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 Blockchain for
Information Security
and Privacy
 Blockchain for
Information Security
and Privacy

Edited by
Udai Pratap Rao
Piyush Kumar Shukla
Chandan Trivedi
Sweta Gupta
Zelalem Sintayehu Shibeshi
First edition published 2022
by CRC Press
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
and by CRC Press
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
© 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and
publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of
their use. The authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material
reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this
form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and
let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint.
Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, repro-
duced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers.
For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, access www.copyright.
com or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA
01923, 978-750-8400. For works that are not available on CCC please contact mpkbookspermis-
[email protected]
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are
used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
ISBN: 978-0-367-65448-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-14628-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-12948-6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.1201/9781003129486
Typeset in Garamond
by SPi Technologies India Pvt Ltd (Straive)
Contents

Preface.............................................................................................................ix
Editors.............................................................................................................xi
Contributors..................................................................................................xiii
1 Blockchain Impact in Education and Society...........................................1
S. GOMATHI, MUKESH SONI, UTKARSH NIGAM,
BHAVNA BAJPAI, AND SUBRATA CHOWDHURY

2 Apply and Analyse Several Blockchain Techniques in

IoT and Big Data Sector.........................................................................19
NIKHIL RANJAN, SARVESH KUMAR, AND AAKANKSHA JAIN

3 Blockchain: Trends, Role and Future Prospects ������������������������������������43

PRIYA SWAMINARAYAN, ABHISHEK MEHTA,
NIHAL PARSANIA, AND KHUSHI SOLANKI

4 Cybersecurity and Privacy Issues of Blockchain Technology..................69

AYUSHI DWIVEDI, AMARNATH MISHRA, AND DEBABRATA SINGH

5 Robust Digital Medical Image Watermarking and Encryption

Algorithms Using Blockchain over DWT Edge Coefficient....................95
PARESH RAWAT AND PIYUSH KUMAR SHUKLA

6 Enhanced Privacy and Security of Voters’ Identity in

Interplanetary File System Based E-Voting Process..............................113
NARENDRA KUMAR DEWANGAN AND PREETI CHANDRAKAR

7 Blockchain-Enabled Secure Internet of Vehicles: A Solution

Taxonomy, Architecture, and Future Directions...................................133
MOHD ZUHAIR, PRONAYA BHATTACHARYA,
ASHWIN VERMA, AND UMESH BODKHE

v
vi ◾ Contents

8 Blockchain-Based Federated Cloud Environment: Issues

and Challenges.....................................................................................155
ASHWIN VERMA, PRONAYA BHATTACHARYA, UMESH BODKHE,
MOHD ZUHAIR, AND RAM KISHAN DEWANGAN

9 Blockchain-Based Secured Data Management in

Confidential Cyber Defence Applications............................................177
S. SATHEESH KUMAR, S. GOKUL KUMAR, S. CHANDRAPRABHA,
B. MARUTHI SHANKAR, AND S.A. SIVA KUMAR

10 Blockchain Technology for Privacy and Security Issues and

Challenges in IoT-Based Systems.........................................................193
C.J. RAMAN, S. USHA KIRUTHIKA, L. JAVID ALI, AND
S. KANAGA SUBA RAJA

11 A Secure Online Voting System Using Blockchain...............................217

MEHAK WADHWANI, NISHA MANSOORI, SHIVANGI TANWAR,
AANCHAL HANDA, AND BHAVESH N. GOHIL

12 Secure Electronic Health Records (EHR) Management

Using Blockchain.................................................................................245
ATHARVA KALSEKAR, AVINASH JAISWAL, ROGIN KOSHY,
SAMEER MANDLOI, AND BHAVESH N. GOHIL

13 Blockchain Impact of Security and Privacy in Digital Identity

Management........................................................................................275
SMITA BANSOD AND LATA L. RAGHA

14 A New Ecosystem for Digital Identity Verification Using

Blockchain...........................................................................................293
SHUBHAM GUPTA, KEVIN SHAH, ADITYA HIRAPARA,
DEEP MISTRY, ANKUR BANG, AND UDAI PRATAP RAO

15 Blockchain-Based Security and Privacy for Smart Contracts ...............315

VIVEK KUMAR PRASAD, CHANDAN TRIVEDI, DHAVAL JHA, AND
MADHURI BHAVSAR

16 Blockchain Application in Digital Identity Management

in Elections..........................................................................................337
RAJEEV KUMAR GUPTA, SWETA GUPTA, AND RAJIT NAIR
 Contents ◾ vii

17 Leveraging Blockchain Technology for Decentralized Domain

Name Broker Service............................................................................353
SANKITA PATEL, UJJWAL KUMAR, HRISHABH SHARMA,
AMRUTA MULAY, AND RISHABH KUMAR

18 Using Blockchain for Digital Copyrights Management.......................377

NIRMAL KUMAR GUPTA, ANIL KUMAR YADAV, AND ASHISH JAIN

Index.............................................................................................................401
Preface

This book provides the reader with the most up-to-date knowledge of blockchain in
mainstream areas of security, trust, and privacy in the decentralized domain, some-
thing which is both timely and essential. This is because the distributed and P2P
applications are increasing on an almost daily basis, and the attackers adopt new
mechanisms to threaten the security and privacy of the users in those environments.
This book also provides technical information regarding blockchain-oriented soft-
ware, applications, and tools required for the researcher and developer experts in
both computing and software engineering to provide solutions and automated sys-
tems against current security, trust, and privacy issues in cyberspace.
Blockchain, a decentralized cryptographic-based technology, is promising for
the Internet of Things (IoT) security, affecting many areas, including manufactur-
ing, finance, healthcare, supply chain, identity management, e-governance, defence,
education, banking, and trading. This book gives an overview of blockchain technol-
ogy application domains in IoT, such as Vehicle Web, Power Web, Cloud Internet,
Edge Computing, etc. This book also include categorization and side-by-side com-
parison of modern methods towards secure and privacy-preserving blockchain tech-
nology concerning specific safety objectives, efficiency, limitations, computational
complexity, and communication overhead.
Trust is a crucial factor as cyber-physical systems need to depend on resources
and assets controlled by various organizations, such as Edge, Fog, and Cloud com-
puting. While numerous real-world frameworks attempt to assist such integration,
they have platform independence, security, resource management, and multi-appli-
cation execution limitations that provide insights to application based solutions.
Decentralized digital ledger technology also allows people to create encrypted digital
identities easily accessible via mobile applications and can verify identity as and
when necessary. This book will discuss how blockchain can be used in various iden-
tity management applications and authentication in election voting.
In blockchain-based finance, security and privacy challenges can be solved at a
more customized level with significantly less time. On the security aspect, it has dis-
tributed consensus, which reduces data theft by an intermediary. It showcases driving
instruments to granular information security over each product stack layer, permit-
ting certain information sharing in business systems. The expanding prominence

ix
x ◾ Preface

of a keen, smart meter, smart home, smart city, and smart services applications has
presented exceptional interest for improving the hidden data innovation framework
to guarantee the straightforwardness, security, and protection of client information.
Blockchain is a promising innovation fit for tending to such requests. This book
will also focus on the security and privacy concerns of various smart applications,
present existing issues and challenges with case studies related to these applications.
The rising blockchain innovation demonstrates the promising potential to
upgrade modern frameworks and IoT by giving applications with repetition,
changeless capacity, and encryption. In this book, we address the combination of
blockchain and IoT from concerning industrial perspective. This book presents
blockchain empowered IoT structure that included basic methods, principles,
applications, and critical difficulties. This book also explore the various blockchain-
based systems such as the Internet of Vehicles (IoV), Electronic Healthcare Records
(EHR), Copyrights Management, and Domain Name Broker services for ensuring
security, protection, and high accessibility.
Editors

Udai Pratap Rao is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer

Engineering at Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat. In 2014,
he earned a PhD in Computer Engineering at Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute
of Technology, Surat. His research interests include Information security and pri-
vacy, Location-based privacy, Security in IoT and Cyber Physical Systems, Big Data
analytics, distributed computing, and methodologies that promote interdisciplinary
education.

Piyush Kumar Shukla is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer

Science and Engineering at the University Institute of Technology – Rajiv Gandhi
Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya (Technological University of Madhya Pradesh),
Bhopal, India. He has 15 years’ experience in teaching and research. He completed
a postdoctoral fellowship (PDF), Information Security Education and Awareness
Project Phase II.

Chandan Trivedi is an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering

Department at Nirma University. He has more than six years’ teaching experi-
ence. He earned a BTech in Computer Science Engineering at Rajasthan Technical
University, Kota, and MTech in Computer Engineering at Sardar Vallabhbhai
National Institute of Technology, Surat.

Sweta Gupta is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and

Engineering at JLU School of Engineering and Technology. She has a 10+ years of
academic as well as industrial experience.

Zelalem Sintayehu Shibeshi is a Senior Lecturer at Rhodes University, South

Africa. He earned a PhD at Rhodes University (2016) and a BSc in physics (1989),
an associate degree in computer science (1999), and MSc in information science
(2001) at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.

xi
Contributors

L. Javid Ali Umesh Bodkhe

Department of Information Department of Computer Science and
Technology Engineering
St. Joseph’s Institute of Technology Institute of Technology
Chennai, India Nirma University
Ahmedabad, India
Bhavna Bajpai
Department of Information Technology
Dr. C.V. Raman University Preeti Chandrakar
Khandwa, India Department of Computer Science and
Engineering
Ankur Bang National Institute of Technology
Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Raipur, India
Technology
Surat, India
S. Chandraprabha
Smita Bansod Department of Electrical
Information Technology Department and Computer Engineering
Shah & Anchor Kutchhi Engineering KPR Institute of Engineering and
College Technology
Mumbai, India Coimbatore, India
Pronaya Bhattacharya
Department of Computer Science and Subrata Chowdhury
Engineering Sri Venkateswara College of
Institute of Technology Engineering and Technology
Nirma University (Autonomous)
Ahmedabad, India Chittoor, India

Madhuri Bhavsar
Department of Computer Science and Narendra Kumar Dewangan
Engineering Department of Computer Science and
Institute of Technology Engineering
Nirma University National Institute of Technology
Ahmedabad, India Raipur, India

xiii
xiv ◾ Contributors

Ram Kishan Dewangan Aanchal Handa

Department of Computer Science and HSBC Technology
Engineering India
Thapar Institute of Engineering and
Technology Aditya Hirapara
Patiala, India Department of Computer Science and
Engineering
Ayushi Dwivedi Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute
Amity Institute of Forensic Sciences of Technology
Faculty of Science and Technology Surat, India
Amity University
Noida, India Aakanksha Jain
Department of Computer Science
Bhavesh N. Gohil Engineering
Department of Computer Science and Poornima University
Engineering Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute
of Technology
Ashish Jain
Surat, India
Manipal University Jaipur
Jaipur, India
S. Gomathi
UK International Qualifications, Ltd.
Sharjah, UAE Avinash Jaiswal
Department of Computer Science and
Nirmal Kumar Gupta Engineering
Manipal University Jaipur Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute
Jaipur, India of Technology
Surat, India
Rajeev Kumar Gupta
Pandit Deendayal Energy University Dhaval Jha
Gujarat, India Department of Computer Science and
Engineering
Shubham Gupta Institute of Technology
Department of Computer Science and Nirma University
Engineering Ahmedabad, India
Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute
of Technology Atharva Kalsekar
Surat, India Department of Computer Science and
Engineering
Sweta Gupta Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute
Jagran Lakecity University of Technology
Bhopal, India Surat, India
 Contributors ◾ xv

