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Enhancing Mobile Crowdsensing Security: A Proof of Stake-Based Publisher Selection Algorithm to Combat Sybil Attacks in Blockchain-Assisted MCS Systems

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Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA 2024)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes on Data Engineering and Communications Technologies ((LNDECT,volume 202))

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Abstract

In a blockchain-assisted Mobile CrowdSensing (MCS) System, individuals can generate as many blockchain identities as they desire, facilitating the execution of a Sybil attack. A Sybil attack can significantly impact such a system due to incorporating a reward mechanism and a majority-based data validation mechanism. An attacker can launch a Sybil attack with selfish or malicious intentions to maximize benefits from the system or to narrow down the reputation of the data requester (subscriber) and the system. Consequently, a Sybil attacker can discourage honest data collectors (publishers) and subscribers from participating, impeding the system’s potential success. In this paper, we propose a Sybil attack prevention cum avoidance mechanism to narrow down the effect of it in the blockchain-based MCS systems while maintaining the system’s requirements. The proposed mechanism incorporates a novel randomized publisher selection algorithm, leveraging the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) concept to render executing a Sybil attack costly and impractical. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed mechanism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Rajasthan, India

    Ankit Agrawal, Ashutosh Bhatia & Kamlesh Tiwari

Authors
  1. Ankit Agrawal
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  2. Ashutosh Bhatia
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  3. Kamlesh Tiwari
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ankit Agrawal .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information and Communication Engineering, Fukuoka Institute of Technology, Fukuoka, Japan

    Leonard Barolli

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Agrawal, A., Bhatia, A., Tiwari, K. (2024). Enhancing Mobile Crowdsensing Security: A Proof of Stake-Based Publisher Selection Algorithm to Combat Sybil Attacks in Blockchain-Assisted MCS Systems. In: Barolli, L. (eds) Advanced Information Networking and Applications. AINA 2024. Lecture Notes on Data Engineering and Communications Technologies, vol 202. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-57916-5_16

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