Blockchain Adoption for Authentication: A Survey

In network security, authentication is the crucial process to validate the identification of network participants, acting as the first defense mechanism to protect the networks from potential attacks. However, the conventional authentication approaches face many challenges, such as the reliance on a centralized entity, single point of failure, and the limited capacity and heterogeneity of devices in various types of networks. To address these problems, blockchain has recently emerged to be a promising solution, offering a secure and decentralized framework for authentication management. This article aims to provide a comprehensive survey on the applications of blockchain for authentication in diverse network environments. Particularly, we first provide an overview of blockchain, its related cryptography techniques, and common attacks on authentication processes. We then discuss diverse blockchain-based approaches proposed to address emerging issues in authentication in different types of networks including vehicular, IoT, healthcare, distributed computing, and other emerging application areas. Finally, we highlight important challenges, open issues, and future research directions of blockchain for future authentication systems.