is not
required
(continued)
14 Cloud Identity and Access Management Solution with Blockchain
247
248

No.
4 [28] Key-Policy Based Access (i) Encrypted data is stacked (i) Simple to manage user (i) The data owner can’t choose
Control with attribute and every user revocation key as to who can decrypt the
having those attribute can (ii) Its intended for One to Many encrypted data
only decode communications (ii) Its vulnerable for snot for
(ii) In Key Policy based and (iii) More adaptable than ABE some applications since data
Attribute Based Encryption, owner needs to have confidence
cipher text are related with an in the key issuer
arrangement of clear attributes
while trusted in quality
authority generate and issues
private key to client which has a
strategy that indicates which all
cipher texts this particular key
can decipher
5 [29] Fine-Grained Access Control (i) This type of access control (i) Simple to manage user (i) It is a more complex
systems dependent on CP revocation key arrangement
attribute based encryption, (ii) Its intended for One to Many
and advances high proficient communications
capacity conspire dependent (iii) More adaptable than ABE
on data secretly sharing, (iv) This scheme is capable of
simultaneously storing a reducing workload of Data
copy of the data organization so also the storage
(ii) This plan can essentially space related overhead of cloud
decrease the outstanding task service provider
with Data Owner and also the (v) This can balance between
storage requirements of cloud the system’s security and
service provider associated requirements
(continued)
No.
6 [26] Hierarchical Attribute Set Based (i) Data owner has to first (i) Less inventory capital (i) It’s even more complex
Access Control encrypt data before sending investment arrangement
it to the cloud (ii) Lower maintenance cost
(ii) The strategy of information (iii) Easier disaster recovery
documents refreshes by owner
by refreshing the associated
expiration time
(iii) Domain expert gives the
benefits and data owners are
controlled by domain authority
7 [19] Blockchain Based Access (i) This is type of cipher (i) Without copying them, the (i) A secured channel among
Control text-policy attribute-based capacity to alter the access user and attribute authority
encryption having dynamic policy for the encrypted is required for sharing
attributes information attribute secret keys
(ii) Utilization of blockchain
technology, typically using a
decentralized record
(iii) The system gives
unchanging key generation
facility. It handles request of
access policy assignment or

revocation dynamically
249
14.2.2 Authentication Process
A secured communication channel facilitates exchange data of sensitive nature with

trustworthiness, confidentiality, and integrity service over the transferred data. For
provisioning of such services, it is required to establish an authentication process
basing upon user’s registration information for identification. It is based on either
the user is aware of (like a password), user holds (akin to a smart card), or anything
the user has (like user profiling, fingerprint or other biometric method). Many types
of authentication mechanism have been developed as described:
Password Authentication
This is the easiest method to be used. But it must have desired difficulty level
to prevent it from being easily guessed. It must be regularly renewed to maintain
security. This type of authentication is well established with a common weakness.
Although proper user id and associated passphrase is applied, still it may be difficult
to justify that such access is initiated from a legitimate user and is vulnerable to
shoulder surfing attack [1]. However, password authentication continues to be most
commonly followed authentication means for transactions.
Trusted Platform Module Based Authentication
It is based on a hardware security module like a hardware lock. This lock uses a secure
crypto processor that is capable of storing cipher keys for information protection. A
commonly known variant of this is Mobile Trusted Module (MTM). This suggested
standard is issued by Trusted Computing Group (TCG), which is a consortium of
Microsoft, AMD, IBM, Intel, and Hewlett-Packard. This method is mostly applied
to authenticate telecommunication system terminals. Moreover, this is considered
to be a type of authentication method using online mechanism involving Subscriber
Identity Module (SIM) for its effective utilization in smartphones.
Trusted Third Party Authentication
Generally, a Trusted Third Party (TTP) service those are implemented in cloud
services establishes desired trust mechanism and provide solutions to ensure confi-
dentiality, integrity, and authenticity. This is also used to ensure security of transacted
data. Public key infrastructure (PKI) with TTP facilitates a robust means for imple-
menting effective authorization having desired authentication inbuilt into it. Public
key cryptography authentication means are used for implementation of PKI. A known
example of authentication using TTP is known as Single Sign On (SSO). Moreover,
TPP performs the task of an authentication server or a certifying authority that has
overcomes security bottlenecks concerning the system. This SSO method of authen-
tication is generally a preferred means to be widely followed in federated cloud
environments. However the TTP associated could be treated as a singular failure
point.
Multifactor Authentication
Authentication using multiple and collective factors [20] is a process that ensure,
there is a combination of two or more means of authentication for a legitimate user.
Combination of multiple factors are applied for determining identity of a person

for a higher level of trust for user’s authenticity. Generally, user ID with associated
password, biometric means, and authentication certificates are used for single factor
authentication. Towards this end a second factor authentication like One Time Pass-
word(OTP), e-mail, SMSs, and mobile enabled OATH Tokens are being used. In a
cloud environment this further adds an overhead for performing administration and
management.
Implicit Authentication
Authentication by implicit method uses constant observation of client behavior. This
is most suitable for mobiles as they can collect many type of users’ information. To
name a few, user location, movement of user, communication made by user, as well as
usage of various applications by the users. For providing stable and desired services
to users and their profile associated saved personal credential, many techniques have
been studied which are applicable to mobile cloud scenario [25].
Blockchain Authentication
Using Blockchain authentication method, a distributed ledger carries out desired veri-
fication thereby ensuring legitimacy of users messages and transactions. The need for
a TTP to provide authentication is eliminated. Simultaneously costs of expenditure
could be further curtailed with security and privacy are remarkably improved. The
process of authentication is accessed to be more difficult in a distributed scenario.
Blockchain authentication [11] is done by smart contracts which are deployed asso-
ciated with blockchain. Smart contract generator is usually created using Smart
Contract Authentication (SCA) layer. This is activated and executed whenever
an authentication request gets generated or self-govern it from pre-defined set of
desirable actions.
14.3 IAM Related Concerns
Information on users’ identity is continuously becoming a vital enabling factor of

present day data driven society. This also is being considered as most important
aspect in the inter communications among end users, intermediaries, and various
service providers for accessing resources of the system. Accordingly, identity as
well as access management continues to be an important challenge for information
security and also to maintain user privacy.
14.3.1 Overview of Identity Management
Identity management process is incorporated in administrative mechanism of any

organization and other corresponding protocols which are used to create, maintain
and also responsible for the de-provisioning of user accounts. Effective management
of identity and associated control of attributes are required for managing identities
towards various services. It is essentially desired to simplify user provisioning process
by proper identity management. Identity management may be analyzed considering
both users as well as digital entities. Security of user identity is associated with related
software systems to store identity credentials, related data, so also communication
link over which identity is desired to be verified and then established. For access
control and related matters, digital signature technique provides a secure mechanism
for user verification. For secured identity and access management using blockchain,
cryptographically secured system for managing identity can become more robust by
decentralizing the access method, verification and related transactions. Several types
of identity management methods are described below in this regard.
Independent IDM
In this method managing and owning of user credentials are responsibility of a single
entity. It is seen as mostly centralized internet identities. However, such independent
identity repository model possesses some definite shortcomings. In this the users
are not regarded as the owners of their own identity record. There is a possibility
that user identity credentials could be revoked or may even be misused by identity
provider.
Federated IDM
This mechanism is comparatively difficult for its implementation and require desired
service level agreement and proper trust relationship between offered service. Feder-
ated identity management systems [24] is expected to provide authentication as well
as authorization spreading beyond one organization and its administrative system
boundary. This essentially needs service level agreement (SLA), by means of that
identity credentials of one service provider is respected and acknowledged by other
providers. Data ownership of the systems associated with corresponding service
providers are also covered in the SLA. Identity provider is responsible for managing
user accounts independently. There is no requirement of enterprise user directory
wise integration. This mechanism lowers the security risk because of propagation of
use credentials and non-replication.
Self-sovereign IDM
In this type users and systems are capable of storing own identity related data on its
devices in a decentralized manner. This system securely give out their identity related
credential to those who require this for validation as and when required, without
depending on a central identity data repository. Self-sovereign identity concept is
emerging as a new means in which users are permitted for controlling self-digital
identity [17]. This method facilitates full control for user security as well as complete
portability of user’s data. As described by Sovrin foundation self-sovereign identity
is expressed as an Internet for identity. There is no identity owner in this huge pool.
Rather every user can use it and also permitted to further improve it.
14.3.2 Threats for Identity and Access Management in Cloud

Environment
In integrated system, Identity and Access Management (IAM) signify how securely
identity authentication and authorization means are used to manage desired appli-
cations of the system. This is followed for authentication of users, devices and in
certain cases services. For accessing the desired application, own identity repository
or technique to authenticate a system or service is always not mandatory. Rather
process of establishing identity may be achieved with the help of trusted third party
identity provider. This mechanism reduces workload of the application substantially.
This can also be used from outside an enterprise for handling business to business
oriented strategic relationship. This can even be used between a private enterprise
system and cloud service provider. This way this is implemented in a Multi-Cloud
or Federated environment.
Many method and protocols have been proposed by various researchers for
handling identity in cloud environment. Among authentication and authorization
protocols already developed and available for federated identity, three protocols are
generally found to be well accepted and established. They are SAML, OAuth and
OpenID [16]. These protocols differ in provisioning to address security related issues
of exchanging privileged data, authentication and authorization. Simultaneously all
three mentioned methods adopt same procedure, which is essentially a token based
solution. Below we deliberate on such methods.
Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML)

