Blockchain Papers

Yi Chen, Chung-Chiang Chen, Li‐Chuan Tang, Wei-Hua Chieng

Abstract NuText is a novel music-encoding technology based on numbered musical notation. This paper outlines the notation principles of numbered musical notation and delineates the conversion relationship and encoding protocol between NuText and numbered musical notation. Furthermore, this study demonstrates NuText's playback software and its practical applications, including digital artwork creation, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), and social use, and identifies opportunities to develop it as a music technology. The encoding method proposed herein was implemented on PCs and mobile devices, and the method has been successfully applied to sports-oriented music. The image steganography method used in digital artwork creation, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), and social use does not destroy images, and it has been implemented on mobile devices. NuText is a note-level encoding method, which has advantages for interpreting music connotations and a great potential in the development of music information retrieval and artificial intelligence composition. In future work, special musical skills may be added, including the modification of each note velocity, and this may be incorporated into the encoding specification to realize sound in virtual reality.

Partha Sarathi Chakraborty, Mangesh Shivaji Chandrawanshi, Puspesh Kumar, Somanath Tripathy

Cloud computing has enabled outsourced storage of large amounts of data and reliable access to it. Privacy of remotely stored data has been a concern for every data owner, which would be resolved by applying suitable encryption mechanism. On the other hand, searching is difficult in the case of encrypted documents. In this work, we propose a Blockchain assisted Fuzzy search over encrypted data named BSMFS. BSMFS is resistant against leakage of information by well-known attacks like search, access and volume pattern leakage attacks. A smart contract is developed for Ethereum blockchain to assist the interaction between data user and cloud server, along with a bloom filter for efficient search. Experimental analysis is performed on Ethereum test networks to check the feasibility of BSMFS.

Daniel Barrack

By using zkSNARKs to prove that values have specific dependent types, it is possible to provably assure compatibility and correctness without revealing sensitive information and extend our trusted computing base well beyond our own system. The approach we developed expands the scope of what non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs can capture to include properties about both the execution and correctness of programs.

Mor Weiss

Probabilistically Checkable Proofs (PCPs) allows a randomized verifier, with oracle access to a purported proof, to probabilistically verify an input statement of the form “x∈L” by querying only a few proof bits. Zero-Knowledge PCPs (ZK-PCPs) enhance standard PCPs to additionally guarantee that the view of any (possibly malicious) verifier querying a bounded number of proof bits can be efficiently simulated up to a small statistical distance. The first ZK-PCP construction of Kilian, Petrank and Tardos (STOC 1997), and following constructions employing similar techniques, necessitate that the honest verifier makes several rounds of queries to the proof. This undesirable property, which is inherent to their technique, translates into increased round complexity in cryptographic applications of ZK-PCPs. We survey two recent ZK-PCP constructions—due to Ishai, Yang and Weiss (TCC 2016-A), and Hazay, Venkitasubramaniam and Weiss (ITC 2021)—in which the honest verifier makes a single round of queries to the proof. Both constructions use entirely different techniques compared to previous ZK-PCP constructions, by showing connections to the seemingly-unrelated notion of leakage resilience. These constructions are incomparable to previous ZK-PCP constructions: while on the one hand the honest verifier only makes a single round of queries to the proof, these ZK-PCPs either obtain a smaller (polynomial) ratio between the query complexity of the honest and malicious verifiers or obtain a weaker ZK guarantee in which the ZK simulator is not necessarily efficient.

Kentaro Sako, Shin’ichiro Matsuo, Tatsuya Mori

We propose N-choice game (NCG), a decentralized pseudo-random number generation method that can be executed on smart contracts. Of the M participants, one is a dealer, and the rest are players, each with a different role. Each participant randomly chooses one value between 0 and N − 1 and receives a score determined by the NCG rule. The amount of reward each participant receives is determined by the score. The values chosen by the participants are combined and hashed into a pseudo-random number. The NCG framework is designed to achieve the following three goals: (1) Incentivize participants to provide random choices, (2) Evaluate the level of randomness in the decentralized environment, and (3) Establish high performance. We implement the NCG framework in Solidity and evaluate its performance. Our extensive experiments revealed that unless more than 90% of NCG players collide, the generated random numbers have high randomness that can pass the NIST randomness test. The experiments also demonstrated that the throughput of random number generation in NCG was 129 times faster than in the existing framework, Random Bit Generator [2].

