Blockchain-based Approaches for Access Control Systems

Access control systems control access to valuable resources such as files, tables, services, data storage, and so on. Access control policies express the rights of users to access resources. Existing access control systems exploit centralized entities to control access to critical resources. Unfortunately, these systems are built around the concept of trust where the centralized authority may harm users’ privacy. Blockchain and its related cryptocurrencies have received significant attention both from academia and industry. Due to its key characteristics, Blockchain promises to transform existing applications. It provides a distributed, secure and trustworthy platform. It eliminates the need for central authorities and allows users to control their data. Resource owners control access to critical resources, without the involvement of a centralized entity. In this dissertation, we present our contributions for access control systems. We propose blockchain-based approaches for access control systems. Our systems aim to solve the access control problem in different sectors. A secure system requires restricted access to private and sensitive information. We follow a systematic process. First, we investigate the access control requirements. Then, we propose approaches to meet those requirements. Our approaches inherit the advantages of blockchain technology.