Blockchain-integrated accounting information systems in critical financial infrastructure: A comprehensive review of cybersecurity frameworks and internal control innovation

This review is a synthesis of the published empirical and conceptual literature on integrating blockchain technology into the accounting information systems of critical financial infrastructure between 2020 and 2025. It looks at the interaction between distributed ledger architectures and existing cybersecurity frameworks, such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework, International Organization for Standardization / International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC 27001), the Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies framework (COBIT), and Zero Trust principles, and how blockchain can links be used to achieve internal control innovation with smart contracts, continuous auditing, and automated assuranceThis research study has discovered that there is indeed a consistency of high data accuracy, and efficiency in sharing information and high reliability of audit trails in cases where blockchain is suitably incorporated. Nevertheless, operationalization of governance, legacy system interoperability, privacy-preserving assurance, and large-scale empirical validation of the work seem to be areas of persistent gaps in the literature, as well. To solve these problems, the paper comes up with an integrative assurance framework, which combines blockchain technical elements with cybersecurity controls, internal control goals, and audit evidence specifications. The review has added value in explaining the pathways of transformation of controls from manual to self-enforcing systems and also providing implication to financial institution, regulator and the auditing practice.  It ends with setting a priority direction on longitudinal research matters, multi-stakeholder experimentation of governance, and standardization activities that were essential to enable dependable, auditable accounting systems in blockchains.