S. Usha Kiruthika Ujjwal Kumar

School of Computer Science and Department of Computer Science and
Engineering Engineering
Vellore Institute of Technology Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of
Chennai, India Technology
Surat, India
Rogin Koshy
Department of Computer Science and Sameer Mandloi
Engineering Department of Computer Science and
Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Engineering
Technology Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of
Surat, India Technology
Surat, India
Rishabh Kumar
Department of Computer Science and Nisha Mansoori
Engineering EZDI Solutions and Healthcare
Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of India
Technology
Surat, India Abhishek Mehta
Parul Institute of Computer
S.A. Siva Kumar Application
Department of Electrical and Parul University
Computer Engineering Vadodara, Gujarat, India
Ashoka Women’s Engineering
College Amarnath Mishra
Kurnool, India Amity Institute of Forensic Sciences
Faculty of Science and Technology
S. Gokul Kumar Amity University
Department of Technical Supply Noida, India
Chain
Ros Tech (A&D) Deep Mistry
Bangalore, India Department of Computer Science
Engineering
S. Satheesh Kumar Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of
Department of Electrical and Technology
Computer Engineering Surat, India
KPR Institute of Engineering and
Technology Amruta Mulay
Coimbatore, India Department of Computer Science
Engineering
Sarvesh Kumar Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of
Babu Banarasi Das University Technology
Lucknow, India Surat, India
xvi ◾ Contributors

Rajit Nair C.J. Raman

Inurture Education Solutions Private Department of Information
Limited Technology
Bengaluru, India St. Joseph’s College of Engineering
Chennai, India
Utkarsh Nigam
Department of Civil Engineering Nikhil Ranjan
L.D. College of Engineering Department of Computer Science
Ahmedabad, India Engineering
Chandigarh University
Nihal Parsania Punjab, India
Parul Institute of Computer Application
Parul University Udai Pratap Rao
Vadodara, India Department of Computer Science and
Engineering
Sankita Patel Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute
Department of Computer Science and of Technology
Engineering Surat, India
Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute
of Technology Paresh Rawat
Surat, India S.N. Technology
Bhopal, India
Vivek Kumar Prasad
Department of Computer Science and Kevin Shah
Engineering Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute
Institute of Technology of Technology
Nirma University Surat, India
Ahmedabad, India
B. Maruthi Shankar
Lata L. Ragha Department of Electrical and
Department of Computer Engineering Computer Engineering
Fr. C. Rodrigues Institute of Sri Krishna College of Engineering and
Technology Technology
Navi Mumbai, India Coimbatore, India

S. Kanaga Suba Raja Hrishabh Sharma

Department of Information Department of Computer Engineering
Technology Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute
Easwari Engineering College of Technology
Chennai, India Surat, India
 Contributors ◾ xvii

Piyush Kumar Shukla Shivangi Tanwar

Department of Computer Science and John Deere Technology Centre
Engineering Pune, India
University Institute of Technology
Rajiv Gandhi Prodyogiki Chandan Trivedi
Vishwavidyalaya Department of Computer Science and
Bhopal, India Engineering
Institute of Technology
Debabrata Singh Nirma University
Department of Computer Ahmedabad, India
Application
ITER Ashwin Verma
SOA University Department of Computer Science and
Bhubaneswar, India Engineering
Institute of Technology
Khushi Solanki Nirma University
Parul Institute of Computer Ahmedabad, India
Application
Parul University Mehak Wadhwani
Vadodara, India Monash University
Melbourne, Australia
Mukesh Soni
Department of Computer Science and Anil Kumar Yadav
Engineering IES College of Technology
Jagran Lackecity University Bhopal, India
Bhopal, India
Mohd Zuhair
Priya Swaminarayan Department of Computer Science and
Parul Institute of Computer Engineering
Application Institute of Technology
Parul University Nirma University
Vadodara, India Ahmedabad, India
Chapter 1

Blockchain Impact in
Education and Society
S. Gomathi
UK International Qualifications, Ltd., UAE

Mukesh Soni
Jagran Lackecity University, India

Utkarsh Nigam
L.D. College of Engineering, India

Bhavna Bajpai
Dr. C.V. Raman University, India

Subrata Chowdhury
Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering and Technology (Autonomous), India

Contents
1.1 Introduction�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������2
1.2 Topics Covered in This Section ��������������������������������������������������������������������3
1.2.1 Finding the Relevant Article �������������������������������������������������������������4
1.3 Blockchain in Education �����������������������������������������������������������������������������5
1.3.1 Categories of Application �����������������������������������������������������������������6
1.3.2 Benefits ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������7
1.3.3 Challenges Faced during the Adoption of Blockchain
Technology in Education �����������������������������������������������������������������7
1.4 Discussion ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������9

DOI: 10.1201/9781003129486-1 1
2 ◾ Blockchain for Information Security and Privacy

1.4.1 What Applications Have You Developed for Educational

Purposes with Blockchain Technology? ���������������������������������������������9
1.4.2 What Benefits Will the Technology of Blockchain Bring to
Education? �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������11
1.5 Future Research Areas ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������15
1.6 Conclusion ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������15
References ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������16

1.1 Introduction
Blockchain was launched in 2008 as an emerging technology. The first time the
transactions were registered in Bitcoin cryptocurrency [1] was used as a peer-­to-­peer
ledger. The goal was to remove any intermediary (or third) parties and to allow users
to transact directly. Blockchain has been developed to achieve this as a decentral-
ized peer-­node network. Every network node: (1) contains a copy of the transaction
records; (2) writes an entry into the network’s own record when it receives con-
sensus from other network nodes; (3) broadcasts any transaction that the network
user transmits to other nodes on the network; and (4) verifies periodically that the
network’s records are similar to those in the entire web [2]. As Bitcoin is continu-
ing to grow in popularity, the tremendous potential of its underlying technology is
realized by both researchers and practitioners [3]. Blockchain is used as a service in
many other areas, not only in cryptocurrencies, since it has several key advantages:
immutability, transparency, and trustworthiness.
Consequently, a growing number of Blockchain-­based applications in vari-
ous fields were developed [4]. The development of Blockchain-­based applications,
according to Gatteschi et al. [5], can be split into three key stages: 1.0, 2.0, and
3.0. Initially, it was used to allow single cash transactions, with Blockchain 1.0 for
cryptocurrencies. Blockchain 2.0 for properties and smart contracts was eventually
launched. These intelligent contracts enforce specific requirements and standards to
be satisfied before being registered in the Blockchain. Registration happens without
a third party’s involvement. Many applications in different sectors, such as govern-
ment [6], education [7], health [8], and science[9], were built in to Blockchain 3.0.
Blockchain remains in its early stages in its application for education. A small
number of educational institutions rely entirely upon Blockchain technology. Most
of these institutions use it to validate and share their students’ academic and learning
outcomes. However, field researchers believe Blockchain technology has a lot more
to offer and will revolutionize the field. Blockchain may be able to undermine the
critical position played by educational institutions as certification officers, accord-
ing to Nespor [10]. While the literature on Blockchain application has increased in
recent years, there is currently no systematic analysis of the topic. Such a study is
beneficial for an up-­to-­date analysis of the subject and informs evidence-­based prac-
tices. Through research into how Blockchain technologies are used in education, this
 Blockchain Impact in Education and Society ◾ 3

chapter provides an original and timely contribution to the literature on education

technology. The primary target audiences are administrators, leaders, researchers,
and scientists who want to protect their expertise and how it can have a profound
effect on the field of education.

1.2 Topics Covered in This Section

1. How education can take benefit with Blockchain – Blockchain technology
could provide significant educational benefits, including high-­security, low-­
cost, improved evaluations of students, improved data access monitoring,
improved accountability and transparency, identification authentication,
increased confidence, and better data record performance, support of career
decisions for learners and enhancement of interactivity between students.
2. Challenges in education – While Blockchain has shown its promise in an
educational context, many challenges remain when using Blockchain tech-
nology. In this post, we have summed up these challenges in some main
categories.
3. Blockchain applications in education – While an increasing number of
Blockchain-­based apps for education have been created, to date few have been
released publicly. Such conditions can be divided into major categories, as
described in the previous section. Every type deals with a problem of confi-
dence, privacy, or protection in the field of education.
4. Student records and credentialing – Some institutions find Blockchain to be
an excellent platform for storing, tracking, and using student credentials. A
Blockchain diploma enables students to view their records quickly and effi-
ciently and share this information with future employers. Employers would
then have no need to contact universities and colleges directly to inquire about
their achievements.
5. Copyright and digital rights protection – Academic plagiarism is a serious
problem. Blockchain systems can be used to control the distribution of copy-
righted material over the Internet. The technology’s primary function is the
secure storage of data recorded in a chain. Therefore, data in the Blockchain
cannot be altered manually because advanced encryption measures protect it.

The following paragraphs explain how these five measures were carried out in this
systematic review. The following research questions were formulated based on the
intent of this report.

1. Which applications were developed for educational purposes with Blockchain

technology?
2. What advantages could technology Blockchain bring to training?
3. What are the challenges of Blockchain education technology?
4 ◾ Blockchain for Information Security and Privacy

1.2.1 Finding the Relevant Article

A number of academic databases, such as the ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore
and Taylor and Francis, were searched online to compile articles related to a sys-
tematic review of the work. These included SAGE Papers, ProQuest, Springer, and
the Web of Science. The databases were chosen on the Monash University Library
website [6]. This website is compiled by one of the world’s leading universities,
which is recognized for its excellence in teaching and science. This platform pro-
vides the largest number of critical databases. The nine databases are known for
their high-­impact, high-­quality papers in education, and information technology.
The last of these searches was carried out in April 2019. The quest was performed
using the terms “Blockchain AND Education,”. “Blockchain AND Learning,” and
“Blockchain AND Teaching” As each database uses a search syntax separately, every
query string was set (see Table 1.1).
Google Scholar was also searched for more papers during the subsequent com-
pletion of the report. The aim was to find other articles of quality not identified

Table 1.1 Used Strings for Query Purpose

Strings Source
Blockchain AND education, Blockchain AND Sciencedirect
learning, Blockchain AND teaching

((Blockchain) AND education), ((Blockchain) AND IEEE Xplore

teaching), ((Blockchain) AND learning)

[All Blockchain] AND [All education], [All SAGE Journals

Blockchain] AND [All teaching], [All Blockchain]
AND [All learning]

digital library (Blockchain + education), (Blockchain ACM

+ learning), (Blockchain + teaching)

[All: Blockchain] AND [All: education], [All: Taylor & Francis online
Blockchain] AND [All: teaching],[All: Blockchain]
AND [All: learning]

Blockchain AND education, Blockchain AND Springer

teaching, Blockchain AND learning

(Blockchain) AND TITLE-­ABS-­KEY (teaching)), Scopus

(TITLE-­ABS-­KEY (Blockchain) AND
TITLE-­ABS-­KEY (learning))

TOPIC: (Blockchain) AND TOPIC: (education), Web of Science

Blockchain AND education, Blockchain AND ProQuest

teaching, Blockchain AND learning
 Blockchain Impact in Education and Society ◾ 5

during the initial quest for databases. But, since the search requires references not
checked by peers, Google Scholar has been limited to articles by well-­known pub-
lishers, e.g., the AACE, the Australasian Society for the Advancement of Education
Computers, the Canadian Education Innovation Network, Consortia Academia
Publishing, and Distance Editorial. Google Scholar’s Advanced Search page has
been used to limit the search to specific editors. The publishers’ names were entered
in the field “Return published objects,” while the question stings were entered into
the field “with all the words” using the following query strings for this search.

1. The researchers reviewed the titles and abstracts for the papers searched with
the pre-­defined requirements of inclusion and exclusion after the conclusion
of their search. The search was completed.
a. An essay was omitted where the complete text was not accessible online.
b. Blockchain technology did not apply in education.
c. The application being tabled was not practical; i.e., opinion.
The application was not submitted. EndNote has inserted the remaining
products and duplicates have been excluded. Finally, the full text of every
document has been read to ensure that all the details relevant to this sys-
tematic analysis are included. There has been no consistency evaluation.
Through using empirical bases as a main source for finding the related
papers, the accuracy of this analysis has been assured. Only peer-­reviewed
papers written by leading publishers have then been deemed to be part of
this analysis for the search on Google Scholar. We were thus able to include
high-­quality papers.
2. Data Extraction – For the extraction of data from the studies included, a data
extraction form was used. The type was specifically developed for this review
and was piloted on a sample of documents.
3. Data Analysis – Data analysis was carried out after extracting the data from
documents. The extracted information was analysed on four key themes which
emerged from the questions of study. The topics included: application, advan-
tages, threats, and the future. Several sub-­topics arose from data analyses for
each of these key themes.

