Jul 2026· 2026 6th International Conference on Electrical, Computer and Energy Technologies (ICECET)· pp. 1-5· 0 citations· 14 references
Abstract
MQTT is widely adopted in IoT deployments but offers no built-in encryption or strong authentication. Existing solutions such as the IETF ACE-MQTT-TLS profile require dedicated authorization servers and dynamic token flows, raising deployment complexity for resource-constrained environments. This paper presents a practical secure MQTT architecture that combines Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.3 with statically provisioned JSON Web Token (JWT) authorization, targeting ESP32-S3 and ESP32-C6 microcontrollers with hardware cryptographic acceleration. A Python-based broker management graphical user interface (GUI) automates Mosquitto configuration and JWT issuance, removing manual setup errors. Measured on real hardware, TLS 1.3 connection time is 315-380 ms and steady-state throughput decreases by only 9%, with an additional heap memory requirement of approximately 42 KB. The results confirm that multi-layered IoT security—encompassing mutual authentication, AES-GCM encrypted transport, and fine-grained access control—is feasible on commodity microcontrollers without specialized infrastructure.
Smart-city services increasingly rely on Internet of Things (IoT) deployments using lightweight Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT), yet weakly protected systems remain exposed to spoofing, unauthorized state changes, and limited accountability. This work evaluates blockchain and smart contracts as a complementary trust layer for MQTT-based smart-city IoT rather than as a replacement for transport-layer security. The proposed architecture provides owner-controlled device registration, per-sensor nonce management, replay-resistant Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) authentication, authorization of state-changing operations, and tamper-evident event logging. MQTT confidentiality remains dependent on Transport Layer Security (TLS) or payload encryption. A prototype was implemented using ESP32 microcontrollers, a Raspberry Pi MQTT broker, Node-RED supervision, MongoDB storage, and Ethereum smart contracts deployed on Sepolia. The evaluation combines practical attack scenarios (unauthorized sensor modification, identity spoofing, and data manipulation) with measurements of blockchain latency, throughput, and gas consumption. Results show auditable nonce-bound signed updates, with mean transaction latency close to 12 s. Because the contract updates one sensor per transaction, costs are interpreted per confirmed write operation and scenario size. The findings position blockchain as an audit and policy-enforcement component for MQTT-based IoT.
Rida Lkhluf, David Santo Orcero, F. J. Cañete· Future Internet· 0 citations
This paper documents the architecture, security design, and database evolution of a two-tier system built to support an environmental-telemetry and micro-desalination business scenario, comprising a Flask REST API for Internet of Things (IoT) buoy telemetry ingestion and a Django eCommerce platform for product sales and subscription management. We describe the system’s modular separation of concerns (a stateless, JWT-secured ingestion API decoupled from a session-oriented commerce platform), the specific security controls applied at each layer (JWT-based stateless authentication for the API; Django’s built-in Cross-Site Request Forgery and SQL-injection middleware for the platform), and the database migration from SQLite to MySQL undertaken specifically in response to a measured concurrency limitation under bulk telemetry ingestion. We report the integration mechanism connecting the two otherwise loosely coupled services (token-based cross-service authentication and shared schema conventions) and the specific coordination overhead this integration introduced. We position the architecture against established microservice design literature and REST architectural-style principles, and we provide a candid account of which design decisions are well supported by that literature and which represent pragmatic compromises specific to a timeand resource-constrained development context, together with the concrete changes (CI/CD pipeline integration, containerisation, formal load testing) that would be required before the architecture could be considered production-ready rather than a validated prototype.
Nwokpuru Samuel Abafu, Chinonso Job, Onwe, Festus Chijioke· International Journal of Lat...· 0 citations
Background: Conventional mechanical locks are vulnerable to key duplication and manipulation, while existing IoT-based smart locks often lack multi-layer authentication, real-time monitoring, and energy efficiency considerations. Furthermore, energy efficiency considerations in smart lock systems have received limited attention despite their importance for sustainable engineering. These limitations necessitate the development of more robust security architectures that integrate biometric verification with cloud-based access management to enhance system reliability and scalability. Methods: This study implements a dual-layer smart lock system integrating fingerprint authentication (AS608 sensor) with cloud-based remote control via Blynk IoT platform. The system uses Arduino Mega 2560 for local control and Wemos D1 Mini (ESP8266) for cloud communication. Performance was evaluated based on authentication accuracy (FAR/FRR), power consumption, battery endurance, and notification reliability. Findings: The system achieved FAR = 0% and FRR = 2.5% over 40 attempts, with 100% cloud notification delivery under stable Wi-Fi. Power consumption measured 4.5 W (standby) and 15.6 W (active). Battery endurance reached 19.54 hours (standby) and 5.64 hours (continuous active). Total system cost was IDR 753,635, significantly lower than commercial alternatives. Conclusion: The developed prototype successfully integrates biometric authentication with cloud-based monitoring, resulting in a secure, scalable, and energy-efficient access control solution suitable for residential and commercial applications. This research contributes a reproducible engineering blueprint for dual-controller IoT lock systems with explicit energy performance characterization. The system exhibits enhanced reliability, accessibility, and operational efficiency. Novelty/Originality of this article: This research contributes a complete engineering blueprint for dual-layer IoT lock systems with explicit energy performance characterization, component-level power allocation, and cost analysis—features typically absent in existing smart lock literature.
Muhammad Fachrul, A. Rehiara, Pandung Sarungallo· Journal of Innovation Materi...· 0 citations
The flexibility of the Internet of Things significantly helps the rapid deployment of health data transfer. IoT peer-to-peer security is not present when transferring health information over conventional Internet protocol, which also consumes more energy. The MQTT protocol is a great choice because of its resource-conserving architecture and lightweight design. Message queue telemetry transfer does not provide any assurances regarding user authentication or the security and integrity of the transmitted data. In this study, real-time secure data transmission with sensor-specific authentication and minimal weight is considered. Publisher and subscriber authentication are mutual. The data provided to the subscriber is verified by a digital signature. The shared key, the user ID, and the received data are all verified using the hash function. Even with the secure transfer of health data from sensors and diagnostic devices via a third-party, such as a broker, trust issues in the medical industry still lead to conflicts. In this case, the transaction hashes for sensor data, disease-diagnosis data, and therapy-related data are transmitted via blockchain technology. This will result in the elimination of centralized, distrustful transactions in favor of brokerless, transparent blockchain transactions.
Naveen Gajji, Ramesh Babu Akarapu· Far East Journal of Electron...· 0 citations
A lightweight blockchain-based authentication framework for secure communication in Internet of Things (IoT) networks that integrates a permissioned blockchain with ECC-256 to provide mutual authentication, data integrity, and non-repudiation for resource-constrained IoT devices.
A. Abu-Ein, Obaida M. Al-hazaimeh· WSEAS Transactions on Inform...· 0 citations
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