Development of a Blockchain-Internet of Things (IoT) Security Framework for Agricultural Data Management System.

Abstract

The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices in agricultural environments has introduced significant vulnerabilities in farm data transmission and storage, as conventional security architectures are ill-suited to the distributed, resource-constrained nature of agricultural sensor networks. This study develops and evaluates a blockchain-IoT security framework for agricultural data management, integrating AES-256 symmetric encryption, RSA-2048 key distribution, SHA-256 hash chaining, and Ethereum smart contracts into a unified proof-of-concept architecture implemented in JavaScript and Web3.js, specifically targeting soil moisture sensors and weather stations. The framework employs a hybrid cryptographic model combining symmetric encryption with cryptographic nonce and timestamp mechanisms to prevent man-in-the-middle (MITM) and replay attacks, validated through controlled simulation. Security testing confirmed complete resistance to both attack vectors across all simulations. Scalability evaluation, conducted by progressively simulating 100 to 1,000 concurrent IoT device connections, demonstrated stable operation up to 500 devices with confirmation times under 10 seconds at transaction volumes up to 400 TPS; degradation was observed at 600 devices (15 seconds) and became significant at 1,000 devices (25–30 seconds). Throughput peaked at 400 TPS with sub-10-second latency, surpassing Ethereum mainnet benchmarks while remaining within the performance range adequate for precision agricultural monitoring. These results establish the proposed framework as a viable, cost-effective solution for securing agricultural IoT data pipelines, with particular applicability in resource-constrained farming environments.