Research Article Open Access

A Secured Blockchain-based Information-Centric Network

Abdelrahman Sheham Abdellah1, Sherif Saif1, Hesham E. ElDeeb1, Emad Abd-Elrahman2 and Mohamed Taher3
  • 1 Cloud Computing Lab, Electronics Research Institute, Cairo, Egypt
  • 2 Department of Computer and Systems, National Telecommunication Institute of Egypt, Cairo, Egypt
  • 3 Department of Computer and Systems Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

In this study, we propose an Information-Centric Network (ICN) approach for the Internet as an alternative to the present host-centric architecture. The proposed approach solves present Internet challenges, where most Internet users nowadays are involved in seeking knowledge by searching through large amounts of data, independent of the data's physical locations and these users usually have requests that need prompt responses. Hence, Internet requirements have got a new shape and the whole Internet paradigm should be shifting where different network considerations are needed. In this context, ICNs can play a vital role where the host-centered architecture is replaced by a content-centered one since the content itself is the aim and not the location. However, the ICN paradigm as a substitute for traditional Internet faces some challenges in terms of security and performance. ICN needs to be protected against some threats such as Denial-of-Service attacks (DoS), hacker attacks, loss of data, data replication, and cache pollution. To accomplish this, we propose this Secured Blockchain-Based ICN (SBBICN) implementation that exploits the secure aspects of Blockchain technology such as data integrity and non-tampering to secure the ICN against the aforementioned threats. In this proposed system, we describe and develop a voting system based on a blockchain consensus algorithm to avoid a single point of failure during the verification process and we apply the system using an Ethereum smart contract to verify the effectiveness of the proposed system. The experimental results and the security analysis demonstrate the effectiveness of the SBBICN proposal when compared to other schemes in the literature.

Journal of Computer Science
Volume 18 No. 4, 2022, 266-280

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3844/jcssp.2022.266.280

Submitted On: 18 November 2021 Published On: 17 April 2022

How to Cite: Abdellah, A. S., Saif, S., ElDeeb, H. E., Abd-Elrahman, E. & Taher, M. (2022). A Secured Blockchain-based Information-Centric Network. Journal of Computer Science, 18(4), 266-280. https://doi.org/10.3844/jcssp.2022.266.280

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Keywords

  • Information-Centric Network
  • Blockchain
  • Internet Infrastructure
  • Future Internet
  • Smart Contracts