Xiaojun Wen, Yongzhi Chen, Wei Zhang, Zoe L. Jiang · 5 authors

The consensus mechanism is the core secret of the blockchain network. However, the consensus mechanism of the classical blockchain is based on the classical cryptosystem, which is based on the problem of computational complexity. With the improvement of computing power, the security of this cryptosystem is being threatened. In addition, the consensus mechanism of classic blockchain also has the following disadvantages: serious waste of computing resources and energy; the inability to withstand a 51% attack; low system throughput and large delay. Based on quantum teleportation technology and the randomness of quantum measurement, a consensus mechanism for a quantum blockchain system is proposed. Based on the physical properties of quantum mechanics, this scheme has the unconditional security of quantum cryptography. This new consensus mechanism does not involve a great deal of computing resources and hence has a lower energy consumption, shorter time delay and higher throughput. Furthermore, the new consensus mechanism could withstand a 51% attack.

James Bartusek, Dakshita Khurana

We propose a new, unifying framework that yields an array of cryptographic primitives with certified deletion. These primitives enable a party in possession of a quantum ciphertext to generate a classical certificate that the encrypted plaintext has been information-theoretically deleted, and cannot be recovered even given unbounded computational resources. - For X \in {public-key, attribute-based, fully-homomorphic, witness, timed-release}, our compiler converts any (post-quantum) X encryption to X encryption with certified deletion. In addition, we compile statistically-binding commitments to statistically-binding commitments with certified everlasting hiding. As a corollary, we also obtain statistically-sound zero-knowledge proofs for QMA with certified everlasting zero-knowledge assuming statistically-binding commitments. - We also obtain a strong form of everlasting security for two-party and multi-party computation in the dishonest majority setting. While simultaneously achieving everlasting security against all parties in this setting is known to be impossible, we introduce everlasting security transfer (EST). This enables any one party (or a subset of parties) to dynamically and certifiably information-theoretically delete other participants' data after protocol execution. We construct general-purpose secure computation with EST assuming statistically-binding commitments, which can be based on one-way functions or pseudorandom quantum states. We obtain our results by developing a novel proof technique to argue that a bit b has been information-theoretically deleted from an adversary's view once they output a valid deletion certificate, despite having been previously information-theoretically determined by the ciphertext they held in their view. This technique may be of independent interest.

Turgut Hanoymak, Ömer Küsmüş

Blockchain technology, which includes cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum,…etc [1,2] which has been evaluated as an investment tool by many people all over the world in recent years, needs to be examined in details, both mathematically and conceptually [8,9]. In fact, it can be said that blockchain technology, which is characterized as an accounting system and database based on distributed ledgers in its most basic form, is extremely secure in terms of copying data or attacking. For this reason, we can say that technology has a more effective security mechanism than any central state-of-the-art authoritative system used today. However, as it is almost impossible to bring all of the security, speed and cost parameters to their full extend in a system at the same time, as in any cryptosystem, the security parameter from the distributed ledger structure in blockchain technology adversely affects the speed and cost parameters. In this article, we discuss the cryptographic working principles of cryptocurrencies, which is an application field of blockchain technology, together with blockchain technology and the features and structures of the blocks contained.

K. L. Neela, V. Kavitha

No abstract is available for this record.

Manal M. Khayyat, Mashael Khayyat, S. Abdel‐Khalek, Romany F. Mansour

Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) denotes a network of interlinked sensors, instruments, and other devices for industrial applications in the domains of manufacturing, logistics, transportation, etc. IIoT security is a major crucial research area for several applications. Image encryption techniques gained popularity in the recent years, thanks to increasing requirements for secure image transmission in IIoT environments. At the same time, conventional security solutions built for sensitive data protection are getting outdated in IIoT environment due to the participation of third party. Blockchain (BC) is one of the recent solutions used for security purpose which eliminates the involvement of a third party. With this motivation, the current research article presents a new BC-Enabled Shark Smell Optimization with Hopfield Chaotic Neural Network (SSO-HCNN) for secure encryption in IoT environment. The proposed SSO-HCNN model exploits a composite Chaotic Map (CM) which is integrated into staged logistic and tent maps to initially process the images and develop the variables needed for Arnold mapping. In addition, the SSO algorithm is developed with maximum PSNR and coefficient fitness function to select the optimum secret and public keys of the system amongst the random numbers. Besides, the diffusion phase utilizes HCNN to create a self-diffusion chaotic matrix whereas the jumbled image performs XOR operation using the keys to obtain the cipher image. In SSO-HCNN model, the cryptographic pixel value in the image is saved on BC thus guaranteeing the security and privacy of the images. To examine the superior performance of SSO-HCNN model over state-of-the-art methods, a set of simulations was conducted on benchmark test images. The simulation results of the proposed SSO-HCNN model were promising under different evaluation parameters.

