Journal of Cyber Security and Risk Auditing

Journal of Cyber Security and Risk Auditing

ISSN: 3079-5354 (Online)

Publishing model:

: Open access
open accessOpen Access

Article

👁️1views

A Systematic Literature Review of Blockchain-Enabled Zero Trust Architectures for Secure Non-Terrestrial Networks in 6G Cloud–Edge Environments

by 

Abdullah Albuali Orcid link ;

Huda Aldawghan Orcid link ;

Ashwag Alotaibi Orcid link

PDF logoPDF

Published: 2026/31/03

Abstract

The transition to multi-layered Space-Air-Ground Integrated Networks (SAGIN) from traditional terrestrial infrastructure drastically complicates the security landscape of sixth-generation (6G) networks. In this paper, we conduct a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) evaluation on the synergistic integration of Blockchain and Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) as two core security pillars for 6G cloud-edge Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs). The study investigates the use of Blockchain with Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) to ensure context-aware access control and continuous authentication, along with decentralized trust and immutability audit property provided by Blockchain. We investigate a variety of hybrid approaches aimed at countering vulnerabilities associated with the decentralized architecture of SAGIN, such as identity spoofing, jamming, and routing attacks through a thematic and quantitative synthesis. Notably, hybrid Blockchain-ZTA-based systems attained maximum attack detection accuracies of 97%, outperforming the best standalone models in addition to requiring a latency (150−300 ms) and resource overhead. This review also explores how AI-integrated 6th-generation features can enhance anomaly detection. It concludes with a clear overview of key research trends, including the scarcity of real-world deployments, and provides a roadmap for future development focused on scalability, consensus optimization, and quantum-resilient cryptography.

Keywords

BlockchainZero Trust Architecture6GNon-Terrestrial NetworksCloud-Edge ComputingDistributed Ledger TechnologySAGINSecurity and PrivacyAI-driven Trust ManagementcybersecurityInternet of Things.

A Systematic Literature Review of Blockchain-Enabled Zero Trust Architectures for Secure Non-Terrestrial Networks in 6G Cloud–Edge Environments is licensed under CC BY 4.0CCBY

References

  1. Y. Zhang, P. Zhang, M. Guizani, J. Zhang, J. Wang, H. Zhu, K. K. Igore-vich, and H. Shi, “Blockchain-based secure communication of internet of things in space–air–ground integrated network,” Future Generation Computer Systems, vol. 158, pp. 391–399, 2024.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2024.04.024
  2. W. Zhao, S. Yang, and X. Luo, “Blockchain-facilitated cybersecurity for ubiquitous internet of things with space–air–ground integrated networks: A survey,” Sensors, vol. 25, no. 2, p. 383, 2025.https://doi.org/10.3390/s25020383
  3. S. Nie, J. Ren, R. Wu, P. Han, Z. Han, and W. Wan, “Zero-trust access control mechanism based on blockchain and inner-product encryption in the internet of things in a 6g environment,” Sensors, vol. 25, no. 2, p. 550, 2025. https://doi.org/10.3390/s25020550
  4. S. Dang, O. Amin, B. Shihada, and M.-S. Alouini, “What should 6g be?” Nature Electronics, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 20–29, 2020.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-019-0355-6
  5. M. Giordani and M. Zorzi, “Non-terrestrial networks in the 6g era: Challenges and opportunities,” IEEE network, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 244–251, 2020.https://doi.org/10.1109/mnet.011.2000493
  6. H. Cui, J. Zhang, Y. Geng, Z. Xiao, T. Sun, N. Zhang, J. Liu, Q. Wu, and X. Cao, “Space-air-ground integrated network (sagin) for 6g: Requirements, architecture and challenges,” China Communications, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 90–108, 2022.https://doi.org/10.23919/jcc.2022.02.008
  7. M. Satyanarayanan, “The emergence of edge computing,” Computer, vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 30–39, 2017.https://doi.org/10.1109/mc.2017.9
  8. Y. Liu, S. Peng, M. Zhang, S. Shi, and J. Fu, “Towards secure and efficient integration of blockchain and 6g networks,” Plos one, vol. 19, no. 4, p. e0302052, 2024.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0302052
  9. C.-X. Wang, X. You, X. Gao, X. Zhu, Z. Li, C. Zhang, H. Wang, Y. Huang, Y. Chen, H. Haas et al., “On the road to 6g: Visions, requirements, key technologies, and testbeds,” IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 905–974, 2023.https://doi.org/10.1109/comst.2023.3249835
  10. Z. Zhang, Y. Xiao, Z. Ma, M. Xiao, Z. Ding, X. Lei, G. K. Karagiannidis, and P. Fan, “6g wireless networks: Vision, requirements, architecture, and key technologies,” IEEE vehicular technology magazine, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 28–41, 2019.https://doi.org/10.1109/mvt.2019.2921208
  11. W. Saad, M. Bennis, and M. Chen, “A vision of 6g wireless systems: Applications, trends, technologies, and open research problems,” IEEE network, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 134–142, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1109/mnet.001.1900287
  12. I. F. Akyildiz, C. Han, Z. Hu, S. Nie, and J. M. Jornet, “Terahertz band communication: An old problem revisited and research directions for the next decade,” IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 70, no. 6, pp. 4250–4285, 2022.https://doi.org/10.1109/tcomm.2022.3171800
  13. H. Chen, H. Sarieddeen, T. Ballal, H. Wymeersch, M.-S. Alouini, and T. Y. Al-Naffouri, “A tutorial on terahertz-band localization for 6g communication systems,” IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 1780–1815, 2022.https://doi.org/10.1109/comst.2022.3178209
  14. M. Ahmed, A. Wahid, W. U. Khan, F. Khan, A. Ihsan, Z. Ali, K. M. Rabie, T. Shongwe, and Z. Han, “A survey on ris advances in terahertz communications: Emerging paradigms and research frontiers,” IEEE Access, vol. 12, pp. 173 867–173 901, 2024.https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2024.3482564
  15. M. N. A. Siddiky, M. E. Rahman, M. S. Uzzal, and H. D. Kabir, “A comprehensive exploration of 6g wireless communication technologies,” Computers, vol. 14, no. 1, p. 15, 2025.https://doi.org/10.3390/computers14010015
  16. K. Meng, C. Masouros, K.-K. Wong, A. P. Petropulu, and L. Hanzo, “Integrated sensing and communication meets smart propagation engineering: Opportunities and challenges,” IEEE Network, 2025.https://doi.org/10.1109/mnet.2025.3527130
  17. J. A. Zhang, M. L. Rahman, K. Wu, X. Huang, Y. J. Guo, S. Chen, and J. Yuan, “Enabling joint communication and radar sensing in mobile networks—a survey,” IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 306–345, 2021.https://doi.org/10.1109/comst.2021.3122519
  18. E. Shtaiwi, A. Abdelhadi, H. Li, Z. Han, and H. V. Poor, “Orthogonal time frequency space for integrated sensing and communication: A survey,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2402.09637, 2024. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2402.09637
  19. S. N. Sur, A. K. Singh, H. Q. Tran, P. Vishwakarma, A. L. Imoize, and C.-T. Li, “A state-of-the-art survey on irs-noma for integrated sensing and communication,” IEEE Access, 2024.https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2024.3512998
  20. A. H. Alaraj, “Advancing cloud adoption in the saudi public sector: Challenges, global insights, and strategic policy recommendations,” ESI Preprints (European Scientific Journal, ESJ), vol. 41, pp. 627–627, 2025. https://doi.org/10.19044/esipreprint.5.2025.p627
  21. R. B. Alzahrani, “An overview of ai data protection in the context of saudi arabia,” International Journal for Scientific Research, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 199–218, 2024.https://doi.org/10.59992/ijsr.2024.v3n3p8
  22. H. Luo, X. Yang, H. Yu, G. Sun, B. Lei, and M. Guizani, “Performance analysis and comparison of nonideal wireless pbft and raft consensus networks in 6g communications,” IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 9752–9765, 2023.https://doi.org/10.1109/jiot.2023.3323492
  23. F. A. Dicandia, N. J. Fonseca, M. Bacco, S. Mugnaini, and S. Genovesi, “Space-air-ground integrated 6g wireless communication networks: A review of antenna technologies and application scenarios,” Sensors, vol. 22, no. 9, p. 3136, 2022.https://doi.org/10.3390/s22093136
  24. F. Wang, S. Zhang, H. Yang, and T. Q. Quek, “Non-terrestrial networking for 6g: Evolution, opportunities, and future directions,” Engineering, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2025.05.013
  25. S. A. Abdel Hakeem, H. H. Hussein, and H. Kim, “Security requirements and challenges of 6g technologies and applications,” Sensors, vol. 22, no. 5, p. 1969, 2022.https://doi.org/10.3390/s22051969
  26. Y. Liu, X. Xing, Z. Tong, X. Lin, J. Chen, Z. Guan, Q. Wu, and W. Susilo, “Secure and scalable cross-domain data sharing in zero-trust cloud-edge-end environment based on sharding blockchain,” IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 2603–2618, 2023.https://doi.org/10.1109/tdsc.2023.3313799
  27. Y. Zhao, J. Zhao, L. Jiang, R. Tan, D. Niyato, Z. Li, L. Lyu, and Y. Liu, “Privacy-preserving blockchain-based federated learning for iot devices,” IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 1817–1829, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1109/jiot.2020.3017377
  28. R. Radu, “Steering the governance of artificial intelligence: national strategies in perspective,” Policy and society, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 178–193, 2021.https://doi.org/10.1080/14494035.2021.1929728
  29. X. Chen, W. Feng, N. Ge, and Y. Zhang, “Zero trust architecture for 6g security,” IEEE network, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 224–232, 2023.https://doi.org/10.1109/mnet.2023.3326356
  30. A. Hussain, S. Li, T. Hussain, R. W. Attar, A. Alhomoud, R. Alsagri, and A. A. Alzubi, “Blockchain-enabled zero trust-based secure and energy efficient scheme for 6g-enabled uasns,” Journal of Cloud Computing, vol. 14, no. 1, p. 21, 2025.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13677-025-00744-x
  31. H. Sedjelmaci, K. Tourki, and N. Ansari, “Enabling 6g security: The synergy of zero trust architecture and artificial intelligence,” IEEE Network, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 171–177, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1109/mnet.2023.3326003
  32. T. N. Turnip, B. Andersen, and C. Vargas-Rosales, “Towards 6g authentication and key agreement protocol: A survey on hybrid post quantum cryptography,” IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1109/comst.2025.3567439
  33. A. Ali and I. Khan, “Skytrust: Blockchain-enhanced uav security for ntns with dynamic trust and energy-aware consensus,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2508.18735, 2025.https://doi.org/10.22541/au.175559616.64842559/v1
  34. F. Raheman, “From standard policy-based zero trust to absolute zero trust (azt): a quantum leap to q-day security,” Journal of Computer and Communications, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 252–282, 2024.https://doi.org/10.4236/jcc.2024.123016
  35. A. Ali, “Adaptive and Context-Aware Authentication Framework Using Edge AI and Blockchain in Future Vehicular Networks,” STAP Journal of Security Risk Management, vol. 2024, no. 1, pp. 45–56, 2024, doi: 10.63180/jsrm.thestap.2024.1.3.
  36. Chandak, A., & Chandak, P. (2026). Blockchain technology in health care an extensive scoping review of the existing applications, challenges, and future directions. International Journal of Cybersecurity Engineering and Innovation, 2026(1).
  37. S. R. Addula, S. Norozpour, and M. Amin, “Risk Assessment for Identifying Threats, vulnerabilities and countermeasures in Cloud Computing,” Jordanian Journal of Informatics and Computing, vol. 2025, no. 1, pp. 38–48, 2025, doi: 10.63180/jjic.thestap.2025.1.5.
  38. D. Abu Laila, “Responsive Machine Learning Framework and Lightweight Utensil of Prevention of Evasion Attacks in the IoT-Based IDS,” STAP Journal of Security Risk Management, vol. 2025, no. 1, pp. 59–70, 2025, doi: 10.63180/jsrm.thestap.2025.1.3.
  39. Ibrahim, A., Kadhim, A. F., Hamzah, A. E., & Al-Shareeda, M. A. (2026). A Secure and Scalable IoT Home Automation Architecture with Web and Biometric Control. International Journal of Cybersecurity Engineering and Innovation, 2026(1).
  40. M. Alshinwan, A. G. Memon, M. C. Ghanem, and M. Almaayah, “Unsupervised text feature selection approach based on improved Prairie dog algorithm for the text clustering,” Jordanian Journal of Informatics and Computing, vol. 2025, no. 1, pp. 27–36, 2025. doi: 10.63180/jjic.thestap.2025.1.4.
  41. D. Abu Laila, M. Aljawarneh, Q. Al-Na’amneh, and R. Bin Sulaiman, “Optimizing intrusion detection systems through benchmarking of ensemble classifiers on diverse network attacks,” STAP Journal of Security Risk Management, vol. 2025, no. 1, pp. 71–84, 2025. doi: 10.63180/jsrm.thestap.2025.1.4.
  42. Alsahaim, S., Almaiah, M. A., & Sulaiman, R. B. (2023). Security Threats in Mobile Phones: Challenges, Countermeasures, and the Importance of User Awareness. International Journal of Cybersecurity Engineering and Innovation, 2023(1).
  43. K. Audah Kareem and M. A. Al-Shareeda, “A Low-Complexity Li-Fi Communication Framework for Short-Range Text Transmission,” Jordanian Journal of Informatics and Computing, vol. 2026, no. 1, pp. 15–24, 2026, doi: 10.63180/jjic.thestap.2026.1.2.
  44. Alrajeh, M., Almaiah, M., & Mamodiya, U. (2026). Cyber Risk Analysis and Security Practices in Industrial Manufacturing: Empirical Evidence and Literature Insights. International Journal of Cybersecurity Engineering and Innovation, 2026(1).
  45. Q. Al-Na’amneh, M. Aljawarneh, A. S. Alhazaimeh, R. Hazaymih, and S. M. Shah, “Securing trust: Rule-based defense against on/off and collusion attacks in cloud environments,” STAP Journal of Security Risk Management, vol. 2025, no. 1, pp. 85–114, 2025. doi: 10.63180/jsrm.thestap.2025.1.5.