Blockchain for Secure Networking: A Review of Privacy and Security Applications

Integrating the Internet into many applications has made securing users' data and maintaining their privacy a significant concern. In recent years, blockchains (BC) have garnered much attention due to their distinctive properties, which include decentralization, immutability, anonymity, security, and auditability. BC technology was utilized in various non- financial applications, like the Internet of Things (IoT), wireless sensor networks (WSN), and cloud computing. The objective of this study is to conduct an analysis of previously published research and provide a summary of the efforts put into researching BC applications for network security. In this study, many networking technologies, including IoT, Industrial IoT, Cloud, WSN, VANET, and MANET, were used in conjunction with BC technology to investigate applications for network security. This study presents an analysis of network security, along with its limitations and contributions, with an overview of the BC evolution, BC architecture, its working principle, and its application, as well as the advantages and disadvantages associated with BC. In this study, recently published articles on BC-based solutions for network security and privacy preservation that were published between 2018 and 2022 are analyzed. The surveyed articles are categorized according to the network application, methodology, and contribution. In conclusion, an analysis of the implementation of BC technology across various networks and their issues and challenges are presented.