1.3 Blockchain in Education
Several Blockchain applications for educational purposes have been developed, as
shown in Section 2.2. Such applications can be grouped into 12 distinct categories:
management of qualifications, competence management, and learning results man-
agement, assessment of students’ abilities, the security of learning objects, safeguard-
ing of shared learning environment, transferring fees and credits, gaining digital
custodial consent, management of competitions, copyright management, enhanc-
ing interactions between students.
6 ◾ Blockchain for Information Security and Privacy

1.3.1 Categories of Application

1. Certification Management – Full virtual schools problematize what is meant

by the term ‘school attendance’. Does it require the child to log in (regardless
of the amount of work done) to the school’s software system, or should it
alternatively be measured by how much work has been submitted (irrespective
of the duration of time for login)? How do you understand how many teach-
ers do when students work at home? Using documents and interviews with 22
teachers of 10 US VPNs Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), this article looks
at schools in terms of time savings, animated by two temporary accumulation
circuits: one that generates students’ academic records; a second one that mea-
sures the amount of times schools work with pupils. Cyber education recon-
figures and connects these chains with impacts on school finance, student
certification, and teachers’ employment [10]. Xu et al. [11] has introduced an
educational certificate Blockchain (ECBC) that supports high performance
and low latency and provides speeding-­up queries. The ECBC consensus
mechanism uses co-­operation between peers to build competitive blocks to
minimize latency and increase performance. ECBC provides an MPT (MPT-­
Chain) tree structure that cannot only include an effective transaction request,
but also support a historical account transaction query. MPT-­Chain requires
only a short update period and can accelerate block verification. ECBC is also
designed to protect user privacy via transaction format. The experiment shows
that ECBC has better throughput and latency efficiency to accommodate
rapid queries. Like this, there are many articles based on certificate manage-
ment [12–16].
2. Competencies and learning outcomes management – Farah et al. [17] pre-
sented a framework for a Blockchain-­tech architecture stored in a distributed
repository network without diminishing its authenticity by signing and vali-
dating learning traces. The proposal puts online study participants at the cen-
ter of the design process, enabling them to store traces of learning in a place of
their choice. Employing intelligent contracts, stakeholders can retrieve the
data and share it securely and with third parties, ensuring that it is unaltered.
However, a preliminary assessment showed that only 56 percent of studied
teachers considered a tamper-­evident depository to be a useful feature [18].
These results encourage further examination of data used in their practice with
other end-­users, such as learning analytics researchers.

Duan et al. [19] introduced a Blockchain education technology based on a study

results index, including professional certification and automatic tools for deter-
mining university graduation requirements. The achievement results of courses are
reported in a block based on the quantitative and qualitative combination of quali-
fications, method and facts, name of courses, name of the study results (diploma
 Blockchain Impact in Education and Society ◾ 7

criteria indicator), the courses’ weight, etc. The transition from the assessment of
students’ achievement to the post-­jobs assessment results is completed, and coun-
terparts from the evaluation of student skills are sent to the program, in which the
curriculum is continually improved. Some more articles based on Competencies
and learning outcomes management are given in three articles [20–22].

1.3.2 Benefits
Blockchain could bring education to seven different types of benefits. Blockchain
could bring to education were highlighted in the checked papers. Security is the
first advantage [23, 24]. Seventeen articles (55%) defined protection as an essen-
tial advantage of incorporating Blockchain education technology. Data protection,
privacy, and dignity are all part of security. A second significant advantage of using
Blockchain in education is greater control over how and by whom student data are
accessed. Twelve papers (39%) highlighted this gain. Increased accountability and
openness is the third benefits highlighted in 11 articles (36%). The fourth advan-
tage of Blockchain technology in education is increasing trust. Blockchain can cre-
ate trust between all parties involved and promote contact with them, according
to 10 articles (32%). A fifth advantage of using Blockchain in education lowers
costs. Nine reports (29%) documented this gain. The type of Blockchain technol-
ogy, according to these papers, can help reduce the unnecessary costs of transactions
and data storage. Authentication is the sixth advantage. Nine studies (29%) indi-
cate that Blockchain technology will identify students and render digital certificates
authenticated. The seventh benefit is correlated with the tests of students. Eight
papers (26%) suggested that Blockchain technology might change how student per-
formance and learning results are evaluated [25].
Figures 1.1 and 1.2 represents the number of articles related to challenges and
benefits, respectively.

1.3.3 Challenges Faced during the Adoption of Blockchain

Technology in Education
Six different types of problems were illustrated in the reviewed papers (see Figure 1.1).

I. The first concern is the scalability of the Blockchain. Ten papers (32%) note
that the number of Blockchain network transactions contributes to block size
growth. Ultimately, the transaction latency will be increased.
II. The second issue relates to Blockchain privacy and security. Nine (29 percent)
papers discussed several concerns related to protection and privacy, for exam-
ple, malicious attacks and data leaks, by using Blockchain technology.
III. The cost of using this technology poses the third significant barrier to
Blockchain in education. Nine papers (29 percent) approached this problem
8 ◾ Blockchain for Information Security and Privacy

Figure 1.1 Number of articles related to challenges

Figure 1.2 Number of articles related to benefits [25]

 Blockchain Impact in Education and Society ◾ 9

from different angles: power computation costs [26]; changing the current
infrastructure; slow transaction time; and large-­scale data management costs.
IV. Trust is related to the fourth obstacle. Seven articles (23%) find that schools
are still unwilling to share their data in a Blockchain network.
V. A fifth challenge seen in four papers (13%) sets limits on the adoption of
Blockchain technology. These four posts make it difficult for educational insti-
tutions to decide which data and services should be delivered across the
Blockchain network. Two articles (6%) showed that immutability, a signifi-
cant characteristic of Blockchain, could challenge the implementation of
Blockchain technology for education. These papers explained that immutabil-
ity would make it impossible for educational institutions to enforce new infor-
mation storage rules or correct inaccurate data.
VI. The sixth problem concerns the immature existence of Blockchain technology.
One article (3%) stated that Blockchain still has immaturity problems, such as
weak usability and complicated setups. Data unavailability is also a problem
mentioned in one article (3%). This post will become inaccessible if data man-
agement is put in the user’s hands itself, and applications relying on this data
could impact. One final obstacle that has been illustrated in one of the papers
discussed (3%) is to weaken the importance of conventional school diplomas.
According to this report, Blockchain may allow students to serve as their life-
time education records, which may undermine education institutions’ central
position as certification agents.

1.4 Discussion
The publication trend shows that the use of Blockchain technology in education
is increasing worldwide because of the relatively limited number of studies found.
However, further research in this field is required. Overall, our three study question-
naires were supported by this systematic analysis of the 31 reports.

1.4.1 What Applications Have You Developed for

Educational Purposes with Blockchain Technology?
Although more and more Blockchain-­based applications for educational purposes
are being developed, to date only a few have been released to the public. These appli-
cations, discussed in the previous section, can be grouped into 12 major categories.
Each category deals with a trust, privacy, or safety problem in the educational set-
ting. Specific applications relating to certificates management were concentrated in
the first group. This group deals with all kinds of university credentials, transcripts,
qualifications for students, or other achievement styles. Many implementations have
been using Blockchain for digital certificates in the field of education. Much of the
10 ◾ Blockchain for Information Security and Privacy

performances of these certificates benefitted from the great faith and protection that
Blockchain technology offers.
Bdiwi et al. [27] introduced the Ubiquitous Learning Framework (ULS), which
uses Blockchain technology to ensure a high degree of safety when students work
together. U-­learning (Ubiquitous learning), therefore, include an immersive multi-
media environment to facilitate better teacher–student contact. Similarly, Bore et al.
[28] stressed the need to enhance schools’ educational climate by using Blockchain
as a School Information Platform (SIH). Such a framework may compile, evalu-
ate, and report information about school systems to improve decision-­making. The
fifth category involves the transfer of charges and credit. It includes applications
with similar functions for the transfer of credentials or fees between institutions,
organizations, and even universities because of Blockchain’s high level of protection
and confidence. Educational institutions typically rely on a third party to manage
and authorize credit or fee transfer. Fortunately, the Blockchain can be used to share
information and remove the necessity for a high level of protection of certain third
parties or intermediaries. The tokens used to demonstrate the transfer process were
used in the EduCTX method [29]. These tokens can be in any digital format for
learning units, including diplomas, certificates, and training. Each school has its
EduCTX address for safe transferring processes. Some demands related to the acqui-
sition of digital guard consent were addressed in category six. Blockchain helped
to improve the conventional method of obtaining consent from parents instead
of electronically. The confidence Blockchain technology can bring great reflection.
The decentralized design of Blockchain helps speed up the consent process with-
out affecting its privacy. Through the adoption of this technology the selection and
switching process between several students, parents, and educational institutions
would be facilitated greatly. The mechanism for allowing public schools, which want
to meet their students without parents’ permission for every single occasion, is sug-
gested by Gilda and Mehrotra [30].
Nespor [10] suggested a certification platform that would offset the school’s
use as a certification agent for the project. This request would allow higher educa-
tion providers or employers to provide students with a high degree of information
privacy with official certificates. Students could thus explicitly share it with some-
one asking for their official documents. Similarly, Han et al. [31] use Blockchain
technology’s decentralized existence to supply new Blockchain-­based educational
records to search and issue official transcripts or certificates. Individually, their data
can be accessed. However, the access and alteration of saved data in the system
under certain limited conditions and regulations are only allowable to accredited
businesses. Competencies and learning results management were based in the sec-
ond group. More focus has been given to developing Blockchain applications to
boost learning goals and enhance their skills. This will lead to better preparation and
enrich the field of education in a wide variety.
Farah et al. [17] have developed a framework for monitoring students’ success in
their multi-­learning work. For each particular operation, it adds into a block inde-
pendently of all traces. This learning block may also be viewed as self-­describing, as
 Blockchain Impact in Education and Society ◾ 11

all metadata on several activities is included. This application contributes to a high

degree of self-­efficiency.
Another Williams application [32] suggested a student learning environment.
Fast and direct support and constructive feedback are given. The application aims
to strengthen the learning process by integrating a broad range of skills, promot-
ing critical thinking, and problem-­solving through improved teamwork and com-
munication. Since Blockchain offers a decentralized network, open to all parties,
including students, faculty members, and public authorities, it builds a collaborative
climate with high protection and honesty.
Blockchain contributed to creating a nested permission mechanism that speeds
up the entire process and maintains privacy and consent control. Another category
is the management of competition, using Blockchain technology to help control and
improve competitive transactions’ quality and transparency. Wu and Li [33] have
introduced an e-­commerce operating sandbox competition model, a decision frame-
work that tests students’ technical skills and expertise. This framework was built for
an assessment system that tests and manages the operational skills of students.
Blockchain application software was built to assess students’ technical skills
based on their academic performance and achievement, which could then be given
to the interested industry. This method was developed to evaluate and analyze the
capabilities of students based on the Blockchain clustering algorithm [34]. Another
system, known as the management of copyrights, covers ownership rights when the
Blockchain is used. To enhance learning engagement, this application was created.
It provides top learners with virtual currencies based on predefined policies in the
Blockchain network. It offers incentives. Another group of applications listed in this
analysis is the review examination. The protection of auditing examinations papers
can be greatly improved by using a licensed Blockchain technique.
A decentralized analysis application called dAppER was created by Mitchell,
Hara, and Sheriff [35], which was built in line with quality assurance principles
when disrupting inspections by external examiners. DAppER was useful to monitor
the quality assurance processes based on their findings. Finally, it is the last applica-
tion group to promote lifelong learning. In enhancing lifelong learning dimensions,
such as improving skills, information, and productivity, Blockchain technologies
have played an important role.

