MobEdge: Mobile blockchain‐based privacy‐edge scheme for healthcare Internet of Things‐based ecosystems

Abstract

Centralized healthcare Internet of Things (HIoT)‐based ecosystems are challenged by high latency, single‐point failures, and privacy‐based attacks due to data exchange over open channels. To address the challenges, the shift has progressed toward decentralized HIoT setups that infuse computation closer to a patient node via edge services. As HIoT data are critical and sensitive, trust among stakeholders is a prime concern. To address the challenges, researchers integrated blockchain (BCH) into edge‐based HIoT models. However, the integration of lightweight BCH is required with an edge for proper interplay and leverage effective, scalable, and energy‐efficient computational processes for constrained HIoT applications. Owing to the existing gap, this article proposes a scheme MobEdge, that fuses lightweight BCH, and edge computing to secure HIoT. A local BCH client model is set up that forwards data to edge sensor gateways. The shared data are secured through an access tree control lock scheme that preserves the privacy of health records. For security and signing purposes, we have considered signcryption, and the validated records meta‐information are stored in an on‐chain structure. The scheme is compared on two grounds, security and simulation grounds. On the security front, we do cost evaluation and present a formal analysis model using the Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications tool. An edge‐based BCH setup use‐case is presented, and parameters like mining cost, storage cost, edge servicing latency, energy consumption, BCH network usage, and transaction signing costs are considered. In the simulation, the mining cost is 0.6675 USD, and improvement of storage costs are improved by 18.34%, edge‐servicing latency is 384 ms, and signcryption improves the signing cost by 36.78% against similar schemes, that indicates the scheme viability in HIoT setups.