Blockchain-Enabled Zero Trust Architecture for Privacy-Preserving Cybersecurity in IoT Environments

This research introduced a new novel “Unified Quantum-Resilient Blockchain-Zero-Knowledge Proofs Privacy Authentication Framework (QBC-ZKPAF)” to upgrade the IoT environments with greater security. To enable privacy-preserving authentication, access control, and secure communication, the framework integrates blockchain technology with Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) and post-quantum cryptography. A hybrid Reinforcement-Lattice Blockchain KeyGen for quantum-resilient key generation, Deep Q-Network Multi-Factor Secure Key (DQN-MFSK) for dynamic selection of keys, and Zero-Knowledge Proof for privacy-preserving signatures are employed to achieve secure IoT settings. This architecture entails data privacy and confidentiality, auditability and traceability, and withstanding evolving threats, including potential threats in terms of quantum attacks. It then uses blockchain technology for recording unalterable data of identity and access management while Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) ensures authentication and verification without revealing sensitive information. By decentralizing identity management and enabling multi-factor authentication, QBC-ZKPAF provides robust security and privacy solutions for IoT networks. The experimental results demonstrate the model’s effectiveness with 98% privacy preservation, 700 TPS throughput, 0.7 J energy consumption, 0.98 quantum resilience, and 96% access control effectiveness, making it highly suitable for modern IoT and blockchain applications.