Zheng Chengliang, Peng Xiangzhen, Wang Ziyue, Ma Tianyu, Lu Jiajia, Chen Leiyang, Dong Liang, Wang Long, Cui Xiaohui, Shen Zhidong
Key Laboratory of Aerospace Information Security and Trusted Computing, Ministry of Education, School of Cyber Science and Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
College of Information and Communication, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 430013, China.
Foods. 2025 Jan 14;14(2):251. doi: 10.3390/foods14020251.
The food and agriculture sector is a cornerstone of critical infrastructure (CI), underpinning global food security, public health, and economic stability. However, the increasing digitalization and connectivity of operational technologies (OTs) in this sector expose it to significant cybersecurity risks. Blockchain technology (BT) has emerged as a transformative solution for addressing these challenges by enhancing network security, traceability, and system resilience. This study presents a comprehensive review of BT applications in OT security for food and agriculture CI, employing bibliometric and content analysis methods. A total of 124 relevant articles were identified from six databases, including the Web of Science Core Collection and MEDLINE. Bibliometric analysis was conducted across five dimensions: publication year, literature type, journal distribution, country contributions, and keyword trends. The findings are meticulously organized through tables, charts, and graphs. The year 2018 marked a surge in research within this domain, with the IEEE Internet of Things Journal and IEEE ACESS emerging as the most prolific journals, each boasting nine publications. The United States, China, and India are at the forefront in terms of journal citation counts. Our analysis determined that a reference count of 37 serves as an appropriate threshold. Otoum Safa stands out as the author with the highest number of published articles, totaling four. Keywords such as "blockchain", "internet of things", "smart contract", "security", and "critical infrastructure" appear with significant frequency. The statistics, trends, and insights gleaned from this bibliometric analysis can guide researchers in the OTCI field to forge a coherent and logical research trajectory. Content analysis further identified six key research areas within this domain: identity authentication and data verification, secure access control, attack detection and perception, data security and protection, data backup and recovery, and attack assessment and attribution. Based on these insights, a general framework is proposed to guide future research and practical applications of BT in securing OT within food and agriculture CI. This study systematically analyzes the current research landscape, challenges, and opportunities for BT in securing the OT critical to food and agriculture CI. By bridging the gap between blockchain innovations and the operational needs of the food and agriculture sector, this work contributes to advancing strategic implementation and improving the security of CI systems.
粮食和农业部门是关键基础设施（CI）的基石，支撑着全球粮食安全、公共卫生和经济稳定。然而，该部门运营技术（OT）日益数字化和联网，使其面临重大网络安全风险。区块链技术（BT）已成为一种变革性解决方案，通过增强网络安全性、可追溯性和系统弹性来应对这些挑战。本研究采用文献计量和内容分析方法，全面综述了BT在粮食和农业CI的OT安全中的应用。从包括科学引文索引核心合集和医学期刊数据库在内的六个数据库中总共识别出124篇相关文章。从五个维度进行了文献计量分析：出版年份、文献类型、期刊分布、国家贡献和关键词趋势。研究结果通过表格、图表精心呈现。2018年该领域研究激增，《IEEE物联网杂志》和《IEEE接入》成为发文量最多的期刊，各有九篇出版物。就期刊被引次数而言，美国、中国和印度位居前列。我们的分析确定37次的参考文献计数为合适的阈值。奥图姆·萨法是发表文章数量最多的作者，共四篇。“区块链”“物联网”“智能合约”“安全”和“关键基础设施”等关键词出现频率很高。从这项文献计量分析中收集的统计数据、趋势和见解可为OTCI领域的研究人员提供指导，以形成连贯且合乎逻辑的研究轨迹。内容分析进一步确定了该领域六个关键研究领域：身份认证和数据验证、安全访问控制、攻击检测与感知、数据安全与保护、数据备份与恢复以及攻击评估与溯源。基于这些见解，提出了一个通用框架，以指导BT在保障粮食和农业CI中的OT安全方面的未来研究和实际应用。本研究系统分析了BT在保障对粮食和农业CI至关重要的OT安全方面的当前研究状况、挑战和机遇。通过弥合区块链创新与粮食和农业部门运营需求之间的差距，这项工作有助于推进战略实施并提高CI系统的安全性。