Ankala Stallin, Kagga Pavan Kumar, B. Prabha

Digital media is one of the most shared, influenced and highly used forms of the medium in the 21stcentury. Its presence ranges from simple images, shared in a Peer-to-Peer network to a world-renowned newspaper that provides second to second update on events around the world at the comfort zone. With this ease-of-access and anonymity it is easier than ever to copy and claim someone else’s work as their own. This nefarious practice of copyright infringement has high stakes when monetization is involved, especially in a high-stake venture such as NFT (Non-fungible Token) based artworks that are not only meant to be unique but also should benefit the artists not the people who masquerades as the true owner of the said art. To avoid such malpractices, watermarking is one of the oldest yet most used methods of authentication techniques for images. It is more effective if it’s hidden in plain sight (most of the times within the image’s meta-data,) so that it wouldn’t affect the appearance of the image but provides the impact, nonetheless. Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) algorithm based hidden image watermarking is implemented to focus more on domain frequency. Furthermore, Domain Frequency is extracted to transform the original image and to add the watermark. DCT is implemented to enhance the rate of watermark processing. The whole project, in their individual modules discuss Image processing, encoding the said output with the watermark image and decrypting the said resultant to verify the watermark. As said before, the applications are vast with the emerging technology of Web3 and blockchain backed projects.

Sikha Bagui, Raffaele Galliera

This paper presents an overview of the basic concepts of cryptography and encryption. The work aims at presenting the main concepts and concerns of encryption on a high-level of abstraction, allowing non-domain expert readers to navigate through these topics. Less traditional arguments are also shown, from the relevance of Key Management Services with its usage in Envelope Encryption, to Zero Knowledge proofs and their innovative applications. The crucial importance of securing communications between IoT devices and widely used algorithms to do so, are also discussed.

Mohamed Fartitchou, Hanaa El Marraki, Lamyae Lafkir, Anissa Azzouz · 6 authors

Blockchain (BC) technology has infiltrated many areas of our lives, from digital currencies to healthcare and beyond, thanks to its security, decentralization, and transparency properties. BC is a decentralized ledger of assets and digitally signed transactions through a peer-to-peer (P2P) computer network. Indeed, signature and consensus algorithms are behind BC’s security and performance. This paper provides a study on BC-used asymmetric cryptography. We focus on RSA, DSA, and ECDSA digital signature algorithms. We implement the algorithms using python language on a Raspberry Pi. Simulation outcomes show that the ECDSA performs better than the other algorithms and is secure despite using small keys.

V Niranjani, P S Sanjaay Kamachi, S Siddhaarth, B Venkatachalam · 5 authors

The implementation of Cryptocurrency came into play after the resolution of double spending problem. After a decade of its conceptual inspection there are lots of cryptocurrencies being developed and used in today's market. Even though the cryptocurrencies win the confidence of stakeholders using their decentralized and cryptographic algorithms they always had a possible downfall which is quoted as practically impossible and stated theoretically. One of the major problems is 51 % attack on the blockchain of the cryptocurrency. The solution from centralized banks printing fiat currencies and causing inflation was decentralized miners mining and getting rewarded for their work However democratic the networks reward system seem they will always be dependent on any one factor which may allow a majority resource holder in PoW based system and majority stake holder in a PoS system to manipulate the blockchains consensus once they own 51 % of the mentioned. This problem will remain practically impossible for most of the cryptocurrencies that exists because of their vast network and resources. This is practically possible problem for cryptocurrencies that are new to the market and they face a vulnerable position since their network and resource is not yet distributed enough. To avoid such an attack the currencies should start with a rewarding system that is validated based on PoW and PoS but the miner from the list is declared on a random basis. Even if a malicious attacker holds 51 % of the resource and 51% of asset and cleared PoW and PoS which practically impossible still the rewarding systems random miner mechanism should restrict the same user from manipulating the whole chain and take control over it.

Chitranjan Prasad Sah

The Robustness of any cryptographic technique gives us an idea about how that technique is asymptotically secure (asymptotic security), efficient, and can defeat different types of attacks on it. In this research, analysis and study have been done about how non-black-box technique called zero-knowledge proofs, can be used with RSA (Rivest, Shamir, Adleman) problem. One of the better algorithms for factoring needed by the RSA problem is general number field sieve factoring. The efficiency of general number field sieve factoring for RSA problem and discrete logarithm problem is analyzed and compared with each other; covariance between their asymptotic functions is calculated which clearly shows that they are strongly correlated with each other.