1.4.2 What Benefits Will the Technology of Blockchain Bring

to Education?
Technology from Blockchain could offer significant advantages in education,
including high safety, low cost, better evaluations of the student, better data control,
enhanced accountability and transparency, authentication of identities, confidence-­
building, better management of student records, promoting career choices for
learners and enhancing interactivities among the learners. The use of Blockchain
guarantees data/transactions shared between the intended parties for authentication
and privacy. The design of peer topology in the Blockchain reduces the potential for
12 ◾ Blockchain for Information Security and Privacy

protection in the education sector. The consensus protocol was used in Comparison
to preserve the order of Application [27].
The ledger contents are checked, 12 of the 18 transactions, and there are decrease
in the risk of non-­secured transactions. The security of transactions is ensured
through the use of cryptographical hatches and signatures. The beauty of the
Blockchain system depends on the data themselves being protected and on whether
or not they are not damaged. To demonstrate this, Blockchain traces, and records of
learning were signed and authenticated [17]. There are different types of data related
to a learning activity in each learning block. To secure these data before sending it
to other participants, an encryption algorithm was implemented [36]. Furthermore,
the field of education will benefit greatly from the Blockchain for cost reduction.
The costs include storage, transaction costs, and the handling and preservation of
educational documents. Costs are included. The cost of conventional cloud-­based
storage is significantly reduced through using a public/private distributed network
which is accessible from anywhere. In general, it needs extra costs to check and
process academic certificates, while Blockchain reduces these costs [29]. The use of
Blockchain technology can also increase the evaluation of students. The Blockchain
was introduced with regard to calculating the learning output based on the results.
One of the significant characteristics and advantages of Blockchain is to restrict/
control access to stored documents. Transcripts, diplomas, or personal students/
teachers’ documents are included in educational records.
Arenas [37] demonstrated an excellent example in which a licensed Blockchain
platform was used to restrict access to academic credentials and limit them solely
to the intended participants. Only accredited organizations can access and change
stored data according to relevant regulations on the Blockchain platform. In addi-
tion, improving accountability and transparency are two benefits that Blockchain
technology has accomplished. Saving all educational and school information at one
readily available location [38] would make the use of these records more accountable
and transparent.
Bore et al. [28]establishes the framework for gathering and storing school
reports and records in the School Information Hub (SIH) based on Blockchain.
This framework helped make shared data more accessible and increase the flexibility
to interpret, compare, or distribute data. Blockchain also guarantees the validity and
identification of digital certificates. A digital curriculum was held in a Blockchain
in comparison [39]. The approved university signs this with a private key when
blocks have been formed. A cryptographic hash will then be provided to ensure
that nobody can interrupt the material. The university verifies these data’s valid-
ity, and use the initial institution’s key to confirm them. Trust is another benefit
of Blockchain technology. Only responsible parties can either add blocks to the
network, or access it. When engaging with authorities from various regions, trust is
a significant concern. Introducing stable and efficient systems based on Blockchain,
universities, or educational institutions can create a dedicated group. EduCTX was
launched in relation [40], which is a credit and grading Blockchain network. Tokens
 Blockchain Impact in Education and Society ◾ 13

are passed to responsible parties. These tokens depend on the credits that are col-
lected in the records of students. This contributed to the establishment of higher
education organizations of an internationally trusted and cohesive structure.
Moreover, the enhancement of the quality of student record management is
one significant advantage of Blockchain technology. Using Blockchain in educa-
tion, the probability of trade errors between intended parties may theoretically be
minimized. It uses a ledger to share data quicker and more effectively. Because of
its simplicity and accountability, digital records and certificates can be best handled
by Blockchain. The “UZHBC,” a Blockchain system operated at the University of
Zurich, and taking into account multiple stakeholder criteria, was implemented by
Gresch et al. [13]. Also, the Application will achieve productivity and accountabil-
ity. The Blockchain Framework for Advisory Advice is shared in 2019 with 13 of 18
institutions, students, and job agencies. [21]. Another benefit of using Blockchain
technology is helping learners’ career choices.
For the engagement in learning events, they used a learning incentive scheme.
The study tools in the peer-­to-­peer network can be shared across all nodes. All learn-
ing records are compiled into a block and can easily be tracked to track the learners’
interactivity and interoperability progress. What are Blockchain Technology’s prob-
lems in education? While Blockchain has demonstrated its value in an educational
environment, there are many challenges to overcome when using such technology
in education. In this review paper we have outlined these problems in some fun-
damental categories. While protection is the key feature of Blockchain technology,
it is impossible to eliminate the possibility of malicious attacks. It is a challenge to
provide both security and confidentiality at the same time, and when an individual
is at risk (through the online authorization of educational qualifications and certifi-
cates), the problem becomes more critical [31]. Many systems use private and public
keys to ensure privacy. However, since each public key’s available details are publicly
accessible, Blockchain cannot guarantee transactional privacy, and user transactions
can therefore be attached to disclose information for users.
Many studies have been carried out in attempts to address this problem. Several
researchers have suggested concepts, including Zilliqa [41], a new Blockchain
framework focused on a shared mechanism for disconnecting the large Blockchain
network through multi-­shard transactions. However, before the Blockchain can be
implemented on a large scale, scalability problems must be addressed effectively.
Blockchain is an evolving technology that must be incorporated into the existing
framework. But it can cost so much for adoption and execution. In addition to this
deployment expense, many Blockchain technologies are often costly for transac-
tions or computations [17]. The cost would increase as the block size increases with
users’ rise to handle and store such large student data. This approach would be dif-
ficult to use in conventional education systems without handling this growth and
running costs. To verify credentials, all entities must agree to share their records.
But how are all organizations prepared to share their data? The question remains.
In some cases, whether or not a DLT/Blockchain solution improves over a more
14 ◾ Blockchain for Information Security and Privacy

conventional, centralized directory is unclear. In addition, inadequate evidence

exists for business profits for educational institutions. There can be a considerable
risk of changing current educational practices, which affect both current systems
and the economy. How can accredited organizations take the risk of offering cer-
tificates to their students? If approved organizations do not consent to provide
such data, further difficulties may be generated in the authorization phase [40].
Policymakers for higher education or other policymakers must determine how
long, and indeed whether, the Blockchain can be trusted. The borders of all legal
entities are also absent from clarification. Some companies do not wish, for all of
their business processes, to embrace Blockchain technology. Without identifying
the potential benefits of Blockchain in conventional systems, a major challenge will
be established. It’s also important to respond to who will identify the limits that
this organization needs to pass technology and how many Blockchain technology
processes it can adopt.
The pace of Blockchain implementation in the education sector can be set in
early collaborations among the government or higher schools with the private sector
in regulatory compliance. The poor usability of its products, especially the earliest,
is another key problem with Blockchain technology. The language and perceived
immaturity of the technology are also lacking in clarification. In addition to this,
for security purposes, including the main key, public key, and recovery seeds, there
are several complicated settings that users will have to store. Blockchain has com-
pletely different terminology, which is confusing for consumers in the area of educa-
tion. The usability must be enhanced through the simple interfaces of Blockchain
products so that the framework is readily understood and used by persons without
technological expertise. Further studies would also be required in field usability test-
ing. Effective design and simple terminology in the education sector will lead to
Blockchain adaptation. Through further data protection checks, the data are inac-
cessible for sites based on the data of users. There is a balance between privacy and
data access.
Consequently, access to such data is more complicated as users handle their data
in Blockchain technology. Blockchain’s immutability makes it harder to edit data
until everyone decides to alter the ledger’s contents. This immutability can create a
dilemma for government entities needing data from their people for law and order.
Furthermore, Blockchain’s immutability function would not allow for modifications
to any framework already specified policies. Due to decentralized Blockchain tech-
nology, the centralized structure of any educational system can be affected. The
availability of a constantly aggregated directory will affect the value of the traditional
school credentials as in Blockchain. One of the best breakthroughs in recent times
is Blockchain technology. It will probably take a long time before the technology is
embraced widely. Since Blockchain implementation is related to many obstacles, it
must be tackled before using the technology in the education sector.
 Blockchain Impact in Education and Society ◾ 15

1.5 Future Research Areas

Blockchain has a lot more to offer and can offer significant benefits in other fields
of education. Collaboration and collaboration between educational institutions are
the prominent places where Blockchain can be very successful. As already men-
tioned, Blockchain is proving itself to be a safe and secure technology for tracking
the academic accomplishments of its students. This includes the certificates of stu-
dents and their different learning results and abilities. A future study will explore
how Blockchain could promote collaboration and partnership between educational
establishments. It would also assist educational institutions with mutual facilities,
services, and academic programs to reduce their operating costs. Job-­driven train-
ing is another field for the use of Blockchain technology. Work-­oriented education
is primarily aimed at delivering training courses that fulfill current and potential
recruitment needs and contribute to participating students’ jobs. In promoting this
form of education, Blockchain may play a crucial role. Businesses will share the
expertise and skills needed by Blockchain. This knowledge, and the design of train-
ing programs that respond to business needs, can be checked periodically by edu-
cational institutions. Students may also use Blockchain to consolidate their skills.
Agencies for recruitment may study the Blockchain, and assess and recommend
particular training programs to students based on their abilities.
Blockchain technology to accredit and enhance online education quality is also
a required field for future study. Although there are many benefits to online educa-
tion, including lower costs, accessibility, and versatility, several disadvantages are
also present. The accreditation and low quality are the greatest of these disadvan-
tages. Many educational institutions demand accreditation and deliver high-­quality
online courses. Blockchain could solve this problem. It can be used as a decentral-
ized forum for the safe and accurate exchange of information between students,
educational institutions, and accrediting agencies. Electronic Data Interchanges
(EDIs) can store information about their online classes, online programs, teachers,
and accreditation programs. After completing the course, students will share their
evaluations of both the framework and their teachers.

1.6 Conclusion
Taken as a whole, Blockchain will strengthen the education system in several ways.
The technology is ideal for the safe storage, sharing, and networking of informa-
tion. This advanced device will make many processes quicker, simpler, and safer. It
bridges the gap in credentials, security of copyright, and effective communication.
The Blockchain will soon benefit from these regular processes. New technology joins
our lives, and we can use it wisely to make progress in the right direction. Today’s
16 ◾ Blockchain for Information Security and Privacy

students are the ones living in a whole new world! We should help them, accept the
changes, and learn how to improve things.

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Chapter 2

Apply and Analyse

Several Blockchain
Techniques in IoT and
Big Data Sector
Nikhil Ranjan
Chandigarh University, Punjab, India

Sarvesh Kumar
Babu Banarasi Das University, Lucknow, India

Aakanksha Jain
Poornima University, India

Contents
2.1 Blockchain Technology ������������������������������������������������������������������������������20
2.1.1 Centralized, Decentralized and Distributed ������������������������������������21
2.1.2 Types of Blockchain �����������������������������������������������������������������������22
2.2 Blockchains and IoT Systems ��������������������������������������������������������������������23
2.3 Blockchain IoT Platforms ��������������������������������������������������������������������������24
2.4 Need of IOTA �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������24
2.5 Challenges to Address the Integration of Blockchain in IoT ����������������������25
2.5.1 Scalability ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������25
2.5.2 Security ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������26

DOI: 10.1201/9781003129486-2 19
20 ◾ Blockchain for Information Security and Privacy

2.5.3 Interoperability ������������������������������������������������������������������������������26

2.5.4 Legal, Compliance, and Regulation ������������������������������������������������26
2.6 Blockchain in IoT: Real-World Applications and Solutions ������������������������26
2.6.1 Supply Chain Logistics �������������������������������������������������������������������26
2.6.2 Automotive Industry ����������������������������������������������������������������������26
2.6.3 Smart Homes Industry �������������������������������������������������������������������27
2.6.4 Pharmacy Industry �������������������������������������������������������������������������27
2.6.5 Mediledger �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������27
2.7 Instances of Blockchain-Based Security Mix for IoT Systems ���������������������27
2.7.1 Secure Management of IoT Devices �����������������������������������������������27
2.7.2 Secure Firmware Updates in IoT Devices ���������������������������������������28
2.7.3 Trust Evaluation of a Trusted Computing Base in IoT Devices �������28
2.7.4 IoT Device Identity Validation �������������������������������������������������������29
2.7.5 Secure Data Store System for Access Control Information �������������29
2.7.6 Blockchain-Based Security Architecture for IoT Devices in
Smart Homes ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������30
2.7.7 Improved Reliability of Medical IoT Devices ���������������������������������30
2.8 Challenges and Future Research ����������������������������������������������������������������32
2.8.1 Conclusion ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������33
2.9 Blockchain in Big Data ������������������������������������������������������������������������������33
2.9.1 Digital Ledger as Fulfilling Career Chances ������������������������������������35
2.9.2 Blockchain and Big Data Advancements for Information
Investigation ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������37
2.9.3 Blockchain and Big Data: Protection Concerns ������������������������������37
2.9.4 Blockchain and Big Data: Community-Based Data to Forecast
the Price of Bitcoin ������������������������������������������������������������������������38
2.9.5 Blockchain Use Cases in Big Data ��������������������������������������������������38
2.10 Conclusion ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������39
References ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������40

