# Leveraging the Internet of Things and Blockchain Technology in Supply Chain Management
## 5 Combining IoT with Blockchain Technology: Emerging Research Areas
### Security  
With the increasing complexity of supply chains and the proliferation of exchange partner relationships, firms are driven to secure their data and information exchanges as well as the integrity of their physical objects to protect against theft and various forms of illicit trade including diversion and counterfeiting. For example, companies need to keep pace with the continuous development of covert, overt, and forensic technologies to secure or monitor physical objects such as products, totes, pallets as well as supply chain operational events. In this regard, IoT and Blockchain are two emerging technologies that can enhance productivity and assist in assuring the integrity demanded by supply chain exchange partners. The combination of Blockchain technology with IoT is viewed as having substantial transformative power across several industries [100] since it shows a promising avenue for enabling the management of IoT devices [101; 102]. The combination of Blockchains and IoT ushers in a more resilient, responsive, and distributed peer-to-peer system with the ability to interact with supply chain exchange partners in a 'trustless', secure and real-time manner. More importantly, Blockchain-enabled systems are capable of transforming the potential benefits of IoT and bridging the gap of device-data interoperability while maintaining security, privacy, and reliability. Blockchain facilitates the resolution of several security challenges inherent in IoT devices and networks, such as unique device identification and trust management between different devices, data and information provenance tracking (to the authoritative source versus custodian sources), authentication and access control, and accountability in IoT-based applications [102]. The security mechanism under the Blockchain system mitigates the risk of a single point of failure due to its decentralization approach. In other words, Blockchain technology helps to eliminate the risk of network failure and collapse in case of a node crash. [PERSON] et al. [103] point out that Blockchain technology can foster the protection of a supply chain from most malicious attacks. Moreover, [PERSON] et al. [104] confirm the usefulness of the Blockchain protocol to secure an IoT network by enabling communication between trustworthy nodes while eschewing malicious nodes. Blockchain technology can restrict the access of some selected devices and minimize the possibilities of unauthorized access. Similarly, IoT serves as a link between the physical and digital world. It enables supply chain exchange partners to receive reliable information directly from the physical objects tracked on the Blockchain. This capability, in turn, ensures the sharing of unique and authentic information from the device, which reduces the risk of deliberate fraud whereby misleading information is added to the Blockchain through a standard human interface. This enhances both transparency and trust because once data (or information) is entered into the Blockchain, it is considered immutable and tamper-proof. Any attempt at data manipulation will be quickly detected, and retrospectively traced back to its source. Consequently, the business risk will lower significantly due to effective fraud detection and audit enforced by Blockchain technology. However, human manipulation of data or information in non-IoT scenarios remains a challenge for the industry. Since the IoT ecosystem relies on several points of contact with the physical world, namely products, totes, pallets, this connection is subject to a particular risk of tampering, falsification, and exchange party collusion. Physical objects or IoT sensors can still be tampered with [105]. For instance, a product's IoT enabled tag links the physical product to its virtual identity (often called a 'digital twin') but does not necessarily reflect its complete traceability and a legitimate IoT device can be removed and placed on another physical object such as a counterfeit.