This is well established and also known for Single Sign On (SSO) assertion that is
utilized to exchange digital authentication as well as resource authorization among
identity provider (IdP) and service providers (SPs). It uses token based sign on
method. Trust is vital aspect among IdP and SPs in which corresponding SPs agree for
trusting various associated IdPs to authenticate respective users. The SSO assertions
are managed by authentication method of the IdPs with essential functionality of
token generation in this technique.
OAuth
This is an Open Standard protocol that is used to provide secured and authorization
service in delegated manner. Without sharing users’ password, only limited access
may be permitted for other applications with this method. With reference to OAuth
nomenclature, Service Provider is termed as Resource Server, Identity Provider is
called as Authorization Server and the User is known as Resource Owner. In OAuth
flow of operation, when resource owner’s status is online by logging in, the client
application essentially receives two tokens from the Authorization Server. One is
Access Token while other is Refresh Token. Access tokens so generated are designed
to be short lived considering its security and for preventing token theft. Client use
refresh token without undergoing login process again and again for getting access
token, afresh from respective Authorization Server on completion of active life of last
generated access token. Newly generated refresh tokens also carry relevant expiry
period.
OpenID
This is operated as an additional authentication mechanism over OAuth. It is essen-
tial for having specific OpenID account associated with available OpenID identity
providers. After logging on a user on such IdP is then capable of obtaining access
to privileged services which directly reside on resource servers. At the same time
relaying party then processes the desired OpenID authentication. There is a redirec-
tion from OpenID for the concerned user to IdP and further OpenID Provider for
getting authenticated. While using services by relying party’s access request and on
being authenticated with login credentials for user SSO session, the IdP assign that
service access having desired authorization.
14.3.3 IAM Concerns and Related Developments
Several researchers have identified problems associated with this research area and
have suggested many solutions to IAM. Below mentioned Table 14.2 depicts a list
of suggested approaches for solution to some of such problems. Related aspects of
solutions specifically have been highlighted on the usage of Blockchain technology.
14.4 Blockchain Technology
Blockchain is represented as a time stamped data structure which is distributed in

nature having append-only feature. Blockchain facilitates establishment of a peer to
peer network in which members who are non-trusting could communicate without
any central agency or TTP. This interaction can also be verified. In this infrastruc-
ture, digital signature enabled transaction among peers takes place. These trans-
actions signify a mutually agreed coordination mechanism between participating
users or agents, which could incorporate transaction of physical or digital resources.
This could be even the completion of particular event or task. Essentially one of
the participant sign this transaction. After that it is passed on to the neighboring
ones. An entity that gets connected with a blockchain is known as node. All the
nodes who successfully verify all defined rules of blockchain are termed full nodes.
Such nodes are responsible to organize the transactions into various blocks of the
blockchain. They also determine validity of transactions so that they are allowed to
be kept in the blockchain, or otherwise. Blockchain technology facilitates building an
always available, secured, distributed, immutable and commonly accessible reposi-
tory of associated data termed as ledgers. This depends on distributed and commonly
accepted set of rules to manage this repository specifically to decide about validity
of new data to be stored in the database in a distributed manner.
Table 14.2 Authentication and authorization problems with suggested solutions
S. Research problem Suggested solution References
No.
1 It is possible for a malicious user to get information on To suggest an authentication mechanism capable to protect [29]
relationships of users, access user interests and may even act to be information on users’ privacy, Blockchain algorithm was
one among them proposed. Assuming user having a close affinity, the
authentication procedure to use encryption along with a hashing
function for enhancing its security infrastructure
2 Presently used authentication mechanism essentially requires to A user authentication mechanism was designed, which is [27]
remember various complex IDs with passwords. Alternatively it distributed in nature using blockchain technology. In this method,
can depend on a trusted third party(TTP), for handling possibility identity information is stored in a distributed manner in a
of a system failure arising out of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks blockchain. Personal credentials of users are encrypted and are
stored at other than blockchain maintained storage locations.
Desired access permissions are permitted by an attached and
deployed smart contract
3 In the absence of a cloud server for merging requirements of Secure Authentication Management human centric Scheme [8]
storage as well as computing, management of resources akin to (SAMS) was suggested for achieving mobile device
cloud services can be achieved by applying external methods for authentication with the use of blockchain technology. This is an
services. Authentication method with such external services with enabler for effective resource handling pertaining to information
mobile device is not generally identified in the user devices
4 Concerns pertaining to privacy of users are not addressed For authentication and also for managing users’ privacy concerns, [3]
digital signature technique has been suggested. A gateway was
suggested using Blockchain as well. This acts a s a gateway

between users with deployed IoT devices
(continued)
255
256

No.
5 Using Cloud based radio access network devices are connected. 5G infrastructure of BTA and BAA technique using cloud radio [28]
Accordingly, in order to increase services of 5G network covered using optical fiber network have been suggested. For evaluating
area of IoT devices, for authentication purpose centralized access the efficiency of this architecture SDN testbed was used
mechanism is generally followed. An additional overhead is cost
of network. Hence most effective mechanism cannot be effectively
used to achieve security of desired high level for given services
6 Internet or alternatively gateway are used to manage Smart Homes. Key management, Secure smart home authentications along with [22]
This is implemented having intercommunication of IoT devices group key have been suggested basing on a multiple solution
with cloud servers. Communication devices like smartphone are chain to provide confidentiality of data
also used in Smart homes for various purposes. It is essential to
prevent any breach of security due to attack form outside the
network. Hence a secured network access is required in this
situation
7 The real issue is to how to ensure privacy, security in a centralized Blockchain enabled Identity Framework for IoT (BIFIT) was [13]
system. However, untraditional nature of IoT like heterogeneity, suggested. It is possible to get established in smart home scenario
mobility and scalability require identity management systems to to manage identity issues by following self-management by the
have a decentralized and trust less environments users themselves. Signature of individual users are used in this
method along with blockchain. However, IoT device signature
with low level identities interconnected with owners identities for
authentication of credentials and to bring normal and uniform
behavior of connected IoT devices
8 Known drawback of usage of public key certificates, such as Identity based linear homomorphic signature mechanism has been [22]
changing a selected message adaptively. Identity attack using prepared
random mode of operation is also required to be addressed
9 Development as well as usage of IOT is affected with privacy A robust authentication mechanism has been designed along with [21]
related concerns and associated security issues identification of its enabling technologies
(continued)
No.
10 IOT devices are required to authenticate among themselves. They Bubbles of trust system has been suggested. This method [7]
are also required to maintain data integrity while communication. empowers the devices to have more efficient identification and
They are also required to prevent malicious users and tampering authentication. It enhances system availability and also protects
caused due to their usage data integrity
11 Interoperability of the cloud is desired Using JSON Web Token (JWT) tool and blockchain mechanism, [6]
end-to-end and more efficient authentication technique has been
suggested
12 Authentication of mobile user required Blockchain technique has been applied to put forth a new IDaaS [9]
in a solution with digital identity management
13 The credit or debit card companies require more and more details, A CIMA framework has been proposed which use a context to [15]
like know your customer(KYC) with details of identity before represent shared secret among mobile device with enterprise. This
permitting any financial transaction mechanism enable establishment of one time session encrypted
key as well for mutual authentication
14 Authentication mechanism meant for undirected graphs signifying A mechanism namely transitively closed undirected graph [12]
authentication using graph edges which are non-existent along authentication (TCUGA) has been developed
with identified problem that need to be addressed
15 Having a very close similarity among users, cloud Service Authentication mechanism depending on Wi-Fi hotspot accessing [18]
providers commonly experience unconditional anonymity in IoT has been suggested that can provide accountability without
environment. Accordingly no specific means is proposed to decide depending on any TTP. This solution is known to have been
about particular user who is to be made responsible regarding developed from Bitcoin techniques
specific action for system functioning
257
14.4.1 Blockchain Architecture and Functioning
From its architecture point of view, Blockchain is a distributed ledger system.

Figure 14.1 shows an example of blockchain having a number of consecutively inter-
connected blocks. All of the blocks, except first block of blockchain always points to
corresponding immediate previously located block. This is named as parent block.
This linking is executed by inverse mechanism of reference which is represented by
hash function value generated from the parent block. Referring to Fig. 14.2, node i
should hold the hash of block i − 1. The first of the blocks of a blockchain is termed
as genesis block. The genesis block does not point to any parent block associated
with it.
Blockchain is composed of many consecutively interconnected blocks. It can be
described in detail in terms of a Merkle tree structure having multiple transactions.
A blockchain continuously grows with the transactions being executed and blocks
are appended. At the time of generation of a new block, all nodes of the network
play their role for the block validation process. Once validated, a block then gets
automatically added to end of blockchain by an inverse referencing for pointing
towards parent block. Due to this technique any attempt on the previously generated
block for any attempt for making any alternations are comfortably detected because
hash value of the apparently manipulated block definitely varies from hash of the
intact block. Since blockchain signify its distributed nature throughout the network,
any attempt to tamper it can be effortlessly identified by other nodes in network.
Fig. 14.1 Generic blockchain model

Fig. 14.2 Blockchain as distributed ledger (Inspired from [5])
The structure of a block essentially has the following information:

1. Version of the Block which indicate the rules for validation to be followed.
2. The hash of parent block functioning as a connecting information link.
3. Corresponding time stamp recording of the current time expressed up to seconds.
4. Staring from a zero count and increases for every further hashing calculation is
made.
5. Number of transaction performed in Blockchain.
6. Merkle Root signify that Merkel tree’s hash value corresponding to the root
having concatenating hash values in block for all transactions, as depicted in
Fig. 14.2.
Two types of participating nodes are there in Blockchain: Firstly, node that are
capable of only reading facts are termed as passive node. Secondly, nodes which
may be able to read and write data termed as active mode which are also generally
known as miners. For adding new transaction to blockchain, undermentioned set of
activities are performed.
1. Transactions yet to be performed are generally bunched together along with
other transactions, termed as a block in the description of Blockchain.
2. Responsibility of verifying whether transactions in Blockchain are done with
respect to defined rules lies with the Miners.
3. Miners perform on a mutually agreed upon consensus mechanism to perform
check and validate the added block.
4. Miners those perform validation of the block are generally rewarded.
5. Those transactions performed that are verified are stored in the blockchain. For
proving honesty in validation of blocks, several techniques exist.
14.4.2 Technical Function of Blockchain and Evolution
In this subsection, technologies used in blockchain is highlighted. Fundamentals

of trust mechanism, also commonly known as the consensus mechanism, used
in blockchain is described. Subsequently synchronization process of the nodes is

deliberated upon. Further evolution of blockchain are described.
Consensus Mechanism
Blockchain systems are independent of any third party trusted authority due to their
decentralized approach. In blockchain adoption, decentralized consensus mechanism
is vital for ensuring reliability, consistency of data, and also the transactions. Some
four well known consensus mechanisms are in use. They are Proof of Stake (PoS),
Proof of Work (PoW), Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT), and Delegated
Proof of Stake(DPoS).
PoW mechanism use puzzle solution for establishing credibility of data. Generally
used puzzle is computationally difficult but an easily verifiable problem. For creation
of a block by a node it is mandatorily required to solve a PoW puzzle. On being
resolved, it is broadcasted to other nodes for achieving consensus. PoW mechanism
require huge amount of calculations thereby wasting of computation capabilities.
For proving credibility of user data, the PoS mechanism use proof of ownership
of cryptocurrency. For block creation or any transaction, in a PoS based arrangement
users are supposed to pay desired amount of cryptocurrency. On successful validation
of transaction or block creation used cryptocurrency amount are sent back to original
node like a type of bonus. Else it is used as a fine. PoS mechanism increases the
throughput of blockchain system as it can effectively reduce load of computation.
Block Propagation and Synchronization

