Automated Policy Violation Detection in Network Security Using Blockchain Technology

For organizations with digital infrastructures, network security is crucial for mitigating potential cyber-attacks. Organizations establish security policies to protect systems and data, but employees may intentionally or unintentionally bypass these policies, rendering the network vulnerable to internal and external threats. Detecting these policy violations is challenging, requiring frequent manual system checks for compliance. This paper proposes a comprehensive set of advanced features for a modern network scanner, enhanced by blockchain technology, to automate and improve the analysis and detection of policy violations within organizations. While existing network scanners offer basic security checks such as firewall status, shared directory analysis, OS detection, remote access detection, and virtual machine recognition, the suggested advanced features—including structured databases, scheduled scanning, device profiling, intrusion detection system (IDS) capabilities, network forensics, user activity logs, traffic monitoring, and customized report generation—significantly enhance functionality and scope. The integration of blockchain technology introduces immutable logging of security events, decentralized verification of compliance checks, and automated policy enforcement via smart contracts, ensuring a tamper-proof and trustworthy security framework. Specifically, device profiling and user activity logs, now secured on the blockchain, identify deviations from established security configurations and usage patterns, directly addressing policy compliance. This blockchain-enhanced approach streamlines security analysis, improves detection accuracy, and reduces administrative overhead by integrating multiple security tools into a cohesive, reliable solution.