2.1 Blockchain Technology
Blockchain innovation became a worldwide innovation in 2008 when it was utilized
for the Bitcoin digital currency. A Blockchain is a far-off object in information base
for taking care of a dynamical rundown of records called blocks. A square chain is
recreated in a decentralized design, where each center stores a copy of the entire
article or item. The geography of an advanced record is a chain of article since each
item, except for the principal object, the alleged Genesis Block or Object, contains a
connection to the former article realized as a hash of the past thing. Each square in
a Blockchain is likewise carefully time bound. The fundamental construction of the
Blockchain is shown in Figure 2.1.
 Apply and Analyse Several Blockchain Techniques ◾ 21

Figure 2.1 Blockchain Structure

2.1.1 Centralized, Decentralized and Distributed

Let’s try to understand them further with an example. Suppose Phil is an entre-
preneur who starts a business selling household furniture. In order to do this, he
set up various showrooms in the city to sell the furniture. He created a warehouse
to store all the furniture there and supply it according to the demands from the
showrooms. You can map this scenario to the centralised database system. Just as
the single ­warehouse stores all of the furniture, a central database stores all the data.
As Phil’s business expanded, he ventured out to multiple cities by setting up
various showrooms. Now Phil realised that having one warehouse will not suffice his
requirements, so he set up warehouses in all the cities. He created one warehouse in
each of the cities he ventured into. All of his furniture was stored there and distrib-
uted from there to the showroom in one city. Here this can be mapped to the decen-
tralised database system. Multiple warehouses hold the merchandise. Similarly, in a
decentralised database system all of the information is stored not in one place but in
multiple places or databases.
Listed below are the critical points of differences between the three types of
­system we have encountered to date.

Feature Centralized Decentralized Distributed

Security Low; Most Moderate; Data Highest; Very
vulnerable to can be rebuilt difficult to lose
data security from parallel data completely
issues servers if backed
up

Response Speed Bottlenecks can Quick response Fastest response

(*Applicable in cause response speed depending rates
case the networks speed to reduce on the
having large significantly distribution of
amounts of data) data

(Continued)
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
reference. But this interpretation is not absolutely necessary. John
might use this language either because the angels had been spoken
of before; or because it would be sufficiently understood, from the
common use of language, who would be referred to—as we now
might speak of “the seven members of the cabinet of the United
States,” or “the thirty-one governors of the states of the Union,”
though they had not been particularly mentioned; or he might speak
of them as just then disclosed to his view, and because his meaning
would be sufficiently definite by the circumstances which were to
follow—their agency in blowing the trumpets. It would be entirely in
accordance with the usage of the article for one to say that he saw
an army, and the commander-in-chief, and the four staff-officers,
and the five bands of music, and the six companies of sappers and
miners, &c. It is not absolutely necessary, therefore, to suppose that
these angels had been before referred to. There is, indeed, in the
use of the phrase “which stood before God,” the idea that they are
to be regarded as permanently standing there, or that that is their
proper place—as if they were angels who were particularly
designated to this high service. Comp. Lu. i. 19: “I am Gabriel, that
stand in the presence of God.” If this idea is involved in the phrase,
then there is a sufficient reason why the article is used, though they
had not before been mentioned. ¶ And to them were given seven
trumpets. One to each. By whom the trumpets were given is not
said. It may be supposed to have been done by Him who sat on the
throne. Trumpets were used then, as now, for various purposes; to
summon an assembly; to muster the hosts of battle; to inspirit and
animate troops in conflict. Here they are given to announce a series
of important events producing great changes in the world—as if God
summoned and led on his hosts to accomplish his designs.

3 And another angel came and stood at the

altar, having a golden censer; and there was
given unto him much incense, that he should
 offer it with the 263prayers of all saints upon
262

the 264golden altar which was before the throne.

3. And another angel came. Who this angel was is not mentioned,
nor have we any means of determining. Of course a great variety of
opinion has been entertained on the subject (see Poole’s Synopsis)—
some referring it to angels in general; others to the ministry of the
church; others to Constantine; others to Michael; and many others
to the Lord Jesus. All that we know is, that it was an angel who thus
appeared, and there is nothing inconsistent in the supposition that
anyone of the angels in heaven may have been appointed to
perform what is here represented. The design seems to be, to
represent the prayers of the saints as ascending in the anticipation
of the approaching series of wonders in the world—and there would
be a beautiful propriety in representing them as offered by an angel,
feeling a deep interest in the church, and ministering in behalf of the
saints. ¶ And stood at the altar. In heaven—represented as a temple,
with an altar, and with the usual array of things employed in the
worship of God. The altar was the appropriate place for him to stand
when about to offer the prayers of the saints—for that is the place
where the worshipper stood under the ancient dispensation. Comp.
Notes on Mat. v. 23, 24; Lu. i. 11. In the latter place an angel is
represented as appearing to Zacharias “on the right side of the altar
of incense.” ¶ Having a golden censer. The fire-pan, made for the
purpose of carrying fire, on which to burn incense in time of
worship. See it described and illustrated in the Notes on He. ix. 4.
There seems reason to suppose that the incense that was offered in
the ancient worship was designed to be emblematic of the prayers of
saints, for it was the custom for worshippers to be engaged in prayer
at the time the incense was offered by the priest. See Lu. i. 10.
¶ And there was given unto him much incense. See Notes on Lu.
i. 9. A large quantity was here given to him, because the occasion
was one on which many prayers might be expected to be offered.
¶ That he should offer it with the prayers. Marg., “add it to.” Gr.,
“that he should give it with”—δώσῃ. The idea is plain, that, when
the prayers of the saints ascended, he would also burn the incense,
that it might go up at the same moment, and be emblematic of
them. Comp. Notes on ch. v. 8. ¶ Of all saints. Of all who are holy;
of all who are the children of God. The idea seems to be, that, at
this time, all the saints would unite in calling on God, and in
deprecating his wrath. As the events which were about to occur
were a matter of common interest to the people of God, it was to be
supposed that they would unite in common supplication. ¶ Upon the
golden altar. The altar of incense. This in the tabernacle and in the
temple was overlaid with gold. ¶ Which was before the throne. This
is represented as a temple-service, and the altar of incense is, with
propriety, placed before his seat or throne, as it was in the
tabernacle and temple. In the temple, God is represented as
occupying the mercy-seat in the holy of holies, and the altar of
incense is in the holy place before that. See the description of the
temple in the Notes on Mat. xxi. 12.

4 And the smoke of the 265incense, which

came with the prayers of the saints, ascended
up before God out of the angel’s hand.
4. And the smoke of the incense, &c. The smoke caused by the
burning incense. John, as he saw this, naturally interpreted it of the
prayers of the saints. The meaning of the whole symbol, thus
explained, is that, at the time referred to, the anxiety of the church
in regard to the events which were about to occur would naturally
lead to much prayer. It is not necessary to attempt to verify this by
any distinct historical facts, for no one can doubt that, in a time of
such impending calamities, the church would be earnestly engaged
in devotion. Such has always been the case in times of danger; and
it may always be assumed to be true, that when danger threatens,
whether it be to the church at large or to an individual Christian,
there will be a resort to the throne of grace.
 5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it
with fire of the altar, and cast it 266into the
earth: and there were 267voices, and
thunderings, and lightnings, and an
268
earthquake.
5. And the angel took the censer. Ver. 3. This is a new symbol,
designed to furnish a new representation of future events. By the
former it had been shown that there would be much prayer offered;
by this it is designed to show that, notwithstanding the prayer that
would be offered, great and fearful calamities would come upon the
earth. This is symbolized by casting the censer upon the earth, as if
the prayers were not heard any longer, or as if prayer were now in
vain. ¶ And filled it with fire of the altar. An image similar to this
occurs in Eze. x. 2, where the man clothed in linen is commanded to
go between the wheels under the cherub, and fill his hands with
coals of fire from between the cherubims, and to scatter them over
the city as a symbol of its destruction. Here the coals are taken,
evidently, from the altar of sacrifice. Comp. Notes on Is. vi. 1. On
these coals no incense was placed, but they were thrown at once to
the earth. The new emblem, therefore, is the taking of coals, and
scattering them abroad as a symbol of the destruction that was
about to ensue. ¶ And cast it into the earth. Marg., upon. The
margin expresses undoubtedly the meaning. The symbol, therefore,
properly denoted that fearful calamities were about to come upon
the earth. Even the prayers of saints did not prevail to turn them
away, and now the symbol of the scattered coals indicated that
terrible judgments were about to come upon the world. ¶ And there
were voices. Sounds, noises. See Notes on ch. iv. 5. The order is not
the same here as there, but lightnings, thunderings, and voices are
mentioned in both. ¶ And an earthquake. Ch. vi. 12. This is a symbol
of commotion. It is not necessary to look for a literal fulfilment of it,
any more than it is for literal “voices,” “lightnings,” or “thunderings.”
 6 And the seven angels which had the seven
trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
6. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared
themselves to sound. Ver. 7. Evidently in succession, perhaps by
arranging themselves in the order in which they were to sound. The
way is now prepared for the sounding of the trumpets, and for the
fearful commotions and changes which would be indicated by that.
The last seal is opened; heaven stands in suspense to know what is
to be disclosed; the saints, filled with solicitude, have offered their
prayers; the censer of coals has been cast to the earth, as if these
judgments could be no longer stayed by prayer; and the angels
prepare to sound the trumpets indicative of what is to occur.
 7 The first angel sounded, and 269there
followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and
they were cast upon the earth: and the third
part of 270trees was burnt up, and all green
grass was burnt up.
7. The first angel sounded. The first in order, and indicating the
first in the series of events that were to follow. ¶ And there followed
hail. Hail is usually a symbol of the divine vengeance, as it has often
been employed to accomplish the divine purposes of punishment.
Thus in Ex. ix. 23, “And the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire
ran along the ground; and the Lord rained hail upon the land of
Egypt.” So in Ps. cv. 32, referring to the plagues upon Egypt, it is
said, “He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land.” So
again, Ps. lxxviii. 48, “He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and
their flocks to hot thunderbolts.” As early as the time of Job hail was
understood to be an emblem of the divine displeasure, and an
instrument in inflicting punishment:

“Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow,

Or hast thou seen the treasure of the hail?
Which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
Against the day of battle and war?”
Job xxxviii. 22, 23.

So also, the same image is used in Ps. xviii. 13;

“The Lord also thundered in the heaven,

And the Most High gave forth his voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.”

