Attacking the trust machine: Developing an information systems research agenda for blockchain cybersecurity

Vincent Schlatt; Tobias Guggenberger; Jonathan Schmid; Nils Urbach

doi:10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2022.102470

Attacking the trust machine: Developing an information systems research agenda for blockchain cybersecurity

Vincent Schlatt^*, Tobias Guggenberger, Jonathan Schmid, Nils Urbach

^*Corresponding author for this work

Transport and Logistics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

30 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Blockchain-based systems become increasingly attractive targets for cybercrime due to the rising amount of value transacted in respective systems. However, a comprehensive overview of existing attack vectors and a directive discussion of resulting research opportunities are missing. Employing a structured literature review, we extract and analyze 87 relevant attacks on blockchain-based systems and assign them to common attack vectors. We subsequently derive a research framework and agenda for information systems research on the cybersecurity of blockchain-based systems. We structure our framework along the users, developers, and attackers of both blockchain applications and blockchain infrastructure, highlighting the reciprocal relationships between these entities. Our results show that especially socio-technical aspects of blockchain cybersecurity are underrepresented in research and require further attention.

Original language	English
Article number	102470
Pages (from-to)	12
Journal	International Journal of Information Management
Volume	68
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2022.102470
Publication status	Published - 2023

Bibliographical note

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Keywords

Blockchain
IT Security
Research agenda
Structured literature review

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2022.102470

1-s2.0-S0268401222000019-mainFinal published version, 1.07 MB

Cite this

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title = "Attacking the trust machine: Developing an information systems research agenda for blockchain cybersecurity",

abstract = "Blockchain-based systems become increasingly attractive targets for cybercrime due to the rising amount of value transacted in respective systems. However, a comprehensive overview of existing attack vectors and a directive discussion of resulting research opportunities are missing. Employing a structured literature review, we extract and analyze 87 relevant attacks on blockchain-based systems and assign them to common attack vectors. We subsequently derive a research framework and agenda for information systems research on the cybersecurity of blockchain-based systems. We structure our framework along the users, developers, and attackers of both blockchain applications and blockchain infrastructure, highlighting the reciprocal relationships between these entities. Our results show that especially socio-technical aspects of blockchain cybersecurity are underrepresented in research and require further attention.",

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AU - Schlatt, Vincent

AU - Guggenberger, Tobias

AU - Schmid, Jonathan

AU - Urbach, Nils

N1 - Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Blockchain-based systems become increasingly attractive targets for cybercrime due to the rising amount of value transacted in respective systems. However, a comprehensive overview of existing attack vectors and a directive discussion of resulting research opportunities are missing. Employing a structured literature review, we extract and analyze 87 relevant attacks on blockchain-based systems and assign them to common attack vectors. We subsequently derive a research framework and agenda for information systems research on the cybersecurity of blockchain-based systems. We structure our framework along the users, developers, and attackers of both blockchain applications and blockchain infrastructure, highlighting the reciprocal relationships between these entities. Our results show that especially socio-technical aspects of blockchain cybersecurity are underrepresented in research and require further attention.

AB - Blockchain-based systems become increasingly attractive targets for cybercrime due to the rising amount of value transacted in respective systems. However, a comprehensive overview of existing attack vectors and a directive discussion of resulting research opportunities are missing. Employing a structured literature review, we extract and analyze 87 relevant attacks on blockchain-based systems and assign them to common attack vectors. We subsequently derive a research framework and agenda for information systems research on the cybersecurity of blockchain-based systems. We structure our framework along the users, developers, and attackers of both blockchain applications and blockchain infrastructure, highlighting the reciprocal relationships between these entities. Our results show that especially socio-technical aspects of blockchain cybersecurity are underrepresented in research and require further attention.

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KW - Research agenda

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Attacking the trust machine: Developing an information systems research agenda for blockchain cybersecurity

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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