Every node is capable to store details of information regarding to all blocks in
blockchain. This is the foundation for establishing consensus and trust for blockchain.
For establishment of trust and consensus, propagation mechanisms may be divided
into the following types [10]
1. Propagation Based on Advertisement: This method draws its origin from
Bitcoin. When node X receive information pertaining to a block, X would
generate inv message (which is a type of message in Bitcoin) to corresponding
connected nodes. At the time of node Y getting inv message from X, it operates
with further mentioned steps. For the instance of node Y having information
on the block, it would ignore it. If node Y is not having this information, this
would respond to node X. On receipt of message from node Y at node X, node
X would send entire information of the block to node Y.
2. Advertisement or Push Hybrid Type Propagation: As the name suggests, it is
a hybrid propagation method used in Ethereum. It is assumed that node X is
connected to n number of peers. Using such mechanism, node X would be able
to push the block straight to square root of n peers. For rest of n-square root of
n of the connected peers, node X would be able to advertise block hash to the
rest.
3. Relay Network Propagation: Using this method every miner shares a transaction
pool. All transaction are denoted as an unique global ID, that would minimize
block size of broadcast. This reduces network load and as a result improve
propagation speed.
4. Sendheaders Propagation: In this method, node Y would initiate a sendheaders

message which is a type of message in Bitcoin, addressed towards node X.
On receipt of information of a block at node X, block’s header information is
sent to node Y. As a matter of comparison to propagation mechanism based on
advertisement, it is not necessary for node X to send inv messages. This is how
it aids in speeding up block propagation.
5. Propagation by Unsolicited Push: Using this mechanism, a miner broadcasts
the block directly to other nodes, after one block is mined.
Evolution of Technology
From its inception, the blockchain as a distributed ledger technology has matured
through two development stages. They are commonly termed as blockchain 1.0
and blockchain 2.0. Blockchain technology is primarily utilized for cryptocur-
rency transactions in stage 1.0. Like Bitcoin, there exists several other exam-
ples of cryptocurrency. To name a few Litecoin, Dogecoin and many more. With
development of Blockchain 2.0, a new idea called smart contract was introduced
for developing various applications. Smart contract is also signified as a special-
ized code for lightweight decentralized application(dAPP). A commonly known
example of blockchain 2.0 implementation is Ethereum. Every node of Ethereum
run specific Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) which enables execution of smart
contracts. In comparison to classical applications, a dAPP possesses undermentioned
characteristics and advantages.
1. Autonomy: Smart contracts are designed to be deployed and run on the
blockchain systems. Smart contracts are the core mechanism behind develop-
ment of dAPPs. Accordingly, dAPPs can run autonomically and independently
without any other’s assistance or participation.
2. Stable: State tree of blockchain holds generated bytecodes of smart contracts.
Every full node has information of all blocks as well as stateDB. These nodes
also store the generated bytecodes. Accordingly, considering probable failure of
some nodes, its operation is not likely to be affected. This mechanism ensures
stability of dAPPs.
3. Secure: Blockchain consensus mechanism along with public key cryptography
ensures the security as well as desired operations of smart contracts. This in
turn also maximizes security of dAPPs.
4. Traceable: All information related to smart contracts is stored as event logged
transactions in the blockchain. Accordingly every actions and operations
involving dAPPs are saved which are traceable as well.
14.4.3 Workflow of Blockchain
Working of blockchain is explained here with the help of Fig. 14.3. It depicts a money
transfer example scenario, wherein Alice wishes to transfer some money to Bob.
Fig. 14.3 Blockchain work flow (Inspired from [30])
1. Firstly, Alice starts initiation of this transaction with computer using her slotted
Bitcoin wallet.
2. This transaction incorporates related sender information like the sender’s wallet,
address of the receive and to be transferred amount. Its mandatory for said
transaction to be signed by private key of Alice which thereafter could be verified
and made accessible to other users with public key of Alice. Further the system
broadcasts this initiated transaction to everyone in the P2P network.
3. Subsequently, successfully validated transaction gets appended at the end of
transactions list. This creates a new block in blockchain when the miner of
blockchain solves required puzzles successfully.
4. Ultimately, all nodes save a snap sort of updated blockchain. This happens when
the successful validation of transaction is said to be complete and it is appended
to blockchain.
14.4.4 Comparison of Blockchain
There are definite differences noticed with blockchain technologies. These differ-
ences are prominently noticed with respect to scalability and native of cryptocur-
rency. Differences could also be noticed pertaining to participation of nodes in the
decentralized network, consensus mechanism etc. An analytical comparison between
various types of Blockchain is presented in Table 14.3.
Table 14.3 Comparison of types of blockchain

Parameter Public blockchain Private blockchain Consortium blockchain
Decentralization Decentralized Centralized Partially centralized
Immutability Nearly impossible Immutable Partially immutable
Non repudiation Non refusable Refusable Partially refusable
Level of Transparency Transparent Opaque Partially opaque
Traceability Traceable Traceable Partially traceable
Scalability Poor Better Good
Flexibility Poor Better Good
Efficiency Low High High
Permission type Permissionless Permissioned Permissioned
Employed Consensus PoW, PoS Ripple PBFT, PoA, PoET
algorithm
Example Bitcoin, GemOS, Multichain Ethereum, Hyperledger
14.4.5 Security Techniques in Blockchain
Various Basic Security Techniques and principle that specify as to how Blockchain
technology can ensure security are mentioned below:
1. Confidentiality: It is ensured by this means that only permitted users are allowed
to access the desired information. Blockchain uses a notional-anonymization
technique namely a hash function for hiding user identities and thereby ensuring
confidentiality.
2. Integrity: This property ensure that the information is changed or updated, only
by users permitted to do so. Blockchain incorporates cryptographic technique
for ensuring that transactions are immutable with an aim to verify data integrity.
3. Availability: This property ensures availability of data as desired. It also facili-
tates that the services are always activated upon the request of genuine users. To
achieve this aim Blockchain allow to get blocks stored in decentralized manner
having multiple copy stored in the blockchain.
4. Authentication: By this means, computer system tries establishing identity of
user or computer to permit that user or computer to gain access to certain allowed
and secured resources. This ensure restricted or controlled access permissions
for the said resources. Blockchain technology enables this functionality in terms
of provisioning of private keys for users those are permitted for performing
transactions.
5. Non repudiation: It signify impossible nature for a user or some entity associated
to communication, to not agreeing to have received or to have sent a message.
Such functionality is employed with blockchain due to time stamped event
logging property.
Security Requirements for Blockchain based Authentication

Considering available literature, a mutual authentication system, blockchain based
and fine grained access control system is required to fulfill following essential
requirement on security:
1. Single registration: The system is required to follow a single registration
process. This means user is required to register only once for performing
corresponding transactions.
2. Mutual authentication: System is essentially required to follow mutual authen-
tication technique among terminals and corresponding gateway. This would
enable for resisting commonly known attack like impersonation as well as man
in the middle attack.
3. User anonymity: For preserving system’s privacy, it must ensure anonymity
with respect to associated terminals. Considering blockchain system point of
view, an attacker would not be able to determine the actual identity of terminal
by performing an analysis of transaction performed.
4. Fine grained access control: Dynamically granting or revoking of permission
by authority or manager could be performed associated with terminals for the
policy at a fine grained standard. This action is performed in a near real time
manner.
5. Session key agreement: For secure communication for participants, there
should have established mechanism helps for establishing session keys. Most
likely one can establish secured connection with others for negotiating session
key to support further communication establishment.
6. Perfect forward secrecy: For ensuring secrecy of previously transmitted
message, a mechanism of forward secrecy is required to be provided in which
an attacker who manages to get both of the communicating partners private or
public keys would not be allowed for recovering previously generated session
key.
7. No verifier table: System is not required to maintain any verifier table. This
can reduce communication related overhead. It should also actively control
stolen verifier as well as denial of service (DoS) attack. Without any reference
to any verifier table, mutual authentication mechanism must be established in
the system.
8. No online registration center: For reduction of cost related to communication,
it is suggested that the system not to have any online registration center. This
arrangement facilitates each communication entities to authenticate directly
not depending on any central establishment for registration.
9. Relay current timestamp: For maintaining trust, the corresponding blockchain
is to be stored in a chronological order. The system must make use of trust
nodes to convey presently used timestamp in the blocks. There should not be
any potential means to enable any modification of the timestamp.
10. Birthday collision resilience: There is a rare chance that two same blocks being
created at the same time. The system should be in a position to control birthday
collision and eliminate any types of dispute among the sub blockchain.
11. Interception and modification resilience: It is essential to maintain integrity

of transmitted message. It is required to be protected from interception and
modification, and not being detected.
12. Hijacking resilience: To have a smoother transaction, it must minimize scope
for an attacker for hijacking any transaction, and not being detected.
13. Resilience to known attack: System is required to facilitate to ensure resilience
to commonly known types of attacks, like impersonation attack, DDoS attack,
modification attack, man in the middle attack as well as replay attack.
Addressing IAM Concerns with Blockchain

The Blockchain by design is decentralized, thus, it provides a decentralized approach
to Identity Management. In most state of the art systems, users store their identity
in their personal decentralized wallets thus eliminating the problems of centraliza-
tion. This decentralization also provides a large degree of mobility and user control
to such identities. A blockchain Identity also automatically provides a clear sepa-
ration between the roles of Authentication agents and Authorization agents, hence
degrading the probability of collusion of these agents against a subject. In most
cases Authentication and Authorization agents may be completely decoupled, thus
removing the incentive to misappropriate subject data. Lastly, trust scales very well
in the Blockchain environment as compared to traditional central server solutions.
This is simply because, new entrants into the Blockchain Identity only need to trust
the consensus algorithm as compared to trusting a server or even a group of servers.
Here we bring out a broad view as to knowing the best way blockchain could
be utilized for IAM functioning. Figure 14.4 describes a generic model for possible
interactions of the various IAM functions corresponding to blockchain. It mentions
at what position of a classical IAM processing cycle following blockchain technique
could be applied effectively and facilitate for IAM operations. Figure 14.4 describe
that blockchain technology which may be effectively applicable to all basic IAM
operations, particularly authentication, management of identity, access control, and
also monitoring or auditing.
Blockchain as a technology is found to be useful for ensuring privacy, Access
control, Data Integrity and also for protecting personal information associated. Fine
examples regarding employment of PoW enabled, blockchain for IoT application
to put in place integrity and confidentiality are available. For access control func-
tionality Blockchain could be used effectively. Using blockchain technology, a Fair
Access procedure has been proposed which allow clients for controlling own data.
Access control functionality on blockchain with data storage and distributed hash
table having with multiple nodes is a known phenomenon. This technique may effec-
tive used for data location management following a distributed database system. Such
a system essentially has a control mechanism which implements name registration
protocol with corresponding link associated with data storage.
Fig. 14.4 Blockchain for IAM function
14.5 Open Research Issues
It is concluded from above discussion that the methods involving MAC and DAC
may not be suitable enough for present day techniques of security advancement.
ABAC and RBAC could be able to keep them abreast with current requirements.
IAM is the most challenging field for research work having huge scope and can be
further explored for its enhancements. Since applications are vulnerable to attacks
in numerous means, this can only be handled with new security techniques for the
situation. Based upon the type of access control means adopted, some issues that
needs attention of researchers are mentioned below.
14.5.1 Mandatory Access Control (MAC)
1. MAC intends to use dispatch functionality for the related tools, utility and system
for the access control infrastructure.
2. MAC model restricts user access. Depending on the protection policy it does
not allow any attempt for alteration by user themselves.
3. A determined setup is essentially required to implement MAC in efficient
manner. It is required to have a heavily loaded organization management to
periodically refresh object and account labels for collecting new data when a
MAC system is implemented.
14.5.2 Discretionary Access Control (DAC)
1. It may be an easier task to compromise a Trusted Third Party(TTP) and then it