Wanshan Xu, Jianbiao Zhang, Yilin Yuan, Xiao Wang · 6 authors

Searchable symmetric encryption (SSE) provides an effective way to search encrypted data stored on untrusted servers. When the server is not trusted, it is indispensable to verify the results returned by it. However, the existing SSE schemes either lack fairness in the verification of search results, or do not support the verification of multiple keywords. To address this, we designed a multi-keyword verifiable searchable symmetric encryption scheme based on blockchain, which provides an efficient multi-keyword search and fair verification of search results. We utilized bitmap to build a search index in order to improve search efficiency, and used blockchain to ensure fair verification of search results. The bitmap and hash function are combined to realize lightweight multi-keyword search result verification, compared with the existing verification schemes using public key cryptography primitives, our scheme reduces the verification time and improves the verification efficiency. In addition, our scheme supports the dynamic update of files and realizes the forward security in update. Finally, formal security analysis proves that our scheme is secure against Chosen-Keyword Attacks (CKA), experimental analysis demonstrations that our scheme is efficient and viable in practice.

Alessandro Brighente, Martina Camaioni, Mauro Conti, Emilio Olivastri

Cryptocurrencies are digital assets that can be used as a medium of exchange and are stored in a ledger in the form of a cryptography-secured computer database. Most cryptocurrencies are deployed in decentralized networks such as the blockchain, where they can be transferred from an address to another. However, anyone having access to the private key of an address can fully operate and steal the full balance of such address. Although brute-force attacks consume significant resources in terms of time and power, breaking one of the richest cryptocurrency addresses leads to a huge reward in terms of hard money. Therefore, an attacker may be incentivized to run this attack.In this paper, we run a statistical study of cryptocurrencies distribution over the richest addresses and assess the worthiness of a brute-force attack towards their public key. We consider an attacker investing a certain amount of hard money (i.e., a currency that is made up of or directly backed by a valuable commodity such as gold) to run the attack and propose a statistical characterization of the average gained reward. To further assess the worthiness of a brute-forcing attack, we compare the average reward with that of other probabilistic reward systems, such as mining and scratch cards. Results show that the average reward of the proposed attack is six orders of magnitude lower than that of mining and 10 orders of magnitude lower than that of scratching cards for a given initial investment.

Tridip Bhowmik, Sagir Mahmud Sefat, Aysha Akmal, Md. Ismail Jabiullah

Cryptocurrency data communications are very demanding issues in current high-speed online currency transactions. Here, a key-based AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption-decryption algorithm is used to impose more security levels on cryptocurrency data communications. For this, the sender first creates a key and sends it to the intended receiver through a secured and trusted channel. Then by that key one can easily encrypt the cryptocurrency data using the AES encryption algorithm and produced the ciphertext and then send it to the destination. On the receiver’s end, the decryption process of AES is performed by using the same shared secret key that retrieved the plaintext from the received ciphertext. The security of the proposed process depends on the shared secret key and the algorithm AES and it can be applied for any financial data transactions securely. This can be used in all kinds of cryptocurrency data communication with a higher level of security.

Rand Mohammed Rafee, Bashar M. Nema

A secure electronic learning platform has been created to enable teachers and students to log into their accounts to learn efficiently and safely at any place and time. This platform has been proposed due to the urgent need to develop the education system and move it from traditional to interactive e-learning. In this paper, an application implemented that access remotely using a web browser interface and saved on a server depends on a Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) system with an RSA algorithm was employed to solve registration and login challenges and securely transfer passwords. Using adapted AES to encrypt each user's personal information, Exams, and save it in in encrypted form in the database. The simulated results in this paper indicate the existence of a secure e-learning system, where security was achieved by performing the registration and login process without sending the password in its explicit form over an insecure network such as the Internet, in addition to encrypting the necessary information to be stored in an incomprehensible manner in the database, in the case of presence of an attack on the database.

E. Jansirani, N. Kowsalya

Data security plays a major role in computer network. Because it helps to transmit data in secure way over the Internet. So we need to use strong security method for secure data transaction. Cryptography is a security tool which helps to transmit information from one place to another place over computer network. Cryptography follows encryption and decryption methods for data transmission. Cryptographic technique is completely based on key generation because it needs keys to transmit data between users. However cryptography works well in secure data transmission but it needs keys to provide security for data. In cryptography generation of keys taking more time than transmission of data. So in this paper we discuss about Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) which is also based on cryptographic technique. ZKP is also useful in secure data transmission without sharing key values between users. This paper tells about overview of ZKP and how it is useful in data transmission.

