Authors: Faizan Ali, Muhammad Abdullah Khan, Muhammad Bin Waseem, Mujeeb U Rehman Institution: Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology (GIKI) Status: Working Paper / Preprint (December 2025)
Blockchain technology provides transformative potential for information assurance through distributed ledgers, cryptographic security, and consensus mechanisms. This systematic review examines 33 peer-reviewed papers (2014-2024) analyzing how blockchain addresses security, privacy, and trust in information systems.
We analyze the blockchain models of Bitcoin and Hyperledger Fabric, comparing their consensus schemes, smart contract security, and governance models. While blockchain offers strong integrity and non-repudiation, we find that full confidentiality requires additional privacy-preserving measures.
This repository contains the full text and findings of our research, which contributes:
- A taxonomy mapping blockchain mechanisms to Information Assurance (IA) goals.
- A multi-layered threat model with real-world mitigation strategies.
- A critical assessment of privacy-preserving methods (e.g., Zero-Knowledge Proofs).
- Information Assurance (IA): Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Non-Repudiation.
- Consensus Mechanisms: Proof of Work (PoW) vs. Proof of Stake (PoS) vs. BFT.
- Privacy Techniques: Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs), Mixing Networks, Off-chain Storage.
- Smart Contract Security: Reentrancy attacks, Oracle manipulation, and formal verification.
- Compliance: GDPR, HIPAA, and regulatory challenges in permissionless vs. permissioned chains.
If you wish to cite this work, please use the following format:
Faizan Ali, M. Abdullah Khan Mahsud, M. Bin Waseem, Mujeeb Ur Rehman (2025). Blockchain for Information Assurance: A Systematic Review of Security, Privacy, and Trust. GIKI Department of Cyber Security.
For questions or collaboration, please contact the authors via GitHub.