is possible to have a copy of unique message without consent of owner.
2. Lack of assurance on the flow of information is there.
3. Threads of Trojan horse pose as vulnerabilities.
14.5.3 Attribute Based Access Control (ABAC)
1. For a Multi-tenant or multi cloud or federated cloud environment, extension of

currently followed technique for heterogeneous cloud platforms along with its
policy integration matters for heterogeneous multi cloud IaaS requires further
attention.
2. There is a possibility to explore Multi-tenant ABAC covering context and
other associated attributes. Administrative schema is a challenging development
towards of Multi-tenant ABAC.
3. To extend the scope towards authorization for Multi-tenant situation, particularly
as a Service. Open Stack API support is desired for attribute based Multi-tenant
access control models.
4. Since tenant are not allowed to arrange own policy matters, cloud’s policy and
role of users are the alternative which can be explored.
5. It’s not capable to arrange tenant level administrator.
6. User role assignment management is not offered in ABAC.
14.5.4 Role Based Access Control (RBAC)
1. Sometimes it produces extra and may even contradicting roles than those of
users.
2. RBAC method of allocation of roles is a static process for the users, which are
not chosen in dynamic situation. It is very troublesome to implement when the
system function dynamically and its environment further distributed.
3. It is troublesome to change access rights of the user without making a change
to the role of that particular user.
4. Dynamic attributes are not recommended for usage with RBAC.
5. Access rights are not likely get modified without changing the user roles. For
implementing RBAC model roles it is recommended to be assigned well prior
to its implementation.
6. A role change may be of advantage for permissions associated role which could
be deleted or distorted.
14.5.5 Identity Access Management (IAM)
1. Multilevel security may result in fine grained and on demand access control
methods.
2. Lack of prominent Personal Identifiable Information (PII).
3. It may lack desired architecture to support clients in data distribution during
information exchanging.
4. Lack of assurance on performance parameters of users by Service Provider.
14.5.6 Additional Issues
In this discussion it is pointed out regarding audit and privacy concerns are compa-
rable to each sides of a coin. Both of above mentioned concerns follow the principle of
blockchain technology’s nature of storing information in a tamper proof and openly
accessible mechanism of storage. While trying to handle the privacy related matters
it is not advisable to neglect required transparency of the system. Such a facility can
be achieved by limiting access to stored information following a need to know basis
approach and also only to intended parties. The simplest way for its implementa-
tion could be to adopt a private blockchain implementation. For operating the block,
trusted parties only are permitted to add new blocks to the chain and also to access
information already saved in the blocks. In order to efficiently process encrypted data
in clear mode enough miners would need to decipher such information in the event
data be encrypted in a private chain to further limit information access by others. A
private blockchain is not able to solve this issue of processing of deciphered data and
storage as well as of retrieval of data in encrypted mode in general. This may even
limit itself to replace such matter with the need a TTP. This may lead to a situation
where the private blockchain miners are required to be trusted.
14.6 Conclusion
Blockchain technology came to existence due to requirements for cryptocurrency

transactions. Essence of such transaction is to exchange cash in electronic form
where the transacting parties don’t trust each other, not even they trust intermediate
party. Since the technology is continuously evolving and getting matured, it has
been able to address many more modern day requirements. Blockchain is accessed
as a potent means for improving the efficiency of IAM by infusing the associ-
ated technical advantages like immutability, decentralized nature and fault tolerance.
Further owning and verifiability aspect of user credentials have been coined to above,
enhancing its way toward achieving Self-sovereignty in the field of IAM. Without
depending on any centralized third party, having a secure platform to authenticate
user to avail sensitive online services has become a reality. Hence a cost effective,
reliable and technically robust IAM solution for government agencies as well as
corporates can be made available with the help of Bolckchain.
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Chapter 15
Blockchain: A New Safeguard
to Cybersecurity
Ishtiaque Ahmed, Manan Darda, and Siddhanth Nath
Abstract Blockchain and Cybersecurity are two vivid technologies that have devel-
oped tremendous consideration in recent years. This chapter presents a structure
of existing and possible utilization of blockchain-based cybersecurity solutions for
attackers and defenders to evaluate whether the convergence will steer the results for
one of these groups. It focuses on the blockchain architecture and clarifies the ideas
and different features such as decentralization, trustworthiness, smart contracts, and
immutability. It attempts to feature the role of Blockchain in molding the eventual
fate of Cyber Security. It also deals with trending cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and
Ethereum which are gaining prominence in the recent times and will revolutionize
the way people trade.
Keywords Blockchain · Cybersecurity · Cyberattacks · Threats · Defense
15.1 Introduction
Blockchain technology was presented in 2008 as a foundation of bitcoin that has

increased across the board consideration as the first cryptocurrency. Besides, begin-
ning from mid-2010s clients started to understand that Blockchain as the central
innovation can have a lot more extensive use than the bitcoin itself, and the two
terms began to follow separate ways [1]. In simpler terms, a period ventured course
of action of immutable records of data, which is supervised by a group of PCs not
influenced by any single element. These blocks of information (for example, block)
are made sure about and assured to one another utilizing cryptographic standards.
The information is put away in various areas; in this manner, being by definition
public and broadly unquestionable along these lines progressively hard to control
given that a similar duplicate exists at the same time in numerous spots.
When you have a decentralized ledger and encryption, the security potential is
unbound. Today, if a hacker performs a breach, most information is stored in one
I. Ahmed (B) · M. Darda · S. Nath

SVKM NMIMS, Vile Parle, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400056, India
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69395-4_15
272 I. Ahmed et al.
place, such as a file or database server [2]. But what if a company’s data was encrypted
and then distributed on a digital ledger. There’s already a company working on this
solution. Companies would be able to archive off their data, have it encrypted, then
distributed. The advantage in this is that even if a hacker could somehow penetrate
the Blockchain, they would only be able to retrieve a small piece of the puzzle.
But blockchain technology could change all this. For instance, because of
Blockchain’s decentralized nature, a group of devices would be able to form a
consensus regarding the regular occurrences within a given network and shut down
any node that has an anomaly. It is the significance of a democratized structure as
the blockchain network has no central power. Since it is an immutable record, the
info in it is public for everyone to see [3, 4]. Therefore, anything that hinge on the
Blockchain is for its very nature direct, and everyone included is liable for their
trainings.
This chapter is organized into seven major sections. First section describes the
basic introduction of Blockchain. Next section deals with the methodology and
working of Blockchain. Third section summarizes one of the major applications
of Blockchain i.e. Ethereum. Fourth section compares and contrast the differences
between different types of Blockchain. Fifth section presents brief summary of
different Cyber Threats and how Blockchain can prevent Cyber Security from these
cyber threats. Sixth section compiles the future aspects and impacts of blockchain
technology. In the last section we conclude that how Blockchain is a great innovation
for eradicating Cyber Threats.
15.2 Methodology
Blockchain innovation works by making a safe and upfront condition for the mone-
tary exchanges of digital assets, i.e., Bitcoin. Each block’s Hash codes protect records
in the Blockchain. This is mostly in light of the fact that independent of the size of
the data or record, the numerical hash work gives a hash code of a similar length [5].
Along these lines, endeavoring to change a square of information would produce a
totally new hash value.
When an exchange has been approved and settled upon by all the nodes, it, at that
point, gets added to the digital ledger and secured utilizing cryptography that utilizes
a public key available to the various nodes and a private key that must be left well
enough alone.
A system that is available to everybody and simultaneously keeps up the client’s
secrecy without a doubt raises trust issues in regards to the members. Along these
lines, to manufacture the trust, the members need to experience a few agreement
consensuses protocols, for example, Proof of Work and Proof of Stake [6].
The Blockchain is upfront and shrewd technique too of passing data from X to Y
in a completely computerized and safe way. The procedure of making a block starts
when a group participates in an exchange. Thousands check this block, maybe a huge
number of PCs disseminated around the net. The confirmed block is added to a chain
15 Blockchain: A New Safeguard to Cybersecurity 273
Fig. 15.1 How blockchain works [8]
set aside over the net, making an uncommon record, yet an exceptional business with
a unique history [7]. Corrupting a singular report would mean delivering the whole
chain in limitless models. Bitcoin uses this model for cash related trades, yet it might
be passed on from various viewpoints (Fig. 15.1).
15.3 Ethereum
Ethereum is an open-source processing platform and operating system. It addition-

ally has its related cryptocurrency, ether. It has features like Smart Contracts and
Distributed Applications to be assembled and run with not a single fraud, misrep-
resentation, or interference from a third party. It isn’t only a platform yet, besides
a programming language running on a blockchain [9]. Ethereum is a decentralized
network that has the capacity of running applications in a distributed domain.
15.3.1 Smart Contracts
A smart contract is a PC program or a self-executing deal managed by a P2P network

