Publications

Site summary based on title and indexed metadata

Examines how decentralized identity backed by blockchain can improve trust, credential handling, and access control in Web of Things environments.

Date policy: Dates follow the first online publication date when a DOI record exposes it. If indexed metadata only exposes a year, the year-level publisher or index date is used consistently.

Notes: Indexed in Crossref, ORCID, and OpenAlex. OpenAlex records the affiliation as Cadi Ayyad University.

@inbook{Mssassi_2026,
  title={Building Trust in the Web of Things: Decentralized Identity Management with Blockchain},
  ISBN={9783032076717},
  ISSN={1860-4870},
  url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-07671-7_7},
  DOI={10.1007/978-3-032-07671-7_7},
  booktitle={Blockchain-based Web of Things Security: Advances, Challenges, and Solutions},
  publisher={Springer Nature Switzerland},
  author={Mssassi, Souhail and El Kalam, Anas Abou},
  year={2026},
  pages={105-130}
}

Site summary based on title and indexed metadata

Proposes an application-layer framework for improving privacy in blockchain transactions and smart contracts under practical deployment constraints.

Date policy: Dates follow the first online publication date when a DOI record exposes it. If indexed metadata only exposes a year, the year-level publisher or index date is used consistently.

Notes: OpenAlex exposes an open-access PDF record for this paper.

@article{Mssassi_2025,
  title={An Application-Layer Framework for Privacy Blockchain Transactions and Smart Contract},
  volume={12},
  ISSN={2395-0455},
  url={http://dx.doi.org/10.22247/ijcna/2025/05},
  DOI={10.22247/ijcna/2025/05},
  number={1},
  journal={International Journal of Computer Networks and Applications},
  publisher={EverScience Publications},
  author={Mssassi, Souhail and El Kalam, Anas Abou},
  year={2025},
  month=feb,
  pages={62-72}
}

Site summary based on title and indexed metadata

Presents a constant-time approach for reducing timing side-channel leakage in FPGA-oriented settings.

Date policy: Dates follow the first online publication date when a DOI record exposes it. If indexed metadata only exposes a year, the year-level publisher or index date is used consistently.

Notes: Extends the cross-layer security line toward implementation-level leakage.

@inbook{Mssassi_2025,
  title={Securing FPGAs Against Timing Side-Channel Attacks: A Novel Constant Time Approach},
  ISBN={9783031913372},
  ISSN={2367-3389},
  url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-91337-2_45},
  DOI={10.1007/978-3-031-91337-2_45},
  booktitle={International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Systems for Sustainable Developent (AI2SD 2024)},
  publisher={Springer Nature Switzerland},
  author={Mssassi, Souhail and El Kalam, Anas Abou},
  year={2025},
  pages={468-476}
}

Condensed from publisher abstract

Formalizes decentralization, security, and scalability and argues that maximizing all three at once leads to contradictions. The paper uses proof by contradiction and complexity analysis to make the trade-offs explicit.

Date policy: Dates follow the first online publication date when a DOI record exposes it. If indexed metadata only exposes a year, the year-level publisher or index date is used consistently.

Notes: Crossref lists the affiliation as National School of Applied Sciences, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech 40160, Morocco.

@article{Mssassi_2024,
  title={The Blockchain Trilemma: A Formal Proof of the Inherent Trade-Offs Among Decentralization, Security, and Scalability},
  volume={15},
  ISSN={2076-3417},
  url={http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app15010019},
  DOI={10.3390/app15010019},
  number={1},
  journal={Applied Sciences},
  publisher={MDPI AG},
  author={Mssassi, Souhail and Abou El Kalam, Anas},
  year={2024},
  month=dec,
  pages={19}
}

Condensed from publisher abstract

Uses graph theory and game theory to design incentives that discourage malicious behavior in blockchain networks. The model aims to improve trust, fairness, and resistance to attacks such as fake transaction broadcasting or block withholding.

Date policy: Dates follow the first online publication date when a DOI record exposes it. If indexed metadata only exposes a year, the year-level publisher or index date is used consistently.

Notes: Crossref lists the affiliation as National School of Applied Sciences, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech 40000, Morocco.

@article{Mssassi_2024,
  title={Game Theory-Based Incentive Design for Mitigating Malicious Behavior in Blockchain Networks},
  volume={13},
  ISSN={2224-2708},
  url={http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jsan13010007},
  DOI={10.3390/jsan13010007},
  number={1},
  journal={Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks},
  publisher={MDPI AG},
  author={Mssassi, Souhail and Abou El Kalam, Anas},
  year={2024},
  month=jan,
  pages={7}
}

Site summary based on title and indexed metadata

Explores how blockchain can be used to improve traceability and transparency in sustainable development settings.

Date policy: Dates follow the first online publication date when a DOI record exposes it. If indexed metadata only exposes a year, the year-level publisher or index date is used consistently.

Notes: Shows how the research portfolio also addresses applied traceability and transparency use cases.

@inbook{Mssassi_2024,
  title={Leveraging Blockchain for Enhanced Traceability and Transparency in Sustainable Development},
  ISBN={9783031543180},
  ISSN={2367-3389},
  url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54318-0_14},
  DOI={10.1007/978-3-031-54318-0_14},
  booktitle={International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Systems for Sustainable Development (AI2SD'2023)},
  publisher={Springer Nature Switzerland},
  author={Mssassi, Souhail and El Kalam, Anas Abou},
  year={2024},
  pages={162-177}
}

Site summary based on title and indexed metadata

Investigates FPGA security through the lens of bitstream reverse engineering and implementation-level attack surfaces.

Date policy: Dates follow the first online publication date when a DOI record exposes it. If indexed metadata only exposes a year, the year-level publisher or index date is used consistently.

Notes: Reinforces the cross-layer theme beyond pure blockchain protocol analysis.

@inbook{Mssassi_2024,
  title={On FPGA Security and Bitstream Reverse Engineering},
  ISBN={9783031704116},
  ISSN={2367-3389},
  url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-70411-6_2},
  DOI={10.1007/978-3-031-70411-6_2},
  booktitle={Proceeding of the International Conference on Connected Objects and Artificial Intelligence (COCIA2024)},
  publisher={Springer Nature Switzerland},
  author={Mssassi, Souhail and Abou El Kalam, Anas and Jabrane, Younes},
  year={2024},
  pages={8-13}
}

Condensed from publisher abstract

Applies Byzantine-fault reasoning to secure OLSR control-plane behavior, improving packet delivery while detecting and isolating malicious nodes in a scale-free network setting.

Date policy: Dates follow the first online publication date when a DOI record exposes it. If indexed metadata only exposes a year, the year-level publisher or index date is used consistently.

Notes: Crossref lists co-author affiliations at Cadi Ayyad University and Sultan Moulay Slimane University.

@article{Idboufker_2023,
  title={Election of MPR Nodes and Detection of Malicious Nodes Based on a Byzantine Fault in the OLSR Protocol Case of a Scale-Free Network},
  volume={12},
  ISSN={2079-9292},
  url={http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/electronics12163390},
  DOI={10.3390/electronics12163390},
  number={16},
  journal={Electronics},
  publisher={MDPI AG},
  author={Idboufker, Noureddine and Mssassi, Souhail and Alaoui, Chahid Mohamed and Zougagh, Hicham},
  year={2023},
  month=aug,
  pages={3390}
}