Blockchain Based Multimedia Content Authentication Using Ethereum: Transformation Towards Decentralized Framework

Abstract

With the rapid growth of digital multimedia content and sophisticated adversary technologies, ensuring authenticity and security has become a critical challenge. Traditional methods,such as digital watermarks and cryptographic signatures, help verify authenticity. However, they come with various limitations, including challenges in key management, reliance on central authorities, and the implicit trust placed in these authorities, which can undermine security and authenticity. To address these challenges, this article presents a Blockchain (BC)-based approach using Ethereum for the authentication of multimedia content. Using Ethereum’s secure and transparent ledger, we create an immutable record of ownership and modifications, ensuring that digital content remains tamperproof and verifiable. Our analysis shows that the use of Ethereum Smart Contracts (ESC) improves the reliability of digital content authentication, making it more secure and decentralized. Experiments reveal that our executed ESC consumes 0.0011 SepoliaETH to store the metadata in BC and zero gas for authentication verification. This research highlights how EBC can provide a robust and transparent solution to protect multimedia content, ensuring its integrity and authenticity in a trustless environment.