Open Access

Fatemeh Stodt, Mohammed B. Kamel, Christoph Reich, Fabrice Theoleyre, Peter Ligeti

• In the rapidly evolving realm of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), securing shop floor operations, especially in audit processes, is of critical importance. This paper confronts the challenge of ensuring data integrity and trust in IIoT systems by leveraging the capabilities of blockchain technology. The unique characteristics of blockchain, such as its immutable and decentralized ledger, establish a solid and transparent foundation for verifying shop floor transactions and activities. We introduce a privacy-centric approach, meticulously designed to comply with stringent data privacy regulations. This method allows auditors to authenticate both IIoT data and devices, ensuring confidentiality and adhering to regulatory standards. Our practical implementation strategy, tailored for shop floor environments, not only enhances the security of device and data integrity but also showcases robustness against specific adversarial threats, including network intrusion, data tampering, and unauthorized access. The findings indicate that our approach not only strengthens security protocols but also integrates effortlessly with existing IIoT infrastructures. It presents an efficient, scalable solution that elevates the safety and reliability of IIoT ecosystems, making it a significant step forward in the quest for secure and compliant industrial operations.