Blockchain-assisted authentication and key agreement scheme for fog-based smart grid

In recent times, the research works on the integration of fog computing with blockchain to address the issues such as higher latency, single point of failure, and centralization have expanded considerably. However, only a few works have been done focusing on authentication and key establishment for blockchain-based smart grid (SG) under fog environment. Thus, this paper introduces a mutual authentication and key agreement scheme for blockchain and fog computing based SG environment. Unlike the existing schemes that depend on single trusted authorities for storage and computation tasks, the proposed scheme reduces this dependency by creating a blockchain-based distributed environment assisted by cloud servers and fog nodes. In addition, a secure and shared key is established among smart meter, fog node, and cloud server to achieve message confidentiality between them. A detailed formal and informal security analysis proves that the proposed protocol is secure under the RoR model and achieves the predefined security goals. The blockchain and cryptographic operations are evaluated using hyperledger fabric and cryptographic libraries, respectively. Finally, the performance analysis and comparative study show that the proposed scheme with some additional features is efficient in computational and communication costs.

Automated summary

Research on integrating fog computing with blockchain to address latency, single point of failure, and centralization has been expanding, with limited focus on authentication and key establishment for blockchain-based smart grid under fog environment. This paper introduces a mutual authentication and key agreement scheme for blockchain-based smart grid environment, reducing dependency on single trusted authorities and establishing secure shared keys among smart meter, fog node, and cloud server for message confidentiality. Evaluations using hyperledger fabric and cryptographic libraries show the proposed scheme to be efficient in computational and communication costs, meeting predefined security goals.