of computers. In simpler terms, it is an agreement between buyer and seller written
274 I. Ahmed et al.
Fig. 15.2 From the book “Token Economy” by Voshmgir [10]
into lines of code. It helps exchange money, property, offers, or anything of note-
worthy worth in a straightforward, conflict-free way while staying away from the
organizations of a third party (Fig. 15.2).
Example
Assume we rent a flat from person X. We can do this with the help of blockchain
technology by paying in digital currency. We get a certificate which will hold in
our virtual agreement; Person X gives us the computerized passage key, delivered
to us by a predefined time and date. On the off chance that the key doesn’t come on
schedule, the Blockchain discharges a refund. If Person X sends the key before the
specified date, the system holds it, which was previously releasing both the expense
and critical to us and person X separately when the time shows up. The framework
works on the If-Then reason and is observed by several individuals to anticipate a
flawless performance. If Person X gives us the key, Person X makes sure to be paid.
If we send a certain sum in bitcoins, we get the key. The archive is consequently
dropped after the time, and the code cannot be hindered with both of us without the
other knowing since all members are at the same time alerted.
15.3.2 Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)
If we try developing a smart contract on the Ethereum Blockchain, then coming

across the term EVM, short for Ethereum Virtual Machine is sure. EVM can primarily
be understood as a framework intended to work as a runtime domain for Ethereum
based smart contracts. In Ethereum, with each program, a system of thousands of PCs
forms it. Smart Contracts are aggregated into bytecode, which a component called
EVM can read and execute. EVM works in a sand-boxed domain as it is completely
disengaged from the principle Blockchain system, and works perfectly as a testing
situation. Along with these, anyone who might need to make a smart contract utilizing
EVM can do so without interfering with other Blockchain operations.
15.3.3 Gas
Gas refers to the expense or estimating value, required to effectively direct exchange
or execute an agreement on the Ethereum blockchain platform. It is valued in sub-
units of the cryptocurrency ether, known as gwei. Gas quantifies the measure of work
miners need to do to remember transactions in a block. The market determines the
estimation of gas as the bitcoin market. If a higher gas cost is paid, the node will
organize the transactions for benefit.
15.3.4 DApps (Decentralized Applications)
dApp utilizes incentives, for example, crypto-tokens and inbuilt consensus mecha-
nisms. A distributed application doesn’t have to store its states; in any case, Ethereum-
based dispersed application stores confided in states, and these outcomes in a prudent
answer for end-users.
The dApp client is required to program the frontend, aside from the user interfaces
with the Ethereum blockchain. The clients are regularly written in JavaScript because
they can be run in an internet browser, which many of us have.
15.4 Private Versus Public Blockchain
Blockchain is a distributed ledger that records exchanges between every client in

the chain. Although it’s usually viewed as a single technology, there are various
sorts of Blockchain: public and private. From its inception, Blockchain has been
permissionless, open to the general public no matter what.
15.4.1 Public Blockchain
It’s a type of Blockchain network in which anyone can join, i.e., a permissionless
blockchain. In a public blockchain, anyone can read, write, or take an interest. This
type of Blockchain is decentralized, no one has ordered over the framework, and
276 I. Ahmed et al.
they are protected in that the information can’t be altered once approved. Data on
a public blockchain are secure as it is not possible to expect some modification or
change data once they have been passed on the Blockchain.
Public blockchains do carry some necessary inconveniences concerning the busi-
ness. Organizations are generally increasingly keen on private blockchains to make
blockchain solutions with better protection and security.
15.4.2 Private Blockchain
While Private Blockchain is a permissioned blockchain, it puts a few limitations

on who is permitted to take an interest in the system and in what exchanges. It is
built to give better security over transactions and is appropriate for banking and
other budgetary institutions [11]. Private blockchains permit associations to utilize
distributed ledger technology without making information public. There is at least
one entity that controls the network, and this prompts dependence on third parties to
transact. But in private Blockchain, it’s different as only the entities participating in
a transaction will know about it, while the others won’t have the choice to get to it.
Private blockchains can likewise be called consortium blockchains dependent on
their limitations and control levels. One of the most mainstream executions of this
is Hyperledger Fabric, a permissioned blockchain structure facilitated by the Linux
Foundation.
15.5 Cyber Threats and Blockchain Transformation
Cyber Security Challenges have expanded complex, and there is a change in perspec-
tive in Threat Landscape. Not regarding significant spending on heritage security
items, advanced cyber-criminals are bypassing these protections effectively, making
the life of security Professional hopeless. How about we take a look at this present
reality. The Chinese government and their military, the People’s Liberation Army
(PLA), have been blamed for accessing technology and trade secrets unknowingly,
regularly from private organizations worldwide. We always imagine that China wants
to obliterate the US. However, that is not true. China essentially needs to be the
superpower and needs to be a technology chief. In the long run, it requires every
American, and even the remainder of the world, to be an innovation subject to the
Chinese market. Due to this, the outcome is that the Chinese cybercriminals always
spy activities focusing on worldwide organizations and government organizations to
assemble free trade secrets. Sometimes political parties gather essential information
using advanced analytics of their citizens to foresee future election results.
15.5.1 New Threat Landscape
Cybercriminals have changed in form, capacity, and refinement. The principle

distinction is the new dangers are conclusively determined by people, rather than
past age assaults, which were malware-based assaults like viruses, trojans, worms,
etc. When a cybercriminal finds a defenselessness system and decides how to access
an application, they have all that they have to manufacture an infection for the form;
thus, it is essential to creating solid helplessness the network management.
15.5.1.1 Ransomware
Ransomware is malware in which data on a casualty’s PC is encoded, and payment

is requested before giving them getting it [12]. Ransomware is one of the most
inclining and exceptional yield kinds of crimeware. It has pulled in a tremendous
measure of media included in the previous two years. The ransomware creator has the
administration over the dark web, which permits any purchaser to make and adjust
the malware.
15.5.1.2 Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Attack
A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack is a malignant endeavor to make an

online help inaccessible to clients, mostly by incidentally hindering or suspending
the services of its facilitating server [13]. But in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS)
attacks happen when numerous machines work together to assault one network or
system. DDoS attacks might be joined with an extortion danger of all the more
disastrous attacks except if the organization pays a cryptocurrency ransom. DDoS
attacks have become a regular risk, as they are usually used to render retribution,
lead blackmail, activism, and in any event, for cyberwar.
15.5.1.3 Insider Threat
An insider threat is a security risk that begins inside the focused-on association, at the
point when an insider deliberately or inadvertently abuses access to adversely influ-
ence the classification, respectability, or accessibility of the organization’s primary
data or frameworks. They could be an expert, previous worker, colleague, or panel
member. Traditional safety efforts will result in the global spotlight on outer or third-
parties’ dangers and are not generally fit for recognizing an interior danger radiating
from inside the association.
278 I. Ahmed et al.
15.5.1.4 Data Breach
A typical case of a cyber threat is a Data Breach, which is a security incident wherein
data is gotten to without approval. It may incorporate the mishap or burglary of
your Aadhar Card Number, bank details, personal healthcare data, passwords, or
email. Data Breaches are achievable because of weak passwords, missing anti-virus
patches that are abused, or lost or taken PCs cell phones, laptops. Cybercriminals
regularly hamper information breaks, and there are likewise episodes where ventures
or government offices accidentally uncover delicate or private information on the
web.
15.5.2 Defender’s Interpretation
In the wake of understanding the developing cyber threats and the absolute best cyber-
attacks, it is imperative to figure out our self-defense. These cyber-threats groups have
all that they have to find an association’s benefits and afterward discover the vulner-
abilities to assemble their weapons appropriately. Cyber threats prompt a vast worry
for organizations that have been non-versatile, here and there for more than decades,
yet how about we acknowledge the way that there are a decent number of bodies
who have been splendid in accomplishing cyber cleanliness and better resistant cyber
systems. We should concentrate on a portion of these bodies, including governments
and organizations.
15.5.2.1 Governments
As government services go computerized, cybercriminals are spotting new open

doors for false claims and theft. The government consistently attempts to concentrate
on actualizing these innovative systems to safeguard against and moderate cyber-
attacks. Significantly, government authorities become better at securing their primary
resources.
15.5.2.2 India
Taking into account the developing occurrences of financial cybercrimes, including

cheats utilizing cards and e-wallets, Home Minister Rajnath Singh has requested the
fortifying of the surveillance and legal systems to check the hazard [14]. That is why
in February 2017, the Indian government’s Computer Emergency Response Team
(CERTIn) propelled Cyber Swachhta Kendra, a Botnet Cleaning and Malware Anal-
ysis Centre to make secure Indian the Internet through distinguishing and cleaning
bots in client endpoints.
15.5.2.3 The United States (US)
As a significantly developed economy, the United States is exceptionally reliant

on the Internet and along these lines extraordinarily exposed to cyber-attacks. The
United States Department of Defense notices the utilization of PCs and the Internet
to lead fighting on the Internet as a threat to national security yet besides as a platform
for assault [15]. Because of which US President Donald Trump marked an official
request on May 11, 2017, that spreads reinforcing the cybersecurity of the government
network, underscoring responsibility, an adjustment of the structure to improve its
basic framework, and modernizing existing cybersecurity structures.
15.5.2.4 Europe
The European Union is reinforcing its cybersecurity rules to handle the expanding
danger acted by cyber-attacks like well as to make the most of the chances of the new
advanced age. The European Union Agency for Network and Information Security
(ENISA) fills in as a focal point of skill and greatness for both part-state and EU
establishments identified with system and data security [16]. On April 9, 2019, the
Council received a guideline called the Cybersecurity Act which presents:
• An arrangement of EU-wide affirmation plans
• An EU cybersecurity organization to update and take control from the current
European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA).
15.5.2.5 Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
Endpoint security is the foundation of IT security, so it put significant time and

thought into this rundown of top endpoint detection and response (EDR) sellers. It
gives security groups a concentrated stage for ceaselessly observing endpoints and
reacting to occurrences as they emerge, frequently utilizing automated response.
Main aspects of EDR:
1. Exhaustive Unified Data
2. Broad Visibility
3. Real-Time Response
4. Incorporation with Other Security Tools.
15.5.2.6 Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI)
Like every other intelligence, cyber threat intelligence gives a value add to digital
threat data, which decreases vulnerability for the shopper while supporting the
purchaser in recognizing dangers and openings. The system is a cycle since it
identifies understanding gaps, unresolved requests, which guidelines new grouping
280 I. Ahmed et al.
essentials, this way restarting the information cycle. Intelligence experts recognize
knowledge holes during the investigation stage.
15.5.3 By What Means Can Blockchain Help?
Blockchain-based arrangements are among the generally thought about alternatives.

