Apparatus and method for using blockchains to establish trust between nodes in industrial control systems or other systems

Inventors: Kevin McMurdie (Surprise, AZ); Ganesh P. Gadhe (Phoenix, AZ)

Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.

H04L9/0643 H04L9/0825 H04L9/30 H04L9/3263 H04L2209/38

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 10,855,448
App. No.: 15/970,418
Filed: May 3, 2018
Granted: Dec 1, 2020
Kind: B2
Examiner: GUNDRY, STEPHEN T
Art Unit: 2435
USPC: 713/168

External Links

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Abstract

An apparatus includes at least one processor configured to determine whether a blockchain identifies a valid smart contract indicating that communication with a specified node is permitted. In response to determining that the blockchain does identify the valid smart contract, the at least one processor is configured to establish a secure communication session with the specified node. In response to determining that the blockchain does not identify the valid smart contract, the at least one processor is configured to generate a new smart contract associated with the specified node, establish the secure communication session with the specified node in response to user approval of the new smart contract, and not establish the secure communication session with the specified node in response to user rejection of the new smart contract.

Claims (65)

1. An apparatus for using blockchains to establish trust between nodes in an industrial control system comprising:

at least one processor and a memory storing a blockchain configured to:

determine whether the blockchain identifies a valid smart contract indicating that communication with a specified node is permitted;

in response to determining that the blockchain does identify the valid smart contract, establish a secure communication session with the specified node; and

in response to determining that the blockchain does not identify the valid smart contract:

generate a new smart contract associated with the specified node;

in response to user approval of the new smart contract, establish the secure communication session with the specified node, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

access a copy of the blockchain in the memory to determine whether the blockchain identifies the valid smart contract;

generate an update to the blockchain and updating the copy of the blockchain in the memory using the update, the update identifying the new smart contract; and

publish the updated blockchain to one or more nodes for updating one or more additional copies of the blockchain; and

in response to user rejection of the new smart contract, not establish the secure communication session with the specified node.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured, in response to the user rejection of the new smart contract, to:

generate an update to the blockchain and update the copy of the blockchain using the update, the update identifying the rejection of the new smart contract; and

publish the update to one or more host nodes for updating one or more additional copies of the blockchain.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:

the at least one processor is further configured, in response to determining that the blockchain does not identify the valid smart contract, to request identifying information from the specified node and to receive the identifying information from the specified node;

the identifying information comprises a public cryptographic key of the specified node; and

the update to the blockchain comprises a hash of the public cryptographic key of the specified node.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine whether the blockchain identifies the valid smart contract in response to receiving a request for communication from the specified node.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive an indication whether the blockchain identifies the valid smart contract from another device that has access to the blockchain.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

generate a genesis block for the blockchain;

receive one or more requests to join and use the blockchain from one or more host nodes; and

provide one or more copies of the blockchain to the one or more host nodes.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions, for using blockchains to establish trust between nodes in industrial control systems, that when executed cause at least one processor using a memory storing a blockchain to: