Securing Decentralized Ecosystems: A Comprehensive Systematic Review of Blockchain Vulnerabilities, Attacks, and Countermeasures and Mitigation Strategies
Blockchain technology has emerged as a transformative innovation, providing a transparent, immutable, and decentralized platform that underpins critical applications across industries such as cryptocurrencies, supply chain management, healthcare, and finance. Despite their promise of enhanced securi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Future Internet |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-5903/17/4/183 |
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| _version_ | 1850180577968259072 |
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| author | Md Kamrul Siam Bilash Saha Md Mehedi Hasan Md Jobair Hossain Faruk Nafisa Anjum Sharaban Tahora Aiasha Siddika Hossain Shahriar |
| author_facet | Md Kamrul Siam Bilash Saha Md Mehedi Hasan Md Jobair Hossain Faruk Nafisa Anjum Sharaban Tahora Aiasha Siddika Hossain Shahriar |
| author_sort | Md Kamrul Siam |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Blockchain technology has emerged as a transformative innovation, providing a transparent, immutable, and decentralized platform that underpins critical applications across industries such as cryptocurrencies, supply chain management, healthcare, and finance. Despite their promise of enhanced security and trust, the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks has exposed vulnerabilities within blockchain ecosystems, posing severe threats to their integrity, reliability, and adoption. This study presents a comprehensive and systematic review of blockchain vulnerabilities by categorizing and analyzing potential threats, including network-level attacks, consensus-based exploits, smart contract vulnerabilities, and user-centric risks. Furthermore, the research evaluates existing countermeasures and mitigation strategies by examining their effectiveness, scalability, and adaptability to diverse blockchain architectures and use cases. The study highlights the critical need for context-aware security solutions that address the unique requirements of various blockchain applications and proposes a framework for advancing proactive and resilient security designs. By bridging gaps in the existing literature, this research offers valuable insights for academics, industry practitioners, and policymakers, contributing to the ongoing development of robust and secure decentralized ecosystems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5fec7ae9ec4e47e5bf003798f46f8467 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1999-5903 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Future Internet |
| spelling | doaj-art-5fec7ae9ec4e47e5bf003798f46f84672025-08-20T02:18:05ZengMDPI AGFuture Internet1999-59032025-04-0117418310.3390/fi17040183Securing Decentralized Ecosystems: A Comprehensive Systematic Review of Blockchain Vulnerabilities, Attacks, and Countermeasures and Mitigation StrategiesMd Kamrul Siam0Bilash Saha1Md Mehedi Hasan2Md Jobair Hossain Faruk3Nafisa Anjum4Sharaban Tahora5Aiasha Siddika6Hossain Shahriar7Department of Computer Science, New York Institute of Technology, New York, NY 10023, USADepartment of Information Technology, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA 30144, USADepartment of Information Technology, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA 30144, USADepartment of Computer Science, New York Institute of Technology, New York, NY 10023, USADepartment of Information Technology, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA 30144, USADepartment of Information Technology, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA 30144, USADepartment of Information Technology, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA 30144, USACenter for Cybersecurity, University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL 32514, USABlockchain technology has emerged as a transformative innovation, providing a transparent, immutable, and decentralized platform that underpins critical applications across industries such as cryptocurrencies, supply chain management, healthcare, and finance. Despite their promise of enhanced security and trust, the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks has exposed vulnerabilities within blockchain ecosystems, posing severe threats to their integrity, reliability, and adoption. This study presents a comprehensive and systematic review of blockchain vulnerabilities by categorizing and analyzing potential threats, including network-level attacks, consensus-based exploits, smart contract vulnerabilities, and user-centric risks. Furthermore, the research evaluates existing countermeasures and mitigation strategies by examining their effectiveness, scalability, and adaptability to diverse blockchain architectures and use cases. The study highlights the critical need for context-aware security solutions that address the unique requirements of various blockchain applications and proposes a framework for advancing proactive and resilient security designs. By bridging gaps in the existing literature, this research offers valuable insights for academics, industry practitioners, and policymakers, contributing to the ongoing development of robust and secure decentralized ecosystems.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-5903/17/4/183blockchain technologyblockchain securityblockchain attackscybercrimedecentralizationdata privacy |
| spellingShingle | Md Kamrul Siam Bilash Saha Md Mehedi Hasan Md Jobair Hossain Faruk Nafisa Anjum Sharaban Tahora Aiasha Siddika Hossain Shahriar Securing Decentralized Ecosystems: A Comprehensive Systematic Review of Blockchain Vulnerabilities, Attacks, and Countermeasures and Mitigation Strategies Future Internet blockchain technology blockchain security blockchain attacks cybercrime decentralization data privacy |
| title | Securing Decentralized Ecosystems: A Comprehensive Systematic Review of Blockchain Vulnerabilities, Attacks, and Countermeasures and Mitigation Strategies |
| title_full | Securing Decentralized Ecosystems: A Comprehensive Systematic Review of Blockchain Vulnerabilities, Attacks, and Countermeasures and Mitigation Strategies |
| title_fullStr | Securing Decentralized Ecosystems: A Comprehensive Systematic Review of Blockchain Vulnerabilities, Attacks, and Countermeasures and Mitigation Strategies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Securing Decentralized Ecosystems: A Comprehensive Systematic Review of Blockchain Vulnerabilities, Attacks, and Countermeasures and Mitigation Strategies |
| title_short | Securing Decentralized Ecosystems: A Comprehensive Systematic Review of Blockchain Vulnerabilities, Attacks, and Countermeasures and Mitigation Strategies |
| title_sort | securing decentralized ecosystems a comprehensive systematic review of blockchain vulnerabilities attacks and countermeasures and mitigation strategies |
| topic | blockchain technology blockchain security blockchain attacks cybercrime decentralization data privacy |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-5903/17/4/183 |
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