And it’s not just common among business pioneers. As of late, NASA chose to
execute blockchain innovation to help cybersecurity, and forestall denial of service
and different attacks on air traffic administrations. Blockchain is rising as an entirely
reasonable innovation with regards to safeguarding organizations and various entities
from cyber-attacks.
15.5.3.1 PKI-Based Identity with Blockchain
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) can be followed back to the 1970s when signifi-
cant encryption forward leaps from a couple of British intelligence office designers
molded the eventual fate of key distribution [17]. A certificate authority (CA) fills
in as a mediator for these transactions. It ensures the genuineness of the public key,
making it workable for a beneficiary of information to approve the transaction’s
content. But with the help of Blockchain, an innovative concept is achieved, which
is a Decentralized Public Key Infrastructure (DPKI) that accomplishes verification
over public systems without relying upon a solitary third-party that can bargain the
trustworthiness and security of the system. Blockchain works with a trustless method-
ology that permits both trusted and untrusted gatherings to speak with one another.
With DPKI, any content will be a type of mystery property.
A conventional blockchain can replicate the signature functionality of a PKI for
approving exchanges. What’s more, it gives the advantage that, with the help of a
consensus mechanism, no central CA is required, which significantly diminishes the
danger of an attack on that vector.
15.5.3.2 2FA Authentication with Blockchain
Two-factor authentication (2FA) gives an additional layer to the current credential-

based system protection as an answer for this radically developing issue. It includes
another significant segment of security you can set up to keep your wallet secure. 2FA
is a critical, easy-to-understand, friendly tool that should be consistently utilized, at
whatever point.
Although despite everything, experiences the downside of having the centralized
database store a rundown of secret client data. The central database can be altered or
tainted by focused dangers, and this can prompt massive information breaches. With
the assistance of Blockchain can genuinely change the 2FA framework to accomplish
an improved security strategy. By structure, Blockchain is a decentralized innovation

that permits exchanges of any sort of significant worth among numerous members
without the contribution of a third-party. By utilizing Blockchain, we can guarantee
that this sensitive data never stays on one database; rather, it very well may be
inside blockchain hubs that have immutability and can’t be altered or erased. With
blockchain-based 2FA in this framework, client devices will be validated by a third-
party 2FA supplier through the blockchain network. Each party in the blockchain
system will safely hold the endpoint data and enact the 2FA framework to create a
second-level password.
15.5.3.3 Blockchain-Based DNS Design
An enormous number of studies have endeavored to take care of common DNS

issues utilizing blockchain-based decentralization plans, such as Namecoin, BNS
(Blockstack Naming service), ENS (Ethereum Name Service), and Handshake [18].
Namecoin is the primary task of joining an area name administration with a
blockchain. Blockstack based Namecoin, relocates area name administrations to
the Bitcoin blockchain, and isolates the control and info layers to advance network
security. ENS is a distributed, public, and extensible naming framework dependent
on the Ethereum, which is midway kept up by a select arrangement of signers. BNS
straightforwardly forsake similarity, receiving another new domain namespace and
another domain name allocation system. The ENS group is endeavoring to be good
with DNS on high-level domains. Handshake proposed a root zone the executive’s
system dependent on a blockchain, which takes care of the centralization of existing
root zones by blockchain innovation.
15.5.3.4 DDoS Mitigation Using Blockchain
As examined above, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are the same
old thing. However, ongoing assaults are expanding in seriousness, intricacy, and
recurrence and have like this become a standard worry for organizations and private
clients the same. Organizations are starting to investigate Blockchain to forestall and
alleviate DDoS attacks. Working the DNS on a blockchain would guarantee that
attacks are not focused on a brought together to source, devastating it.
Then again, organizations are likewise utilizing blockchain technology to make a
decentralized system of servers that can rapidly send bandwidth capacity to different
servers confronting attacks. The attacked server would then be able to withstand
the DDoS attacks by engrossing the overabundance traffic utilizing the extra band-
width. Organizations can be distributed between different server nodes that give high
strength and evacuate the single purpose of failure to prevent systems from DDoS
attacks.
282 I. Ahmed et al.
15.6 Future Work
Cybersecurity is one of the most flexible ventures in which organizations see another
variety of danger every other day. That is why it is essential to set up an appraisal of
potential hazards and potential security advancements to keep predicting client and
partner trust. The mix of block-building algorithms and hashing makes Blockchain
an incredible arrangement in the cybersecurity portfolio, as Blockchain is changing
the cybersecurity solution in a few different ways.
15.6.1 Future Impacts of Blockchain
For example, Akasha, Steem.io, or Synereo are distributed social organizations that
work like Facebook, however, without a focal platform. Rather than depending on a
centralized association to deal with the system and specify which content ought to
be shown to whom, these stages are run in a decentralized way, accumulating crafted
by different gatherings of peers, which facilitate themselves, just and only, through
a lot of code-based standards revered in a blockchain. By empowering peer-to-peer
transactions, the blockchain technology makes way for direct collaboration between
groups—a decentralized sharing economy outcome.
Supply chains contain complex systems of providers, makers, wholesalers,
retailers, examiners, and customers [19]. A blockchain’s IT foundation would smooth
out work processes for all gatherings, regardless of the size of the business system.
Moreover, a common foundation would give inspectors more exceptional visi-
bility into members’ exercises along the worth chain. Blockchain can drive cost-
sparing efficiencies and to upgrade the customer experience through recognizability,
straightforwardness, and detectability.
Consolidating Blockchain and IoT permits organizations and even shoppers to
legitimately adopt the “multiple times more data” that is produced by the roughly
30 sensors in your vehicle, motor sensors in planes estimating 5000 components
for each second, and billions of different sensors in all aspects of our day by day
lives figuring things like climate impacts, contaminations, area, fuel, temperature,
moistness, sound, vibration, wind opposition, pressure, weight, power, and over 300
different kinds of components.
Blockchain could go about as an incomprehensibly secure and precise approach
to store singular data, which is utilized for KYC and AML consistency. On the off
chance that Blockchain is used for KYC and AML consistency, a customer could
make a solitary “block” by taking care of their information, which understandings
for KYC and AML consistence [20]. The underlying one is that a customary KYC
and AML Blockchain library can be made, and different banks and money related
establishments can utilize it. Another critical edge is that a KYC and AML vault is
additionally made for intra-bank use. Blockchain can significantly enliven and bring
down expenses for KYC.
With the stock market over the globe, increasingly holding onto Blockchain’s local
capacities as the reason for advertising exchanges, numerous foundations investigate
how blockchain technology can be utilized in the securities exchange. Blockchain
offers enormous potential for following protections loaning, repo and edge financing,
and checking significant hazards.
Blockchain can be the answer to compatibility, belief, and truthfulness issues
in divided market structures. The innovation can have suitable use in clearing and
settlement, while safely robotizing the post-exchange process, enabling desk work
of exchange and legitimate possession move of the security. It can kill the need
for third-party participation to a considerable degree. The standards and guidelines
would be in-worked inside smart contracts and official with each exchange request
to enrol exchanges with the Blockchain arrange to go about as a controller for all
trades.
15.7 Conclusions and Future Scopes
Overseeing cybersecurity over an undertaking is a unique challenge. The stakes have

never been higher, with the pace of cyber-attacks expanding each year. Notwith-
standing Blockchain being a moderately youthful innovation with just a long time
since initiation, it has increased critical consideration and is alluring because of a
portion of its extraordinary properties. As depicted in the paper, various attacks focus
on the Blockchain itself. Until this point, the vast majority of these were intended to
take cryptocurrency or coerce cash in ransomware plans.
Blockchain has different applications, such as public records, private records,
money related exchanges, ID, and so on. Mainly it adds to key flexibly chain desti-
nations, including speeding up, confirming manageability, lessening dangers, and
so forth. Mainly it adds to core flexibly chain destinations, including speeding up,
confirming manageability, lessening dangers, and so forth. Insurance, e-casting a
ballot, closeout, lawful issues, and so forth are genuine models where smart contracts
function admirably. This examination uncovered that this innovation is suspected to
improve everything from improving information integrity and digital identities to
forestall DDoS assaults and data breaches.
We expect that the first applications that require unwavering quality and informa-
tion security will soon change to this innovation since the blockchain core is protected
and reliable. We accept to presume that approval and computational expenses in
mining blocks. Blockchain upgrades cybersecurity and data affirmation; particu-
larly, it has the potential to improve massive information security and healthcare
services cybersecurity.
284 I. Ahmed et al.
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ory-of-blockchain-technology-everyone-shouldread/#19c60b067bc4. Accessed 15 Feb 2019
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Chapter 16
Gun Tracking System Using Blockchain
Technology
Shagun S Lokre, Vihas Naman, Shanmukhi Priya,

and Sandeep Kumar Panda
Abstract One of the major concerns for the government in terms of security is the
safety of the citizens. We have come across many cases in which the individuals
have access to the ammunition without having the required license. Inadequacy in
the management of weapons, especially those which remain reserved is the major
contributing factor. Individuals submit counterfeit documents to some third party
dealers who help them in getting a fake arms license. That’s not all, no one knows
whether the individuals who use the ammunition with the fake license have any
criminal background at that time. The production of such reserved deteriorating
weapons is creating a huge problem leading to an unsafe environment among the
citizenry. In this chapter, we lay forward a model that helps to overcome these
challenges with the help of blockchain technology. In our model, we provided a
simple solution on how the transfer of guns can take place between the dealer and
the seller using digital signatures and a digital gun safe just like a bitcoin (BTC)
wallet which stores each and every information about an individual securely and it
helps us in identifying whether the person who has a weapon holds an original arms
license or has a fake one and also checks whether the person has a previous criminal
record on his name. Since blockchain is immutable and hackproof, this technology
can be used to eliminate the above claims and improve the ownership, traceability
of the weapon and keeps the records securely inside the digital safe. Although the
use of blockchain technology has some constraints when a large number of records
are to be stored inside the safe, it’s properties can be used to improve the current
scenario.
Keywords Government · Ammunition · Blockchain · Bitcoin wallet ·

