ALISI: A lightweight identification system based on Iroha

Given their ubiquity, modern Internet of Things (IoT) devices represent a dangerous attack surface for hackers. These devices are strongly heterogeneous by manufacturer, application field, geographic area of deployment, security requirements, and computational performances. This vulnerability problem is more important in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) scenario, where systems are critical for plant processes, such as power grids and water distribution. In this paper, we present ALISI: A Lightweight Identification System based on Iroha, a blockchain-based identification platform conceived for IoT and IIoT systems. The blockchain technology provides a global identification standard, following a distributed approach in order to collaborate and share responsibilities and costs to gain first-class security features. Our scheme handles the performance issues typical of the blockchain systems using a hybrid on-chain and off-chain approach, achieving low response time and small load on the single device.