Iynkaran Natgunanathan, Purathani Praitheeshan, Longxiang Gao, Yong Xiang · 5 authors

Copyright protection in multimedia protection distribution is a challenging problem. To protect multimedia data, many watermarking methods have been proposed in the literature. However, most of them cannot be used effectively in a multimedia distribution network (MDN) as they are not designed to support multi-layer watermark embedding. Multi-layer watermarking mechanisms were developed to protect multimedia data across different layers in an MDN. However, in those mechanisms, we need to trust the entities in the MDN, such as regional and country distributors. To overcome this potential drawback, in this article, we propose a novel privacy protection mechanism for MDNs by combining the advantages of both blockchain and watermarking technologies. A specifically designed watermarking algorithm is used to link the copyright information with the audio file, while a novel blockchain-based smart contract mechanism is developed to enforce the proper functioning of each entity in the distribution network. Moreover, the new audio mechanism is computationally efficient. Although audio signals are used to show the effectiveness of the proposed mechanism, the proposed approach can easily be extended to other multimedia objects, such as an image. The validity of the proposed mechanism is demonstrated by our simulation results. The proposed mechanism can benefit multimedia production companies and other entities in the MDN.

Sikha Pentyala, Davis Railsback, Ricardo Maia, Rafael Dowsley · 7 authors

In the classical setting of differential privacy, a privacy-preserving query is performed on a private database, after which the query result is released to the analyst; a differentially private query ensures that the presence of a single database entry is protected from the analyst’s view. In this work, we contribute the first definitional framework for differential privacy in the trusted curator setting (Fig. 1); clients submit private inputs to the trusted curator, which then computes individual outputs privately returned to each client. The adversary is more powerful than the standard setting; it can corrupt up to n-1 clients and subsequently decide inputs and learn outputs of corrupted parties. In this setting, the adversary also obtains leakage from the honest output that is correlated with a corrupted output. Standard differentially private mechanisms protect client inputs but do not mitigate output correlation leaking arbitrary client information, which can forfeit client privacy completely. We initiate the investigation of a novel notion of correlated-output differential privacy to bound the leakage from output correlation in the trusted curator setting. We define the satisfaction of both standard and correlated-output differential privacy as round differential privacy and highlight the relevance of this novel privacy notion to all application domains in the trusted curator model.
\nWe explore round differential privacy in traditional "dark pool" market venues, which promise privacy-preserving trade execution to mitigate front-running; privately submitted trade orders and trade execution are kept private by the trusted venue operator. We observe that dark pools satisfy neither classic nor correlated-output differential privacy; in markets with low trade activity, the adversary may trivially observe recurring, honest trading patterns, and anticipate and front-run future trades. In response, we present the first round differentially private market mechanisms that formally mitigate information leakage from all trading activity of a user. This is achieved with fuzzy order matching, inspired by the standard randomized response mechanism; however, this also introduces a liquidity mismatch as buy and sell orders are not guaranteed to execute pairwise, thereby weakening output correlation; this mismatch is compensated for by a round differentially private liquidity provider mechanism, which freezes a noisy amount of assets from the liquidity provider for the duration of a privacy epoch, but leaves trader balances unaffected. We propose oblivious algorithms for realizing our proposed market mechanisms with secure multi-party computation (MPC) and implement these in the Scale-Mamba Framework using Shamir Secret Sharing based MPC. We demonstrate practical, round differentially private trading with comparable throughput as prior work implementing (traditional) dark pool algorithms in MPC; our experiments demonstrate practicality for both traditional finance and decentralized finance settings.

Faiza Suleymanovna Kurbalieva, Mutayeva Ibragimovna Sayeda

No abstract is available for this record.

Aleksandr Korinnoy

Cryptocurrencies considered not just as a payment means and an investment object, but also as one of the prerequisites for entering to the Internet economy and a means of exchange in this new digital economy. The article examines the shadow component aspects of the economy in the context of appearances and development of cryptocurrency. The theoretical basis of the study is the provision of a "shadow economy" in almost any economic system. When using cryptocurrency often use fraudulent schemes and methods. The functioning of cryptocurrencies based on blockchain technology has full functionality for performing illegal operations, and this is the main negative factor in the circulation of these currencies. As the results of the study, it can be noted that cryptocurrencies should be considered as a means to enter the Internet economy while their turnover associated with the risk of money laundering, due to their anonymity and cross-border nature, which, in turn, requires a detailed development of methods and tools for economic security. Prohibition on cryptocurrencies transactions at the legislative level can lead to serious negative consequences for the economic security of the state. Such bans will only stimulate the use of cryptocurrencies in the shadow economy. The object of the study is integration of cryptocurrencies into national economic processes, which generates fundamentally new risks and threats using. The subject of the study is the economic properties of the cryptocurrency that contribute to its involvement in the shadow economy. The main purpose of the study is to analyze the aspects of cryptocurrency involvement in the shadow economy.