Securing the Future: Lightweight Blockchain Solutions for IIoT and IoT Networks
Fatemeh Stodt, Mohammed Alshawki, Christoph Reich, Péter Ligeti, Fabrice Théoleyre · Security and Privacy · 2025
ABSTRACT This paper presents an innovative lightweight blockchain architecture tailored for Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications. Building upon Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) and Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) technologies, our proposed BFT‐DAG framework introduces key enhancements to optimize its performance in IIoT environments. Specifically, we redefine node roles and responsibilities to reduce computational cost, improve timing efficiency, and enhance scalability. To strengthen security, we integrate a lightweight attribute verification protocol that ensures secure authentication and mitigates risks associated with compromised or untrusted nodes. Unlike existing BFT‐DAG approaches, such as Bullshark and its variants, which allow temporarily offline nodes to contribute blocks ‐introducing potential security vulnerabilities‐ our protocol verifies node integrity before participation. This ensures that only legitimate and uncompromised nodes are involved, bolstering system security without compromising performance.