Risk and vulnerability assessment of e-government framework using Blockchain Technology

Abstract:

E-Government system leverages Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to transform the relationship between government bodies and citizens, businesses and other government ministries, department, and agencies. The primary aim is to make government services more seamless, efficient and timely for every citizen and organisation. However, e-Government systems are now faced with security threats and cyberattacks, and these challenges have raised concerns about users’ privacy as well as the confidentiality and integrity of user data. Therefore, this paper assesses the degree of risk and vulnerability associated with websites used for e-Government function. We consider one such website, the Saudi’s e-government website, Yesser by using three penetration test tools namely Zap, Rapid7, and Nessus. The results show that Yesser website does not have critical vulnerabilities but, has severe and medium-level vulnerabilities. The paper proposes a new framework which can integrate blockchain based scheme into Saudi e-Government system. The framework represents a hierarchical model and involves use of blockchain between De Militarized Zone (DMZ) and Secured Intranet zone