Immutable · Gun safe
S. S. Lokre (B) · V. Naman · S. Priya · S. K. Panda

Computer Science and Engineering Department, IcfaiTech (Faculty of Science and Technology),
ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (Deemed to be University), Hyderabad, Telangana, India
S. K. Panda
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69395-4_16
286 S. S. Lokre et al.
16.1 Introduction
In today’s world, the supply of illegal weapons has increased drastically and most
of these weapons are being sold in the black market and on online sites such as the
dark web [1]. Though the arms business is small in the capacity as compared to other
products smuggled online, its consequences on security are quite significant. Despite
efforts being made for regulating firearms, there has been news about people carrying
ammunition wherever they go with them for their safety concerns. But, most of these
people do not have a valid arms license for carrying any kind of weapon with them
[2]. It has become easy for conmen to get a fake arms license from a third party dealer
by providing fake documents [3]. Due to this, tension is prevailing among the people
about their safety of roaming freely in the environment. It has become necessary to
track these people and find out if they hold a valid arms license or not. Therefore, we
intend to use blockchain technology to eliminate the above-listed problems. In this
model, we provided two solutions. One for forming an agreement between the delaer
and the seller without any involvement of third party and two, to have a digital gun
safe, which is similar to a bitcoin (BTC) wallet which securely stores each and every
information about the person owning a gun or wanting to purchase a gun [4]. Forming
an agreement between any two parties requires a signature. Normally these signatures
can be tampered and the document is accepted without knowing that the signatures
are not valid and that the document is not legal. So to avoid this kind of problem
we make use of digital signatures. Digital signature is one of the way to ensure
that the message is not tampered and that it maintains the integrity of data. Once
the agreement is formed between the dealer and the seller, the transfer of weapons
take place. At the time buying the weapon the customer will pe provided with a
Digital Gun Safe same like Bitcoin Wallet (BTC). This digital safe can be opened
only through biometric data such as a retina scan or with the help of a fingerprint
[5]. Ahead of purchasing the gun, the receiver should make the required background
checks and if the information provided by the receiver is proven to be correct, then
the transfer of ownership takes place where the buyer has the right to purchase a
weapon. If the individual fails to provide the correct information then the transfer
of ownership gets contradicted and will be recorded in the individual’s digital gun
safe. This helps in reducing the involvement of any third party dealer. In this way,
all the legal/illegal information about an individual will be recorded in the gun-safe
and it becomes easy for the authorities to track them. Since blockchain is immutable,
the details regarding the transactions made from one gun safe to the other, that are
recorded on the blockchain cannot be tampered with. The transactions recorded in
the gun safe can only be accessed by the individual’s biometric and private key and
hacking these transactions is impossible [6]. With the help of this model, it will be
easy for us to track these people and reduce the crime rates in countries where such
practices are common [7].
16 Gun Tracking System Using Blockchain Technology 287
16.2 Prerequisites
Blockchain
We all know that technology continues to constantly advance in a field that aims to
beat itself, coming up with remarkable developments one after the other of some
paradigm-shifting innovation [8]. Blockchain Technology is one such technology
that became a hot topic in today’s world. Blockchain can be characterized as a
decentralized public distributed ledger. On the off chance that we go through the
definition we will recognize the 4 fundamental terminologies (i.e. decentralized,
public, distributed, ledger) to understand. Let us see what these terminologies mean:
• Decentralized: Unlike a centralized system where all the information is being
held by a central authority, where hacking the system becomes pretty simple,
blockchain technology follows a decentralized system in which the information
is dispersed among all the nodes that participate in the system, this lowers the risk
of systematic failure [9].
• Public: A public blockchain is a permissionless blockchain [10]. It can be viewed
publicly which means that anybody can take part in the network, read and write
in the blocks. Public blockchains are decentralized and are secure such that the
data cannot be changed once validated on the blockchain.
• Distributed: The data is stored on multiple systems or multiple nodes on the
blockchain. This will ensure smooth retrieval of data even when one of the nodes
is malfunctioning.
• Ledger: In simple terms, a ledger is a list of records [11]. These records can
be of any type such as transactions or items etc. A blockchain-based ledger has
properties such as immutability which prevents tampering of data and integrity
through hash functions and is secured through cryptography [12].
With its intuitive applications being powered by its network architecture,
blockchain technology has become a front and center of technology with discussions
[13]. Being the technology acting at the core of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies,
blockchain is an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two
or more individuals in a more efficient, verifiable, and permanent way [14].
Cryptography
Cryptography is the hone of creating conventions that avoid third parties from seeing
the information. The name itself says “crypt” means hidden or vault and “graphy”
means writing. In cryptography, the approach which is used to secure the information
is obtained from algorithms by converting messages in such a way that it is very
hard to decode it [15]. These algorithms are used to generate cryptographic keys, in
digital signing, verification to protect data privacy, and many more. In the present
era of computers, cryptography is usually related to the technique where an ordinary
plain text is processed to the ciphertext in which the text is intended such that the
receiver who receives the text can decode it. This process of converting a plain into
ciphertext is known as encryption and the process of converting the ciphertext back
to the original message is known as decryption. Cryptography is taken after by the

organizations to go with the goals of:
• Confidentiality: The given information can only be accessed by the person to
whom the message is intended to and no other person can.
• Immutable: The given information cannot be altered in storage or transition
between the sender and the receiver.
• Authentication: The identities of the sender and the receiver are confirmed. As
well as the origin/destination of the message is confirmed.
There are three types of cryptography (Hashing, Symmetric Key cryptog-
raphy, and Asymmetric key cryptography) but in this model, we will be utilizing
Asymmetric Key Cryptography.
Asymmetric Key Cryptography

Asymmetric Key Cryptography, also known as Public-Key Cryptography uses two
different keys to encrypt the plain text [16] (Fig. 16.1).
Secret keys are traded over the web or large network. It ensures that malicious
people do not take any advantage of using these keys. Note that anyone who has the
secret key can decrypt the information that is why asymmetric encryption uses two
keys that boots the security system [17]. A public key is made available to anyone
who wants to send the message to you. A private key, unlike a public key, is kept
secret so that only you can know. A plain text/message can be encrypted using a
public key and can be decrypted using only the private key and if the message is
encrypted using a private key can be decrypted using the public key. Asymmetric
Encryption is far safer and highly secure in terms of sharing any documents over the
internet or large network.
Digital Signature
Digital signatures are used to carry out electronic signatures [18]. It is an arith-
metic scheme showing the authenticity of the digital messages/documents. A valid
Fig. 16.1 Asymmetric key cryptography

signature gives the receiver reason to believe that the message is generated by an
authenticated sender, that the sender cannot repudiate having sent the message and
that the message is not altered in transit.
These signatures are identical to the standard handwritten signatures but the one
with properly implemented digital signatures is next to impossible to forge. Digital
signatures are implemented using asymmetric cryptography as discussed in the above
paragraph. One of the advantages of a digital signature is that if a hacker tries to access
the information and alter it, then the hash of the modified information and the output
presented by the authenticated algorithm will not match and the receiver can deny
information by assuming that data integrity was violated [19, 20].
16.3 System Overview
The above Fig. 16.2 represents the nodes that are taking part in this blockchain-based
traceability system and how each node in a blockchain network is going to act and
that each node in the network is connected to an Ethereum account which shows its
identity within the system [21, 22]. Since blockchain is a decentralized system, all the
Fig. 16.2 System overview

transactions that happen inside the system will be present with each node that takes
part in this traceability system. Let’s look at each of the nodes before proceeding
ahead:
Gun Manufacturer: The gun manufacturer processes the raw materials provided by
the supplier into the desired weapon. At the same time, the manufacturer sells these
weapons to the licensed dealer and will be distributed among the licensed shops
for sale [23]. The manufacturer is responsible for wrapping the information of the
weapon and recording it in the blockchain system.
Gun Dealer: The main role of the dealer is to form an agreement with the licensed
seller so that all the transactions that happen between both of them are recorded as
a ledger in the system [23]. For making the agreement successful, the seller shop
should be a licensed shop with all the necessary documents being recorded in the
system.
Gun Seller: Prior to the sale, the seller as well as the dealer should sign an agreement
so that the transaction details will be recorded in the system and can be approved for
sale [24]. Just like a digital signature, both the parties need to sign the transfer.
Customer: The customer is the final end receiver of the weapon. But before
purchasing a weapon, the customer should pass a few background checks for authen-
tication purposes [25]. Once the individual clears the test the transfer of ownership
takes place. Once the transfer of ownership and weapon is successful, the individual
will be given a digital gun safe where all his personal information such as name,
mobile number, arms license, and the weapon information that he is using will be
stored inside this safe.
Digital Gun Safe: Like an e-wallet, a digital gun safe is a safe where the individual’s
information such as name, mobile number, arms license and the weapon information
that he is using will be stored. When an individual purchases a weapon, he/she will be
given a gun safe which is digital just like a bitcoin (BTC) wallet. This safe is tamper-
proof and can only be accessed with the help of biometric data (i.e. fingerprint, retina
scan) of the individual [26].
16.4 Working Procedure
Handling the complexities and difficulties in implementing the blockchain in this

scenario is of the utmost importance in securing gun safety. How much ever produc-
tive blockchain can be, the effort cannot pay off if the data that goes into the ledger
is not secured and meticulous. So the solution for the system proposed in the chapter
works according to the current cryptocurrency of blockchain technology. When a gun
gets manufactured from a licensed manufacturing shop, the manufacturer supplies
these weapons to a licensed gun dealer who then supplies them to the licensed gun
shops. At the time of supplying the weapon, the manufacturer maintains a record of
the details of the weapons such as how much quantity is to be supplied, the date of
supply, etc. This record will be stored securely inside the blockchain.
Once the weapons are supplied to the dealer, the dealer contacts the gun seller and
forms a dealership agreement between him and the seller. This is where digital signa-
tures come into the picture. At the time of agreement formation, unlike handwritten
signatures, the deal takes place inside the blockchain network. First, the dealer creates
a document (Fig. 16.3) that includes the information that is required to sign and form
an agreement which proves the transfer of ownership.
Next, he hashes the document and encrypts it with the help of his private key. The
encrypted hash is known as a digital signature as shown in Fig. 16.4.
Once this is done, the dealer sends the document and the digital signature to the
seller where the seller verifies if the received document matches the digital signature
or not. As shown in Fig. 16.5, the seller uses the dealers public key to decrypt the
digital signature which results in the hash value of the document.
Next, In Fig. 16.6, the seller applies the same hashing algorithm to the document
he received and checks if both the hashes match with each other or not.
If it matches then the seller approves from his side and forms a deal with the
dealer and if it doesn’t then the seller assumes that the document has been altered
during the transit which results in the cancellation of the deal.
The above diagram (Fig. 16.7) depicts the overview diagram of the contract deal
between the dealer and the seller. With the help of digital signatures, there won’t
be any third party involvement, and any kind of deals can take place in a fair and
transparent manner.
Once the agreement is confirmed in a fair and transparent manner, the assets can
now be transferred between the dealer and the seller as per the directives mentioned
Fig. 16.3 Hashing the document
Fig. 16.4 Encrypting the document

