Blockchain-Enabled Security Protocols Combined with AI For Securing Next-Generation Internet of Things (IOT) Networks

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of integrating blockchain-enabled security protocols with artificial intelligence for securing next-generation Internet of Things (IoT) networks through a quantitative experimental approach. The research addressed critical security challenges associated with distributed IoT environments, including data integrity, authentication reliability, and threat detection accuracy. A total of 52,480 network observations were analyzed, comprising 31,200 normal traffic instances and 21,280 labeled cyberattack records, including distributed denial-of-service, spoofing, and data tampering scenarios. The proposed integrated framework was evaluated against traditional and standalone AI-based security models using multiple performance indicators, including accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, latency, throughput, and data integrity metrics. The findings demonstrated that the integrated blockchain-AI model achieved a detection accuracy of 96.8%, significantly outperforming the standalone AI model at 91.4% and the traditional model at 82.3%. Precision and recall values reached 95.9% and 96.2%, respectively, resulting in an F1-score of 96.0%, indicating balanced and reliable detection performance. The framework also reduced unauthorized access incidents from 124 cases in the baseline model to 77 cases, representing a 38% improvement in authentication security. Data integrity violations decreased from 98 to 52 instances, confirming the effectiveness of blockchain in ensuring secure data transactions. Despite the additional computational processes introduced by blockchain and AI integration, latency increased only marginally from 32.6 ms to 34.7 ms, while throughput remained stable at approximately 1.78 Mbps. Statistical analysis confirmed that these improvements were significant at p < 0.05, with large effect sizes observed for key performance indicators. The results indicated that the integrated framework maintained consistent performance across varying network conditions and device densities. Overall, the study established that the combination of blockchain and artificial intelligence provides a robust, scalable, and efficient solution for enhancing IoT security, offering substantial improvements in detection capability, system reliability, and data protection.