Securing Edge Computing via Blockchain

Distributed ledger technologies have recently attracted much attention, and blockchain, as the underlying technology of cryptocurrencies, is the focal point of this attention. Blockchain has been used in various domains, such as cloud, fog, and edge computing and Internet of Things (IoT). However, it is faced with some limitations and cannot support frequent transactions. Besides, edge computing, after cloud and fog computing, serves as the key enabler for many future technologies like 5G, IoT, and vehicle-to-vehicle communications by connecting cloud computing resources and services to the end-users and extends them at the edge of the network. At the same time, it is currently confronted with challenges in decentralized management and security. Incorporating blockchain and edge computing in one system can provide reliable access and control of the network, storage, and computation distributed at the edges. It provides a large scale of network servers, data storage, and validity computation near the end in a secure manner. Notwithstanding the benefits of integrated blockchain and edge computing systems, their scalability enhancement, self-organization, resource management, functions integration, and security issues need to be addressed before widespread implementation. This paper reviews recent studies about enabling the integrated blockchain and edge computing system. Several critical aspects of the integration of blockchain and edge computing are identified. Finally, some of the effects of this integration on the business are discussed.