A Review of Blockchain-Based Security and Authentication Systems

Abstract

The identification sector has now taken notice of blockchain technology as a very efficient method of securing authentication processes in various areas such as IoT network, biometric authentication, distributed file storage, and identity verification. Based on key findings from a multitude of research studies, this review explains how blockchain can create advantages, challenges, and what future possible promises that blockchain can offer for security. The objective is to construct a holistic evaluation of how blockchain can improve security frameworks in an approach that addresses the issue of scalability, computational efficiency and a compliance with the regulations.

Introduction

With the rise of digital platforms handling sensitive data, cyber threats such as data theft and unauthorized access have increased, challenging traditional security methods like passwords and centralized management. Blockchain technology, originally created for digital currencies, now offers enhanced security through decentralized, cryptographic authentication across multiple nodes, reducing reliance on single authorities.

This technology is being applied in key security areas including attendance management, identity authentication, biometric security, decentralized file storage, and IoT networking. Blockchain’s distributed authentication combined with smart contracts improves data integrity and access control. However, challenges such as scalability, high energy consumption (especially in Proof of Work systems), regulatory uncertainty, storage overhead, and interoperability between different blockchain platforms limit its widespread adoption.

Research highlights that blockchain-based authentication improves security and reduces unauthorized access but at the cost of slower transaction speeds and higher computational demands. For example, biometric authentication on blockchain achieves a 98.5% success rate, and decentralized storage reduces overhead by 30%. Yet, energy usage can be up to 4.5 times that of traditional methods.

Future research focuses on enhancing blockchain’s efficiency through optimized consensus algorithms, improving interoperability, reducing computational costs, and integrating AI for better security monitoring. Addressing these issues can make blockchain a scalable, robust solution for securing digital identities and data across industries.

Conclusion

With its improved data integrity, decentralized control, and tamper-proof verification procedures, blockchain technology has shown promise in revolutionizing authentication and security systems across a range of industries. The examination of several studies demonstrates how blockchain has been effective in lowering unwanted access, protecting identity verification, and increasing the precision of biometric authentication. Although blockchain has many benefits, issues with scalability, computing overhead, energy consumption, and regulatory restrictions continue to impede its implementation.This review\'s main finding is that, although it improves security, blockchain-based authentication has a price. The substantial energy consumption of consensus algorithms such as Proof of Work (PoW) and the increasing latency in transaction verification continue to be important issues. Although hybrid models and other consensus techniques like Proof of Stake (PoS) offer more energy-efficient options, additional optimization is needed to strike a balance between security and performance.The need for regulatory standardization is another important lesson. It is challenging to put into practice a blockchain framework that is widely recognized since different industries and geographical areas have different needs for data protection and authentication. To guarantee smooth integration into current authentication infrastructures, regulatory compliance must develop in tandem with blockchain use, especially in the domains of finance, healthcare, and IoT security applications.Enhancing blockchain\'s scalability to manage large transaction volumes without sacrificing speed or security should be the main goal of future research. To support real-time authentication procedures, Layer-2 scaling options, sharding strategies, and improved consensus algorithms are to be investigated. Furthermore, combining blockchain with cutting-edge technologies like federated learning and artificial intelligence (AI) could improve adaptive security and real-time fraud detection.Another crucial area for further research is interoperability across various blockchain networks. The usefulness of many current blockchain implementations in extensive authentication systems is limited by their isolation. Blockchain-based identity management systems and other security technologies could be seamlessly integrated with the development of standardized cross-chain communication protocols.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Dr. Rohit Kumar Singh , Dr. Swapnil Shrivastava , Dr. Swati Sharma , Nikhil Rana, Ajay Kumar Pal, Aman . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.