Article
SECURE AND AUDITABLE ACCESS CONTROL VIA BLOCKCHAIN-BASED ZERO TRUST NETWORKS
In today’s increasingly complex and distributed IT environments, traditional perimeter-based security models are no longer sufficient to protect against sophisticated cyber threats. Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) addresses these challenges by eliminating implicit trust and enforcing continuous verification of every user and device attempting to access network resources. However, conventional ZTNA implementations often depend on centralized authentication and policy management servers, which introduce vulnerabilities such as single points of failure, limited transparency, and susceptibility to tampering. This project proposes a novel blockchain-based ZTNA system that leverages the decentralized, immutable, and transparent nature of blockchain technology to enhance security, trust, and auditability within the ZTNA framework. By employing a permissioned blockchain to record authentication events, access policies, and audit logs, the system distributes trust across multiple nodes, thereby eliminating reliance on centralized authorities. Smart contracts automate the dynamic enforcement of granular access control policies, considering contextual factors like user identity, device posture, location, and time, to ensure adaptive and least-privilege access in real time. The integration of blockchain with continuous device and user verification improves resilience against attacks, reduces administrative overhead, and strengthens compliance with security standards. Additionally, the transparent and tamperproof nature of blockchain logs facilitates comprehensive auditing and forensic analysis. This innovative approach provides a scalable, secure, and trustworthy access control solution tailored for modern enterprise networks, effectively addressing the shortcomings of existing ZTNA systems and paving the way for more resilient cybersecurity architectures.
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