Comp. Hag., ch. ii. 17. The destruction of the Assyrian army, it is
said, would be accomplished in the same way, Is. xxx. 30. Comp.
Eze. xiii. 11; xxxviii. 22. ¶ And fire. Lightning. This also is an
instrument and an emblem of destruction. ¶ Mingled with blood. By
blood “we must naturally understand,” says Professor Stuart, “in this
case, a shower of coloured rain; that is, rain of a rubidinous aspect,
an occurrence which is known sometimes to take place, and which,
like falling stars; eclipses, &c., was viewed with terror by the
ancients, because it was supposed to be indicative of blood that was
to be shed.” The appearance, doubtless, was that of a red shower,
apparently of hail, or snow—for rain is not mentioned. It is not a
rain-storm, it is a hail-storm that is the image here; and the image is
that of a driving hail-storm, where the lightnings flashed, and where
there was the intermingling of a reddish substance that resembled
blood, and that was an undoubted symbol of blood that was to be
shed. I do not know that there is red rain, or red hail, but red snow
is not very uncommon; and the image here would be complete if we
suppose that there was an intermingling of red snow in the driving
tempest. This species of snow was found by Captain Ross at Baffin’s
Bay on the 17th of August, 1819. The mountains that were dyed
with the snow were about eight miles long, and six hundred feet
high. The red colour reached to the ground in many places ten or
twelve feet deep, and continued for a great length of time. Although
red snow had not until this attracted much notice, yet it had been
long before observed in Alpine countries. Saussure discovered it on
Mount St. Bernard in 1778. Ramond found it on the Pyrenees; and
Summerfield discovered it in Norway. “In 1818 red snow fell on the
Italian Alps and Apennines. In March, 1808, the whole country about
Cadore, Belluno, and Feltri was covered with a red-coloured snow to
the depth of six and a half feet; but a white snow had fallen both
before and after it, the red formed a stratum in the middle of the
white. At the same time a similar fall took place in the mountains of
the Valteline, Brescia, Carinthia, and Tyrol” (Edin. Encyclo. art.
“Snow”). These facts show that what is referred to here in the
symbol might possibly occur. Such a symbol would be properly
expressive of blood and carnage. ¶ And they were cast upon the
earth. The hail, the fire, and the blood—denoting that the fulfilment
of this was to be on the earth. ¶ And the third part of trees was
burnt up. By the fire that came down with the hail and the blood.
¶ And all green grass was burnt up. Wherever this lighted on the
earth. The meaning would seem to be, that wherever this tempest
beat the effect was to destroy a third part—that is, a large portion of
the trees, and to consume all the grass. A portion of the trees—
strong and mighty—would stand against it; but that which was so
tender as grass is, would be consumed. The sense does not seem to
be that the tempest would be confined to a third part of the world,
and destroy all the trees and the grass there; but that it would be a
sweeping and general tempest, and that wherever it spread it would
prostrate a third part of the trees and consume all the grass. Thus
understood, it would seem to mean, that in reference to those things
in the world which were firm and established like trees, it would not
sweep them wholly away, though it would make great desolation;
but in reference to those which were delicate and feeble—like grass
—it would sweep them wholly away.—This would not be an inapt
description of the ordinary effects of invasion in time of war. A few of
those things which seem most firm and established in society—like
trees in a forest—weather out the storm; while the gentle virtues,
the domestic enjoyments, the arts of peace, like tender grass, are
wholly destroyed. The fulfilment of this we are undoubtedly to
expect to find in the terrors of invasion; the evils of war; the effusion
of blood; the march of armies. So far as the language is concerned,
the symbol would apply to any hostile invasion; but in pursuing the
exposition on the principles on which we have thus far conducted it,
we are to look for the fulfilment in one or more of those invasions of
the northern hordes that preceded the downfall of the Roman
empire and that contributed to it.—In the “Analysis” of the chapter,
some reasons were given why these four trumpet signals were
placed together, as pertaining to a series of events of the same
general character, and as distinguished from those which were to
follow. The natural place which they occupy, or the events which we
should suppose, from the views taken above of the first six seals,
would be represented, would be the successive invasions of the
northern hordes which ultimately accomplished the overthrow of the
Roman empire. There are four of these “trumpets,” and it would be a
matter of inquiry whether there were four events of sufficient
distinctness that would mark these invasions, or that would
constitute periods or epochs in the destruction of the Roman power.
At this point in writing, I looked on a chart of history, composed with
no reference to this prophecy, and found a singular and unexpected
prominence given to four such events extending from the first
invasion of the Goths and Vandals at the beginning of the fifth
century, to the fall of the Western empire, A.D. 476. The first was the
invasion of Alaric, king of the Goths, A.D. 410; the second was the
invasion of Attila, king of the Huns, “scourge of God,” A.D. 447; a
third was the sack of Rome by Genseric, king of the Vandals,
A.D. 455; and the fourth, resulting in the final conquest of Rome, was
that of Odoacer, king of the Heruli, who assumed the title of King of
Italy, A.D. 476. We shall see, however, on a closer examination, that
although two of these—Attila and Genseric—were, during a part of
their career, contemporary, yet the most prominent place is due to
Genseric in the events that attended the downfall of the empire, and
that the second trumpet probably related to him; the third to Attila.
These were, beyond doubt, four great periods or events attending
the fall of the Roman empire, which synchronize with the period
before us. If, therefore, we regard the opening of the sixth seal as
denoting the threatening aspect of these invading powers—the
gathering of the dark cloud that hovered over the borders of the
empire, and the consternation produced by that approaching storm;
and if we regard the transactions in the seventh chapter—the
holding of the winds in check, and the sealing of the chosen of God
—as denoting the suspension of the impending judgments in order
that a work might be done to save the church, and as referring to
the divine interposition in behalf of the church; then the appropriate
place of these four trumpets, under the seventh seal, will be when
that delayed and restrained storm burst in successive blasts upon
different parts of the empire—the successive invasions which were
so prominent in the overthrow of that vast power. History marks four
of these events—four heavy blows—four sweepings of the tempest
and the storm—under Alaric, Genseric, Attila, and Odoacer, whose
movements could not be better symbolized than by these successive
blasts of the trumpet.

The first of these is the invasion of Alaric; and the inquiry now is,
whether his invasion is such as would be properly symbolized by the
first trumpet. In illustrating this, it will be proper to notice some of
the movements of Alaric, and the alarm consequent on his invasion
of the empire; and then to inquire how far this corresponds with the
images employed in the description of the first trumpet. For these
illustrations I shall be indebted mainly to Mr. Gibbon. Alaric, the
Goth, was at first employed in the service of the emperor
Theodosius, in his attempt to oppose the usurper Arbogastes, after
the murder of Valentinian, emperor of the West. Theodosius, in
order to oppose the usurper, employed, among others, numerous
barbarians—Iberians, Arabs, and Goths. One of them was Alaric,
who, to use the language of Mr. Gibbon (ii. 179), “acquired in the
school of Theodosius the knowledge of the art of war, which he
afterwards so fatally exerted for the destruction of Rome,” A.D. 392‒
394. After the death of Theodosius (A.D. 395) the Goths revolted
from the Roman power, and Alaric, who had been disappointed in his
expectations of being raised to the command of the Roman armies,
became their leader (Decline and Fall, ii. 213). “That renowned
leader was descended from the noble race of the Balti; which yielded
only to the royal dignity of the Amali; he had solicited the command
of the Roman armies; and the imperial court provoked him to
demonstrate the folly of their refusal, and the importance of their
loss. In the midst of a divided court and a discontented people the
emperor Arcadius was terrified by the aspect of the Gothic
arms,” &c. Alaric then invaded and conquered Greece, laying it waste
in his progress, until he reached Athens, ii. 214, 215. “The fertile
fields of Phocis and Bœotia were instantly covered by a deluge of
barbarians, who massacred the males of age to bear arms, and
drove away the beautiful females, with the spoil and cattle of the
flaming villages.” Alaric then concluded a treaty with Theodosius, the
emperor of the East (ii. 216); was made master-general of Eastern
Illyricum, and created a magistrate (ii. 217); soon united under his
command the barbarous nations that had made the invasion, and
was solemnly declared to be the king of the Visigoths, ii. 217.
“Armed with this double power, seated on the verge of two empires,
he alternately sold his deceitful promises to the courts of Arcadius
and Honorius, till he declared and executed his purpose of invading
the dominions of the West. The provinces of Europe which belonged
to the Eastern empire were already exhausted; those of Asia were
inaccessible; and the strength of Constantinople had resisted his
attack. But he was tempted by the beauty, the wealth, and the fame
of Italy, which he had twice visited; and he secretly aspired to plant
the Gothic standard on the walls of Rome; and to enrich his army
with the accumulated spoils of three hundred triumphs,” ii. 217, 218.
In describing his march to the Danube, and his progress towards
Italy, having increased his army with a large number of barbarians,
Mr. Gibbon uses the remarkable language expressive of the general
consternation, already quoted in the description of the sixth seal.
Alaric approached rapidly towards the imperial city, resolved to
“conquer or die before the gates of Rome.” But he was checked by
Stilicho, and compelled to make peace, and retired (Decline and Fall,
ii. 222), and the threatening storm was for a time suspended. See
Notes on ch. vii. 1, seq. So great was the consternation, however,
that the Roman court, which then had its seat at Milan, thought it
necessary to remove to a safer place, and became fixed at Ravenna,
ii. 224. This calm, secured by the retreat of Alaric, was, however, of
short continuance. In A.D. 408 he again invaded Italy in a more
successful manner, attacked the capital, and more than once pillaged
Rome. The following facts, for which I am indebted to Mr. Gibbon,
will illustrate the progress of the events, and the effects of this blast
of the “first trumpet” in the series that announced the destruction of
the Western empire:—

(a) The effect, on the destiny of the empire, of removing the

Roman court to Ravenna from the dread of the Goths. As early as
A.D. 303 the court of the emperor of the West was, for the most part,
established at Milan. For some time before, the “sovereignty of the
capital was gradually annihilated by the extent of conquest,” and the
emperors were required to be long absent from Rome on the
frontiers, until in the time of Diocletian and Maximian the seat of
government was fixed at Milan, “whose situation at the foot of the
Alps appeared far more convenient than that of Rome for the
important purpose of watching the motions of the barbarians of
Germany” (Gibbon, i. 213). “The life of Diocletian and Maximian was
a life of action, and a considerable portion of it was spent in camps,
or in their long and frequent marches; but whenever the public
business allowed them any relaxation, they seem to have retired
with pleasure to their favourite residences of Nicomedia and Milan.
Till Diocletian, in the twentieth year of his reign, celebrated his
Roman triumph, it is extremely doubtful whether he ever visited the
ancient capital of the empire” (Gibbon, i. 214). From this place the
court was driven away, by the dread of the northern barbarians, to
Ravenna, a safer place, which thenceforward became the seat of
government, while Italy was ravaged by the northern hordes, and
while Rome was besieged and pillaged. Mr. Gibbon, under date of
A.D. 404, says, “The recent danger to which the person of the
emperor had been exposed in the defenceless palace of Milan [from
Alaric and the Goths] urged him to seek a retreat in some
inaccessible fortress in Italy, where he might securely remain, while
the open country was covered by a deluge of barbarians” (vol. ii.
p. 224). He then proceeds to describe the situation of Ravenna, and
the removal of the court thither, and then adds (p. 225), “The fears
of Honorius were not without foundation, nor were his precautions
without effect. While Italy rejoiced in her deliverance from the
Goths, a furious tempest was excited among the nations of
Germany, who yielded to the irresistible impulse that appears to
have been gradually communicated from the eastern extremity of
the continent of Asia.” That mighty movement of the Huns is then
described, as the storm was preparing to burst upon the Roman
empire, ii. 225. The agitation and the removal of the Roman
government were events not inappropriate to be described by
symbols relating to the fall of that mighty power.
 (b) The particulars of that invasion, the consternation, the siege of
Rome, and the capture and pillage of the imperial city, would confirm
the propriety of this application to the symbol of the first trumpet. It
would be too long to copy the account—for it extends through many
pages of the History of the Decline and Fall of the Empire; but a few
selected sentences may show the general character of the events,
and the propriety of the symbols, on the supposition that they
referred to these things. Thus Mr. Gibbon (ii. 226, 227) says, “The
correspondence of nations was, in that age, so imperfect and
precarious, that the revolutions of the North might escape the
knowledge of the court of Ravenna, till the dark cloud which was
collected along the coast of the Baltic burst in thunder upon the
banks of the Upper Danube. The king of the confederate Germans
passed, without resistance, the Alps, the Po, and the Apennines;
leaving on the one hand the inaccessible palace of Honorius securely
buried among the marshes of Ravenna; and on the other the camp
of Stilicho, who had fixed his head-quarters at Ticinum, or Pavia, but
who seems to have avoided a decisive battle till he had assembled
his distant forces. Many cities of Italy were pillaged or destroyed.
The senate and people trembled at their approach within a hundred
and eighty miles of Rome; and anxiously compared the danger
which they had escaped with the new perils to which they were
exposed,” &c. Rome was besieged for the first time by the Goths
A.D. 408. Of this siege Mr. Gibbon (ii. 252‒254) has given a graphic
description. Among other things, he says, “That unfortunate city
gradually experienced the distress of scarcity, and at length the
horrid calamities of famine.” “A dark suspicion was entertained, that
some desperate wretches fed on the bodies of their fellow-creatures
whom they had secretly murdered; and even mothers—such were
the horrid conflicts of the two most powerful instincts implanted by
nature in the human breast—even mothers are said to have tasted
the flesh of their slaughtered infants. Many thousands of the
inhabitants of Rome expired in their houses, or in the streets, for
want of sustenance; and as the public sepulchres without the walls
were in the power of the enemy, the stench which arose from so
many putrid and unburied carcasses infected the air; and the
miseries of famine were succeeded and aggravated by a pestilential
disease.” The first siege was raised by the payment of an enormous
ransom (Gibbon, ii. 254). The second siege of Rome by the Goths
occurred A.D. 409. This siege was carried on by preventing the supply
of provisions, Alaric having seized upon Ostia, the Roman port,
where the provisions for the capital were deposited. The Romans
finally consented to receive a new emperor at the hand of Alaric,
and Attalus was appointed in the place of the feeble Honorius, who
was then at Ravenna, and who had abandoned the capital. Attalus,
an inefficient prince, was soon publicly stripped of the robes of
office, and Alaric, enraged at the conduct of the court at Ravenna
towards him, turned his wrath a third time on Rome, and laid siege
to the city. This occurred A.D. 410. “The king of the Goths, who no
longer dissembled his appetite for plunder and revenge, appeared in
arms under the walls of the capital; and the trembling senate,
without any hope of relief, prepared, by a desperate effort, to delay
the ruin of their country. But they were unable to guard against the
conspiracy of their slaves and domestics, who, either from birth or
interest, were attached to the cause of the enemy. At the hour of
midnight the Salarian Gate was silently opened, and the inhabitants
were awakened by the tremendous sound of the Gothic trumpet.
Eleven hundred and sixty-three years after the foundation of Rome,
the imperial city, which had subdued and civilized so considerable a
part of mankind, was delivered to the licentious fury of the tribes of
Germany and Scythia” (Gibbon, ii. 260).

