Designing a Secure Communication Protocol in IoT Enabled ZigBee Networks using Blockchain System

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a key technology integrator in Industry 4.0, contribut ing to the pervasive deployment of low-power IoT networks. These IoT networks gained popularity due to their numerous advantages, which include increased productivity and a higher standard of living. Mobile devices have significantly increased over time, and nu merous IoT standards have been developed in response to the constant development of IoT technologies and the growing demand. Few prevalent IoT technologies, such as ZigBee, BLE, and LoRa standards, have a substantial user base due to their lightweight properties, such as low power operation, robustness, and greater scalability. ZigBee is the dominant IoT technology that enables intelligent applications and services. However, this technology creates personal area networks that cannot communicate directly with Internet end users. The IoT-enabled ZigBee devices cannot handle the IPv6 packets, which have a maximum packet size of 1280 bytes, and the transmission of IPv6 packets over ZigBee-based IEEE 802.15.4 networks, which will be performed using a gateway via the ZigBee coordinator. Gateways and the ZigBee coordinator must complete the neighbor discovery procedure, which increases the complexity of the coordinator. ZigBee devices have issues with header size, routing structures, and data forwarding. In addition, the number of malware attacks (Internet of Threats) has increased as the number of smart devices and mobility has in creased in an IoT ecosystem. Therefore, security is paramount, and IoT security is always challenging. In this thesis, we suggested a 6LoWPAN-based, effective end-to-end communication protocol for "IoT-enabled ZigBee devices" and an Internet host. By establishing end-to end communication between ZigBee devices and IP-based infrastructures, this 6LoWPAN routes IPv6 packets into ZigBee networks that support the Internet of Things. AODV and RPLrouting protocols are currently the only two standardized protocols that efficiently use smart devices energy and compute resources to resolve the properties and constraints of ZigBee and IoT networks. We proposed the RPL-AODV routing protocol which combines the advantages of both routing protocols RPL and AODV. The proposed protocol have a ability to forward or route data packets from a ZigBee device to a 6LoWPAN Boarder iv Router (6BR) via multiple hops. It incorporates the benefits of RPL and AODV routing protocols in ZigBee devices of IoT networks to establish the path from the source node to the destination node on demand. Furthermore, we evaluated this protocol’s efficacy using various metrics and found that its results were superior to those of existing protocols. In addition, we have modeled collaborative attacks against the RPL-AODV routing protocol that exploit the vulnerability of these routing protocols. The collaborative attacks, such as wormhole and blackhole attacks, will control the AODV protocol’s vulnerability, while rank and sinkhole attacks will exploit the RPL protocol’s vulnerability. The pro posed cooperative IDS effectively monitors and secures IoT-enabled ZigBee networks by combining "specification-based" and "signature-based IDS" to detect cooperative attacks against the RPL-AODV routing protocol. We provided efficient key management solutions investigating the distribution of security key problems among smart IoT devices using a permissioned blockchain system. This system makes it possible to create end-to-end application keys, join a network securely, distribute keys across the entire network, update network keys, control network access, authenticate routers and end IoT devices, and store key credentials with a reputable security service provider. Finally, we implemented, validated, and demonstrated the efficacy of the proposed methods for securing IoT-enabled ZigBee networks by comparing them to the current state of the art.