Fig. 16.5 Decrypting the document
Fig. 16.6 Checking the hash value of the document
Fig. 16.7 Overview diagram of contract deal
in the agreement document. The gun transaction between the buyer and the seller
can take place in a similar way to sending and receiving bitcoins. Before that, the
buyer should pass a background check as shown in Fig. 16.8 which includes age
verification, valid arms license, crime records, citizenship proof.
Blockchain technology supports peer-to-peer transactions where there is no
involvement of any third party who makes the transaction successful. So for transfer-
ring and receiving the coins, the buyer and seller use a very safe and secure platform
known as “Omni-layer”. Omni is a protocol modeled as a layer over the bitcoin which
allows us to send and receive the transactions. The main advantage of Omni is that
it can transform into any currency using the smart contracts on the layer. So when a
Fig. 16.8 Overview diagram of background check
buyer wants to make any transaction, he can transfer the money irrespective of the
currency as the Omni protocol converts any currency into omnis with the help of a
smart contract. For the transaction to take place just like a bitcoin wallet, we can use
the Omni wallet which is safe, secured, easy to use and multi-currency support. Once
the safe transfer of gun and ownership takes place, the buyer will be provided with
a gun safe, known as “electronic digital gun safe” as proposed by Heaston. Unlike
a physical gun safe, this gun-safe is digitally secured which contains information
about the owner.
This gun safe can be accessed with a fingerprint scan, or with a retina scan of
the owner. The main purpose of providing this gun safe is to track each and every
information about the owner and the gun that he is using (Fig. 16.9). If a crime is
committed and if people had to trace a particular weapon, then the safe provides each
and every information regarding the person as well as the weapon that he used to
commit the crime.
Tracking guns with advanced blockchain protocols will help regulate overall gun
significance upon society, so reasonable gun control measures can be implemented.
16.4.1 Algorithm Design
Explanation of Algorithm 1: msg_digest()

The function msg_digest() allows the dealer to sign an agreement to deal with
the seller. For signing a message the dealer creates a document and then hashes
the document with the help of crypto.SHA256 which gives the hash value of
the document. This hash value is the fixed numeric representation of the message
that gets assigned to the msg_digest function. The function sign_message takes
two values pvt key and the numeric value of message. Once the document gets
Fig. 16.9 Pictorial representation of the digital gun-safe and what it contains
converted into its equivalent hash value, the dealer uses his private key (pvtkey)
to encrypt the document.
function msg_digest(message)
{
var m=msg_bytes(“Signed message\n”).concat msg_bytes(message));
return crypto.SHA256(crypto.SHA256(m, {asbytes:true}), {asbytes:true});
}
function sign_message(pvtkey, message)
{
if (! pvtkey)
return false;
var signature=pvtkey.sign(msg_digest(message));
var address=message.gethash();
}
Explanation of Algorithm 2: document_verify()
The function document_verify()allows the seller to verify whether the docu-
ment that he received and the document that has been hashed is the same or not.
For verification of the document, the seller uses the dealer’s public key (pub_key)
to decrypt the hash value to its equivalent message using base64Tobytes. If the
hashed value and the message turns out to be different then the program throws an
error with which the seller gets to know that the document has been tampered with
and that the deal cannot be signed.
function document_verify()
if (! pubkey) {
return false;
var signature=pubkey.sign(msg_digest(message));
var address=message.gethash();
}
try {
var sig=message.base64Tobytes(signature);
}
catch(err)
{
return false;
}
16.4.2 Implementation
As we can see that the model that is proposed in this chapter requires execution
of multiple steps. The agreement deal has to be signed with the seller, the seller
sells the product to the buyer and the buyer gets an electronic gun-safe which stores
the information of the buyer securely. Therefore, for the purpose of clarity we will
be looking into the first implementation i.e. the implementation of digital signature
between the dealer and the seller.
The execution requires creation of two files:
• Signing_messge.js: This file includes the code that is required for signing the
document and encrypting the file with the help of private key.
• verify_message.js: This file includes the code that is required for verifying the
document and decrypting the file with the help of public key.
After completing the code, the next step is to execute these codes at a time. For
that we can create a HTML file in which we can link the above two codes so that we
can execute it simultaneously.
As you can see in Fig. 16.10, when we open the HTML file the browser opens up
a new window where the digital signature takes place. This page includes 2 links.
One is for signing the message and another is for verifying. Upon clicking the sign
link, the webpage gets directed to the sign page as shown in Fig. 16.11.
This page consists of entries like private key, address, message and signed
message. The dealer now enters his private which has an option of show and hide.
According to the dealer’s choice he can select the option. Once he enters his private
key, an address hash value gets generated as seen in Fig. 16.11. This address value is
nothing but the address of the document that is signed by the dealer. In the message
box, the dealer writes the message i.e. the document that is to be signed. Once these
details are enterned and when the dealer clicks on the sign message button, a hash
value of the document that is to be signed is generated as shown in Fig. 16.12. The
signed message generated for the document and the public key of the dealer is now
shared with the seller for the verification purpose.
For the verification purpose, the seller now clicks on the verify link (Fig. 16.10)
which is directed to the verify message page. On this page the seller enters the
Fig. 16.10 Homepage
Fig. 16.11 Signing message

Fig. 16.12 Signed message (hash value)
public key and the signed message hash value for verification purposes as viewed in
Fig. 16.13.
Once the seller enters the public key and the signed hash value of the message,
he then clicks on the verify button, which decrypts the signed hash value into its
equivalent message (Fig. 16.14) which helps the seller to verify whether the decrypted
message matches with the original message.
With this, the seller can confirm that the message has not been tampered and that
the original message matches with the decrypted message. You can see that in the
Fig. 16.13 Verify message

Fig. 16.14 Verification
details section which shows the date and time of the signing document and date and
time of verification of the document.
16.5 Security Analysis
The blockchain tracking system described in this chapter meets the following security
requirements:
Durability and Reliability: Since blockchain is a decentralized network, it does not
have a central point of failure and is good at resisting the malicious attack [27].
Non-repudiation: Any signature that is affected using a private key, is known/owned
by the owner and that he cannot contradict his/her signature attached to the document
i.e. the signator cannot affirm effectively that they did not sign a letter, and that their
private key remains hidden as well. [28].
Data Integrity: Once the document is signed and received by the recipient it guaran-
tees that the contract is authentic, reliable and defends against unwanted manipulation
of the recipient during transmission. If any tampering of a document takes place, then
it produces a whole new digital signature.
Authentication: As long as the owner’s private key is safe and secure with him, the
recipient can use the public key to confirm that the signature was created by the
owner and no one else.
Timestamping: Timestamping is the most important security feature when it comes

to digital signature of such legal documents [29]. It Provides the details of time and
date of the document existed at a point in time and are unchanged.
As you can see that the above mentioned security features are enough to make our
system immutable, transparent, tamper proof and most important trustless exchange
which does not involve any third party strongly eliminating the risk of counterparty.
16.6 Conclusions
The main motive of this chapter is to find a viable solution for reducing the
violence and crime rate especially the crimes committed using illegal firearms.
With blockchain coming into the picture this can be reduced to quite an extent.
The blockchain protocol is the most precise system to track a gun flow from the
manufacturer to the end-user who receives it. Its salient features such as transparency,
immutability, and dencentralization helps the network to be highly secure against any
kind of tampering information or anything that looks malicious. With this technology,
the agreement deal between the dealer and the seller happens smoothly compared to
the existing system in which there is an involvement of the third party. With each
and every information being stored in the blockchain platform, makes the transaction
process in a very transparent manner without any altering of the data. Undergoing
a background check before the transfer of the ownership helps to identify whether
the eligibility of the buyer regarding the correct licences. An “electronic digital gun
safe”, just like a BTC wallet which is given at the time of purchasing the gun helps
to track the person and the kind of weapon that he is using. Blockchain technology,
when applied in improving tracking systems, automatically creates a climate where
the crime rates decrease and the society need not be scared of ammunition anymore.
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Intelligent Systems Reference Library 203

Sandeep Kumar Panda

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8578

ISSN 1868-4394 ISSN 1868-4408 (electronic)

1 Blockchain Technology: Introduction, Applications,

3 Blockchain 1.0 to Blockchain 4.0—The Evolutionary

4.4.5 Lack of Compatibility and Standardization . . . . . . . . . . 68

6.2.2 Type of Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

8.5.1 Blockchain in Health Care System Use Case . . . . . . . . . 143

11 Blockchain Technology in Smart-Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

12.4.3 Supply Chain Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

14.4.1 Blockchain Architecture and Functioning . . . . . . . . . . . 258

16.6 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Ajay Kumar Jena and Sujata Priyambada Dash

Abstract Blockchain—the technology behind the popular cryptocurrency bitcoin

Keywords Blockchain · Cryptocurrency · Peer-to-peer · Bitcoin

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 1

Table 1.1 Permissioned versus permission-less blockchain

1.1.1 Components of Blockchain

At the top-level, widely-known cryptographic concepts like hashing, asymmetric key

1.1.2 Hashing Methods

The most important component of blockchain technology is hashing functions a cryp-

Fig. 1.1 A block structure

Another key component used is Nonce which is used in proof-of-work consensus

A transaction in blockchain means an interaction between two entities. In case of

1.1.4 Public Key Cryptography

Public key cryptography otherwise called as Asymmetric key cryptography is used

1.1.5 Address and Wallet

1.1.7 Consensus Mechanism

1.1.8 Smart Contracts

In 1994, Nick Szabo developed an automated transaction procedure that implements

1.2 Evolution of Blockchain

1.3 Applications of Blockchain

1.4 Challenges of Blockchain

1.4.2 Loss of Privacy

In blockchain a considerable amount of privacy is maintained by using public

1.4.3 Selfish Mining

1. Dai, W.: B-Money [Online] (1998). Available: https://www.weidai.com/bmoney.txt

Rohit Saxena, Deepak Arora, Vishal Nagar, and Satyasundara Mahapatra

Keywords Bitcoin · Blockchain · Cryptocurrency · Consensus · Miners

R. Saxena · V. Nagar · S. Mahapatra (B)

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 13

Bitcoin is an interconnection of computing nodes where the source code of bitcoin is

can be either uncompressed (i.e. 65 bytes, prefixed with 0 × 04 and followed

2.2 Bitcoin Block’s Structure

Table 2.1 Block structure [4]

2.2.1 Bitcoin Transactions’ Structure

Table 2.2 Schematic structure of bitcoin transaction

2.3 Bitcoin’s Anonymity & Privacy

2.4 Machine Learning Approaches to Price Prediction

Bitcoin is considered as a monetary asset which is traded using various exchanges

2.5 Threats and Machine Learning Based Solution

Pratyusa Mukherjee and Chittaranjan Pradhan

Abstract Blockchain is a propitious technology that has gained immense popu-

Keywords Blockchain · Distributed ledger · Bitcoin · Ethereum · Hyperledger

The assurance of CIA triad comprising of confidentiality, integrity and availability

P. Mukherjee (B) · C. Pradhan

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 29

original data extremely strenuous. Blockchain Technology abolishes such scenarios