Blockchain Driven Access Control Mechanisms, Models and Frameworks: A Systematic Literature Review

• Published in: Journal of Information Security and Cybercrimes Research (Online) 2022-06, Vol.5 (1), p.1-30
• Main Authors: Bashir Dar, Aaqib, Hamid Lone, Auqib, Naaz, Roohie, Iqbal Baba, Asif, Wu, Fan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: access control; blockchain; cybersecurity; decentralization; smart contracts
• ISSN: 1658-7782; 1658-7790
• DOI: 10.26735/TYIF2196

Access control or authorization is referred to as the confinement of specific actions of an entity, thereby allowing them to be performed as per certain rules. Blockchain-driven access control mechanisms gained considerable attention directly after applications beyond the premise of cryptocurrency were found. However, there are no systematic efforts to analyze existing empirical evidence. To this end, we aim to synthesize litera- ture to understand the state-of-the-art blockchain driven access control mechanisms with respect to underlying platforms, utilized blockchain properties, nature of the mod- els and associated testbeds and tools. We conducted the review in a systematic way. Meta analysis and thematic synthesis were performed on the findings from relevant primary studies, in order to answer the framed research questions in perspective. We identified 76 relevant primary studies that passed the quality assessment. The problems targeted by relevant studies were single point of failure, security, and privacy, etc. The meta-analysis of the primary studies suggests the use of different blockchain platforms along with several application domains where different blockchain proprieties were utilized. In this paper, we present a systematic literature review of blockchain driven access control systems. In hindsight, we present a taxonomy of blockchain-driven access control systems to better understand the immense implications of this field spanning various application domains