(c) It is, perhaps, only necessary to add that the invasion of Alaric
was in fact but one of the great events that led to the fall of the
empire, and that, in announcing that fall, where a succession of
events was to occur, it would properly be represented by the blast of
one of the trumpets. The expressions employed in the symbol are,
indeed, such as might be applied to any invasion of hostile armies,
but they are such as would be used if the design were admitted to
be to describe the invasion of the Gothic conqueror. For (1) that
invasion, as we have seen, would be well represented by the storm
of hail and lightning that was seen in vision; (2) by the red colour
mingled in that storm—indicative of blood; (3) by the fact that it
consumed the trees and the grass. This, as we saw in the
exposition, would properly denote the desolation produced by war—
applicable, indeed, to all war, but as applicable to the invasion of
Alaric as any war that has occurred, and it is such an emblem as
would be used if it were admitted that it was the design to represent
his invasion. The sweeping storm, prostrating the trees of the forest,
is an apt emblem of the evils of war, and, as was remarked in the
exposition, no more striking illustration of the consequences of a
hostile invasion could be employed than the destruction of the
“green grass.” What is here represented in the symbol cannot,
perhaps, be better expressed than in the language of Mr. Gibbon,
when describing the invasion of the Roman empire under Alaric.
Speaking of that invasion, he says—“While the peace of Germany
was secured by the attachment of the Franks and the neutrality of
the Alemanni, the subjects of Rome, unconscious of their
approaching calamities, enjoyed the state of quiet and prosperity
which had seldom blessed the frontiers of Gaul. Their flocks and
herds were permitted to graze in the pastures of the barbarians;
their huntsmen penetrated, without fear or danger, into the darkest
recesses of the Hercynian wood. The banks of the Rhine were
crowned, like those of the Tiber, with elegant houses and well-
cultivated farms; and if a poet descended the river, he might express
his doubt on which side was situated the territory of the Romans.
This scene of peace and plenty was suddenly changed into a desert;
and the prospect of the smoking ruins could alone distinguish the
solitude of nature from the desolation of man. The flourishing city of
Mentz was surprised and destroyed; and many thousand Christians
were inhumanly massacred in the church. Worms perished after a
long and obstinate siege; Strasburg, Spires, Rheims, Tournay, Arras,
Amiens, experienced the cruel oppression of the German yoke; and
the consuming flames of war spread from the banks of the Rhine
over the greatest part of the seventeen provinces of Gaul. That rich
and extensive country, as far as the ocean, the Alps, and the
Pyrenees, was delivered to the barbarians, who drove before them,
in a promiscuous crowd, the bishop, the senator, and the virgin,
laden with the spoils of their houses and altars,” ii. 230. In
reference, also, to the invasion of Alaric, and the particular nature of
the desolation depicted under the first trumpet, a remarkable
passage which Mr. Gibbon has quoted from Claudian, as describing
the effects of the invasion of Alaric, may be here introduced. “The
old man,” says he, speaking of Claudian, “who had passed his simple
and innocent life in the neighbourhood of Verona, was a stranger to
the quarrels both of kings and of bishops; his pleasures, his desires,
his knowledge, were confined within the little circle of his paternal
farm; and a staff supported his aged steps on the same ground
where he had sported in infancy. Yet even this humble and rustic
felicity (which Claudian describes with so much truth and feeling)
was still exposed to the undistinguishing rage of war. His trees, his
old contemporary271 trees, must blaze in the conflagration of the
whole country; a detachment of Gothic cavalry must sweep away his
cottage and his family; and the power of Alaric could destroy this
happiness which he was not able either to taste or to bestow. ‘Fame,’
says the poet, ‘encircling with terror or gloomy wings, proclaimed
the march of the barbarian army, and filled Italy with
consternation,’” ii. 218. And (4) as to the extent of the calamity,
there is also a striking propriety in the language of the symbol as
applicable to the invasion of Alaric. I do not suppose, indeed, that it
is necessary, in order to find a proper fulfilment of the symbol, to be
able to show that exactly one-third part of the empire was made
desolate in this way; but it is a sufficient fulfilment if desolation
spread over a considerable portion of the Roman world—as if a third
part had been destroyed. No one who reads the account of the
invasion of Alaric can doubt that it would be an apt description of
the ravages of his arms to say that a third part was laid waste. That
the desolations produced by Alaric were such as would be properly
represented by this symbol may be fully seen by consulting the
whole account of that invasion in Gibbon, ii. 213‒266.
 8 And the second angel sounded, and as it
were a great 272mountain burning with fire was
273
cast into the sea: and the third part of the
sea 274became blood;
8. And the second angel sounded. Comp. Notes on ver. 2‒7. This,
according to the interpretation proposed above, refers to the second
of the four great events which contributed to the downfall of the
Roman empire. It will be proper in this case, as in the former, to
inquire into the literal meaning of the symbol, and then whether
there was any event that corresponded with it. ¶ And as it were a
great mountain. A mountain is a natural symbol of strength, and
hence becomes a symbol of a strong and powerful kingdom; for
mountains are not only places of strength in themselves, but they
anciently answered the purposes of fortified places, and were the
seats of power. Hence they are properly symbols of strong nations.
“The stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and
filled the whole earth,” Da. ii. 35. Comp. Zec. iv. 7; Je. li. 25. We
naturally, then, apply this part of the symbol to some strong and
mighty nation—not a nation, necessarily, that issued from a
mountainous region, but a nation that in strength resembled a
mountain. ¶ Burning with fire. A mountain in a blaze; that is, with all
its woods on fire, or, more probably, a volcanic mountain. There
would perhaps be no more sublime image than such a mountain
lifted suddenly from its base and thrown into the sea. One of the
sublimest parts of the Paradise Lost is that where the poet
represents the angels in the great battle in heaven as lifting the
mountains—tearing them from their base—and hurling them on the
foe:—

“From their foundations heaving to and fro,

They plucked the seated hills, with all their load,
Rocks, waters, woods, and by the shaggy tops
Uplifting, bore them in their hands,” &c.
Book vi.
The poet, however, has not, as John has, represented a volcano
borne along and cast into the sea. The symbol employed here would
denote some fiery, impetuous, destructive power. If used to denote a
nation, it would be a nation that was, as it were, burning with the
desire of conquest—impetuous, and fierce, and fiery in its assaults—
and consuming all in its way. ¶ Cast into the sea. The image is very
sublime; the scene, should such an event occur, would be awfully
grand. As to the fulfilment of this, or the thing that was intended to
be represented by it, there cannot be any material doubt. It is not to
be understood literally, of course; and the natural application is to
some nation, or army, that has a resemblance in some respects to
such a blazing mountain, and the effect of whose march would be
like casting such a mountain into the ocean. We naturally look for
agitation and commotion, and particularly in reference to the sea, or
to some maritime coasts. It is undoubtedly required in the
application of this, that we should find its fulfilment in some country
lying beyond the sea, or in some sea-coast or maritime country, or in
reference to commerce. ¶ And the third part of the sea became
blood. Resembled blood; became as red as blood. The figure here is,
that as such a blazing mountain cast into the sea would, by its
reflection on the waters, seem to tinge them with red, so there
would be something corresponding with this in what was referred to
by the symbol. It would be fulfilled if there was a fierce maritime
warfare, and if in some desperate naval engagement the sea should
be tinged with blood.

