Blockchain for Access Control Systems

Access control (AC) is concerned with determining the allowed activities of legitimate users and mediating every attempt by a user to access a resource in the system. The objectives of an AC system are often described in terms of protecting system resources against inappropriate or undesired user access.

From a business perspective, this objective could just as well be described in terms of the optimal sharing of information. As current information systems and network architectures evolve to be more lightweight, pervasive, and interactive – such as the cloud and Internet of Things (IoT) – there is need for an AC mechanism to support the requirements of decentralization, scalability, and trust for accessing objects, all of which are challenging for traditional mechanisms.