9 And the third part of the creatures which

were in the sea, and had life, died; and the
third part of the ships were destroyed.
9. And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and
had life, died. The effect was as if one-third of all the fish in the sea
were cut off. Of course this is not to be taken literally. It is designed
to describe an effect, pertaining to the maritime portion of the
world, as if a third portion of all that was in the sea should perish.
The natural interpretation would be to apply it to some invasion or
calamity pertaining to the sea—to the islands, to the maritime
regions, or to commerce. If the whole description pertains to the
Roman empire, then this might be supposed to have particular
reference to something that would have a bearing on the maritime
parts of that empire. ¶ And the third part of the ships were
destroyed. This also pertains to the same general calamity, affecting
the commerce of the empire. The destruction of the “ships” was
produced, in some way, by casting the mountain into the sea—either
by their being consumed by the contact with the burning mass, or
by being sunk by the agitation of the waters. The essential idea is,
that the calamity would be of such a nature as would produce the
destruction of vessels at sea—either naval armaments, or ships of
commerce. In looking now for the application or fulfilment of this, it
is necessary (a) to find some event or events which would have a
particular bearing on the maritime or commercial part of the world;
and (b) some such event or events that, on the supposition that
they were the things referred to, would be properly symbolized by
the image here employed. (1) If the first trumpet had reference to
the invasion of Alaric and the Goths, then in this we naturally look
for the next succeeding act of invasion which shook the Roman
empire, and contributed to its fall. (2) The next invasion was that
under Genseric, at the head of the Vandals (Gibbon, ii. 306, seq.).
This occurred A.D. 428‒468. (3) The symbol of a blazing or burning
mountain, torn from its foundation, and precipitated into the ocean,
would well represent this mighty nation moved from its ancient seat,
and borne along towards the maritime parts of the empire, and its
desolations there—as will be shown in the following remarks.
(4) The acts of the Vandals, under Genseric, corresponded with the
ideas expressed by the symbol. In illustrating this I shall be
indebted, as heretofore, principally to Mr. Gibbon. (a) His general
account of the Vandals is this: they are supposed (i. 138) to have
been originally the same people with the Goths, the Goths and
Vandals constituting one great nation living on the shores of the
Baltic. They passed in connection with them over the Baltic;
emigrated to Prussia and the Ukraine; invaded the Roman provinces;
received tribute from the Romans; subdued the countries about the
Bosphorus; plundered the cities of Bithynia; ravaged Greece and
Illyrium, and were at last settled in Thrace under the emperor
Theodosius (Gibbon, i. 136‒166; ii. 110‒150), They were then
driven forward by the Huns, and having passed through France and
Spain into Africa, conquered the Carthaginian territory, established
an independent government, and thence through a long period
harassed the neighbouring islands, and the coasts of the
Mediterranean by their predatory incursions, destroying the ships
and the commerce of the Romans, and were distinguished in the
downfall of the empire by their ravages on the islands and the sea.
Thus they were moved along from place to place until the scene of
their desolations became more distinctly the maritime parts of the
empire; and the effect of their devastations might be well compared
with a burning mountain moved from its ancient base, and then
thrown into the sea. (b) This will be apparent from the statements of
Mr. Gibbon in regard to their ravages under their leader Genseric.
“Seville and Carthagena became the reward, or rather the prey of
the ferocious conquerors” [after they had defeated the Roman
Castinus], “and the vessels which they found in the harbour of
Carthagena might easily transport them to the isles of Majorca and
Minorca, where the Spanish fugitives, as in a secure recess, had
vainly concealed their families and fortunes. The experience of
navigation, and perhaps the prospect of Africa, encouraged the
Vandals to accept the invitation which they received from Count
Boniface” [to aid him in his apprehended difficulties with Rome, and
to enter into an alliance with him by settling permanently in Africa
(Gibbon, ii. 305, 306)]: “and the death of Gonderic” [the Vandal
king] “served only to forward and animate the bold enterprise. In
the room of a prince, not conspicuous for any superior powers of the
mind or body, they acquired his bastard brother, the terrible Genseric
—a name which, in the destruction of the Roman empire, has
deserved an equal rank with the names of Alaric and Attila.” “The
ambition of Genseric was almost without bounds, and without
scruples; and the warrior could dexterously employ the dark engines
of policy to solicit the allies who might be useful to his success, or to
scatter among his enemies the seeds of enmity and contention.
Almost in the moment of his departure he was informed that
Hermanric, king of the Suevi, had presumed to ravage the Spanish
territories, which he was resolved to abandon. Impatient of the
insult, Genseric pursued the hasty retreat of the Suevi as far as
Merida; precipitated the king and his army into the river Anas, and
calmly returned to the sea-shore to embark his troops. The vessels
which transported the Vandals over the modern Straits of Gibraltar, a
channel only twelve miles in breadth, were furnished by the
Spaniards, who anxiously wished for their departure; and by the
African general who had implored their formidable assistance”
(Gibbon, ii. 306). Genseric, in the accomplishment of his purposes,
soon took possession of the northern coast of Africa, defeating the
armies of Boniface, and “Carthage, Cirta, and Hippo Regius were the
only cities that appeared to rise above the general inundation”
(Gibbon, ii. 308). “On a sudden,” says Mr. Gibbon (ii. 309), “the
seven fruitful provinces, from Tangier to Tripoli, were overwhelmed
by the invasion of the Vandals; whose destructive rage has perhaps
been exaggerated by popular animosity, religious zeal, and
extravagant declamation. War in its fairest form implies a perpetual
violation of humanity and justice; and the hostilities of barbarians
are inflamed by the fierce and lawless spirit which perpetually
disturbs their peaceful and domestic society. The Vandals, where
they found resistance, seldom gave quarter; and the deaths of their
valiant countrymen were expiated by the ruin of the cities under
whose walls they had fallen,” &c. The result of the invasion was the
conquest of all northern Africa; the reduction of Hippo and Carthage,
and the establishment of a government under Genseric in Africa that
waged a long war with Rome (Gibbon, ii. 310, 311). The symbol
before us has particular reference to maritime or naval operations
and desolations, and the following extracts from Mr. Gibbon will
show with what propriety, if this symbol was designed to refer to
him, these images were employed. “The discovery and conquest of
the black nations [in Africa] that might dwell beneath the torrid zone
could not tempt the rational ambition of Genseric; but he cast his
eyes towards the sea; he resolved to create a naval power, and his
bold resolution was executed with steady and active perseverance.
The woods of Mount Atlas afforded an inexhaustible supply of
timber; his new subjects were skilled in the arts of navigation and
ship-building; he animated his daring Vandals to embrace a mode of
warfare which would render every maritime country accessible to
their arms; the Moors and Africans were allured by the hope of
plunder; and after an interval of six centuries the fleets that issued
from the port of Carthage again claimed the empire of the
Mediterranean. The success of the Vandals, the conquest of Sicily,
the sack of Palermo, and the frequent descents on the coasts of
Lucania, awakened and alarmed the mother of Valentinian and the
sister of Theodosius. Alliances were formed; and armaments,
expensive and ineffectual, were prepared for the destruction of the
common enemy, who reserved his courage to encounter those
dangers which his policy could not prevent or elude. The revolutions
of the palace, which left the Western empire without a defender and
without a lawful prince, dispelled the apprehension and stimulated
the avarice of Genseric. He immediately equipped a numerous fleet
of Vandals and Moors, and cast anchor at the mouth of the
Tiber,” &c. (Gibbon, ii. 352). “On the third day after the tumult
[A.D. 455, on the death of Maximus] Genseric boldly advanced from
the port of Ostia to the gates of the defenceless city. Instead of a
sally of the Roman youth, there issued from the gates an unarmed
and venerable procession of the bishop at the head of the clergy. But
Rome and its inhabitants were delivered to the licentiousness of the
Vandals and the Moors, whose blind passions revenged the injuries
of Carthage. The pillage lasted fourteen days and nights; and all that
yet remained of public or private wealth, of sacred or profane
treasure, was diligently transported to the vessels of Genseric,” &c.
See the account of this pillage in Gibbon, ii. 355‒366. The emperor
Majorian (A.D. 457) endeavoured to “restore the happiness of the
Romans,” but “he encountered the arms of Genseric, from his
character and situation their most formidable enemy. A fleet of
Vandals and Moors landed at the mouth of the Liris, or Garigliano;
but the imperial troops surprised and attacked the disorderly
barbarians, who were encumbered with the spoils of Campania; they
were chased with slaughter to their ships; and their leader, the king’s
brother-in-law, was found in the number of the slain. Such vigilance
might announce the character of the new reign; but the strictest
vigilance, and the most numerous forces, were insufficient to protect
the long-extended coast of Italy from the depredations of a naval
war” (Gibbon, ii. 363). “The emperor had foreseen that it was
impossible, without a maritime power, to achieve the conquest of
Africa. In the first Punic war the republic had exerted such incredible
diligence, that within sixty days after the first stroke of the axe had
been given in the forest a fleet of one hundred and sixty galleys
proudly rode at anchor in the sea. Under circumstances much less
favourable Majorian equalled the spirit and perseverance of the
ancient Romans. The woods of the Apennines were felled, the
arsenals and manufactures of Ravenna and Misenium were restored,
Italy and Gaul vied with each other in liberal contributions to the
public service; and the imperial navy of three hundred large galleys,
with an adequate proportion of transports and smaller vessels, was
collected in the secure and capacious harbour of Carthagena in
Spain” (Gibbon, ii. 363, 364). The fate of this large navy is thus
described by Mr. Gibbon:—“Genseric was saved from impending and
inevitable ruin by the treachery of some powerful subjects; envious
or apprehensive of their master’s success. Guided by their secret
intelligence, he surprised the unguarded fleet in the bay of
Carthagena; many of the ships were sunk, or taken, or burnt; and
the preparations of three years were destroyed in a single day,”
ii. 364. The farther naval operations and maritime depredations of
the Vandals under Genseric are thus stated by Mr. Gibbon:—“The
kingdom of Italy, a name to which the Western empire was gradually
reduced, was afflicted, under the reign of Ricimer, by the incessant
depredations of Vandal pirates. In the spring of each year they
equipped a formidable navy in the port of Carthage; and Genseric
himself, though in very advanced age, still commanded in person the
most important expeditions. His designs were concealed with
impenetrable secrecy till the moment that he hoisted sail. When he
was asked by the pilot what course he should steer—‘Leave the
determination to the winds,’ replied the barbarian, with pious
arrogance; ‘they will transport us to the guilty coast whose
inhabitants have provoked the divine justice;’ but if Genseric himself
deigned to issue more precise orders, he judged the most wealthy to
be the most criminal. The Vandals repeatedly visited the coasts of
Spain, Liguria, Tuscany, Campania, Lucania, Bruttium, Apulia,
Calabria, Venetia, Dalmatia, Epirus, Greece, and Sicily; they were
tempted to subdue the island of Sardinia, so advantageously placed
in the centre of the Mediterranean; and their arms spread
desolation, or terror, from the Columns of Hercules to the mouth of
the Nile. As they were more ambitious of spoil than of glory, they
seldom attacked any fortified cities, or engaged any regular troops in
the open field. But the celerity of their motions enabled them,
almost at the same time, to threaten and to attack the most distant
objects which attracted their desires; and as they always embarked
a sufficient number of horses, they had no sooner landed than they
swept the dismayed country with a body of light cavalry,” ii. 366.
How far this description agrees with the symbol in the passage
before us—“a great mountain burning with fire cast into the sea;”
“the third part of the ships were destroyed”—must be left to the
reader to judge. It may be asked, however, with at least some show
of reason, whether, if it be admitted that it was the design of the
author of the book of Revelation to refer to the movements of the
Vandals under Genseric as one of the important and immediate
causes of the ruin of the Roman empire, he could have found a more
expressive symbol than this? Indeed, is there now any symbol that
would be more striking and appropriate? If one should now
undertake to represent this as one of the causes of the downfall of
the empire by a symbol, could he easily find one that would be more
expressive? It is a matter that is in itself perhaps of no importance,
but it may serve to show that the interpretation respecting the
second trumpet was not forced, to remark that I had gone through
with the interpretation of the language of the symbol before I looked
into Mr. Gibbon with any reference to the application.
 10 And the third angel sounded, and there
275
fell a great star from heaven, burning as it
were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of
the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters:
10. And the third angel sounded. Indicating, according to the
interpretation above proposed, some important event in the downfall
of the Roman empire. ¶ And there fell a great star from heaven.
A star is a natural emblem of a prince, of a ruler, of one
distinguished by rank or by talent. Comp. Notes on ch. ii. 28. See
Nu. xxiv. 17, and the Notes on Is. xiv. 12. A star falling from heaven
would be a natural symbol of one who had left a higher station, or of
one whose character and course would be like a meteor shooting
through the sky. ¶ Burning as it were a lamp. Or, as a torch. The
language here is such as would describe a meteor blazing through
the air; and the reference in the symbol is to something that would
have a resemblance to such a meteor. It is not a lurid meteor (livid,
pale, ghastly) that is here referred to, but a bright, intense, blazing
star—emblem of fiery energy; of rapidity of movement and
execution; of splendour of appearance—such as a chieftain of high
endowments, of impetuousness of character, and of richness of
apparel, would be. In all languages, probably, a star has been an
emblem of a prince whose virtues have shone brightly, and who has
exerted a beneficial influence on mankind. In all languages also,
probably, a meteor flaming through the sky has been an emblem of
some splendid genius causing or threatening desolation and ruin; of
a warrior who has moved along in a brilliant but destructive path
over the world; and who has been regarded as sent to execute the
vengeance of heaven. This usage occurs because a meteor is so
bright; because it appears so suddenly; because its course cannot
be determined by any known laws; and because, in the
apprehensions of men, it is either sent as a proof of the divine
displeasure, or is adapted to excite consternation and alarm. In the
application of this part of the symbol, therefore, we naturally look for
some prince or warrior of brilliant talents, who appears suddenly and
sweeps rapidly over the world; who excites consternation and alarm;
whose path is marked by desolation, and who is regarded as sent
from heaven to execute the divine purposes—who comes not to
bless the world by brilliant talents well directed, but to execute
vengeance on mankind. ¶ And it fell upon the third part of the rivers,
and upon the fountains of waters. On the phrase, “the third part,”
see Notes on ver. 7. This reference to the “rivers” and to the
“fountains of waters” seems, in part, to be for the purpose of saying
that everything would be affected by this series of judgments. In the
previous visions the trees and the green grass, the sea and the
ships, had been referred to. The rivers and the fountains of waters
are not less important than the trees, the grass, and the commerce
of the world, and hence this judgment is mentioned as particularly
bearing on them. At the same time, as in the case of the other
trumpets, there is a propriety in supposing that there would be
something in the event referred to by the symbol which would make
it more appropriate to use this symbol in this case than in the
others. It is natural, therefore, to look for some desolations that
would particularly affect the portions of the world where rivers
abound, or where they take their rise; or, if it be understood as
having a more metaphorical sense, to regard it as affecting those
things which resemble rivers and fountains—the sources of
influence; the morals, the religion of a people, the institutions of a
country, which are often so appropriately compared with running
fountains or flowing streams.

11 And the name of the star is called

276
Wormwood: and the third part of the
277
waters became wormwood; and many men