Zero-knowledge proofs introduce a mechanism to prove that certain computations were performed without revealing any underlying information and are used commonly in blockchain-based decentralized apps (dapps). This cryptographic technique addresses trust issues prevalent in blockchain applications, and has now been adapted for machine learning (ML) services, known as Zero-Knowledge Machine Learning (ZKML). By leveraging the distributed nature of blockchains, this approach enhances the trustworthiness of ML deployments, and opens up new possibilities for privacy-preserving and robust ML applications within dapps. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the ZKML process and its critical components for verifying ML services on-chain. Furthermore, this paper explores how blockchain technology and smart contracts can offer verifiable, trustless proof that a specific ML model has been used correctly to perform inference, all without relying on a single trusted entity. Additionally, the paper compares and reviews existing frameworks for implementing ZKML in dapps, serving as a reference point for researchers interested in this emerging field. • An analytical and synthetic review of core on-chain ZKML concepts, supported by an extensive examination of both white and grey literature, establishing a foundational understanding of the field. • Through a detailed analysis, modelling, and descriptive approaches, the paper outlines the processes integral to on-chain ZKML. The study is focused on two distinct frameworks – EZKL and Orion , highlighting the differences between the two approaches, as well as the difference between the underlying ZKP systems, where the former framework is based on zk-SNARKs and the latter on zk-STARKs. • A laboratory experiment, coupled with a comparative analysis and use case execution comparison, was conducted to implement basic neural networks (NNs) across the two chosen frameworks, highlighting their capabilities and limitations in supporting on-chain ZKML.
A niche corner of the Web3 world is increasingly making use of hardware-based Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) to build decentralized infrastructure. One of the motivations to use TEEs is to go beyond the current performance limitations of cryptography-based alternatives such as zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP), fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), and multi-party computation (MPC). Despite their appealing advantages, current TEEs suffer from serious limitations as they are not secure against physical attacks, and their attestation mechanism is rooted in the chip manufacturer's trust. As a result, Web3 applications have to rely on cloud infrastruture to act as trusted guardians of hardware-based TEEs and have to accept to trust chip manufacturers. This work aims at exploring how we could potentially architect and implement chips that would be secure against physical attacks and would not require putting trust in chip manufacturers. One goal of this work is to motivate the Web3 movement to acknowledge and leverage the substantial amount of relevant hardware research that already exists. In brief, a combination of: (1) physical unclonable functions (PUFs) to secure the root-of-trust; (2) masking and redundancy techniques to secure computations; (3) open source hardware and imaging techniques to verify that a chip matches its expected design; can help move towards attesting that a given TEE can be trusted without the need to trust a cloud provider and a chip manufacturer.
This work presents an innovative algorithm demonstrating the effectiveness of zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) in network security. By integrating Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) for key generation, the algorithm showcases their applicability in enhancing security measures within 6G networks. It highlights the utility of ZKPs in bolstering data privacy and security by enabling entities to validate knowledge without compromising sensitive information. The algorithm shows its capability to ensure robust communication security through comprehensive simulations, thereby laying the groundwork for dependable next-generation communication infrastructures.
Joe Davids, Mohamed El-Sharkawy, Hutan Ashrafian, Eric Herlenius · 5 authors
Abstract Background The use of Cloud-based storage personal health records has increased globally. The GPOC series introduces the concept of a Global Patient co-Owned Cloud (GPOC) of personal health records. Technical sandboxes allow the capability to simulate different scientific concepts before making them production ready. None exist for the medical fields and cloud-based research. Methods We constructed and tested the sandbox using open-source infrastructures (Ubuntu, Alpine Linux, and Colaboratory) and demonstrated it on a cloud platform. Data preprocessing utilised standard and in-house libraries. The Mina protocol, implementing zero-knowledge proofs, ensured secure blockchain operations, while the Ethereum smart contract protocol within Hyperledger Besu supported enterprise-grade sandbox development. Results Here, we present the GPOC series’ technical sandbox. This is to facilitate future online research and testing of the concept and its security, encryption, movability, research potential, risks and structure. It has several protocols for homomorphic encryption, decentralisation, transfers, and file management. The sandbox is openly available online and tests authorisation, transmission, access control, and integrity live. It invites all committed parties to test and improve the platform. Individual patients, clinics, organisations and regulators are invited to test and develop the concept. The sandbox displays co-ownership of personal health records. Here it is trisected between patients, clinics and clinicians. Patients can actively participate in research and control their health data. The challenges include ensuring that a unified underlying protocol is maintained for cross-border delivery of care based on data management regulations. Conclusions The GPOC concept, as demonstrated by the GPOC Sandbox, represents an advancement in healthcare technology. By promoting patient co-ownership and utilising advanced technologies like blockchain and homomorphic encryption, the GPOC initiative enhances individual control over health data and facilitates collaborative medical research globally. The justification for this research lies in its potential to improve evidence-based medicine and AI dissemination. The significance of the GPOC initiative extends to various aspects of healthcare, patient co-ownership of health data, promoting access to resources and healthcare democratisation. The implications include better global health outcomes through continued development and collaboration, ensuring the successful adoption of the GPOC Sandbox and advancing innovation in digital health.
Jennifer Braun, Ngoc Minh Pham, Krister Cromm, Andreas Maierhofer · 5 authors
Background: Conventional fluid and sodium (Na) management in dialysis patients includes adjusting dry weight based on clinical judgement and ancillary tools. An innovative approach to optimize Na management during dialysis has been developed with an automated Na control that has been evaluated in proof-of-concept studies (Kuhlmann et al.,2018; Sagova et al., 2019). However, the long-term clinical benefits were not addressed. Recently, Maduell et al. (2023) showed that automated Na control was potentially advantageous in reducing intradialytic weight gain (IDWG), improving blood pressure (BP) control, and decreasing intradialytic serum Na changes. Methods: SODIAH (NCT06341452) is a prospective, parallel, randomized controlled trial with an intervention period of 12 weeks, to be conducted with the 6008 CareSystem (Fresenius Medical Care) in DE, CZ, ES, BE. The study will include 130 anuric HD-patients with a diffusive Na-load during standard dialysis and at least one of the following: IDWG>4% of dry weight, systolic BP (SBP)>180 mmHg, intradialytic morbid events (IMEs), and pre-dialysis fluid overload≥2.5L. To assess variables from patients’ perspective, questionnaires covering fatigue, SBP issues, quality of life, thirst and xerostomia were included. These were translated into the local languages and culturally adapted after cognitive debriefing to ensure accuracy and cultural relevance in the target population. Results: Our study is designed to assess the impact of Na zero-diffusive dialysis on performance indicators, particularly IDWG, intradialytic hemodynamic stability, IMEs, fluid status, and impact on symptom-related well-being of patients. Study results are planned to be reported in 2025. Conclusion: SODIAH aims to broaden the knowledge of Na zero-diffusive dialysis and its clinical benefits. Culturally adapted questionnaires will be available in new languages supporting analysis of symptom-related well-being. Funding: Commercial Support - Fresenius Medical Care
Attribute Based Access Control (ABAC) is one the most efficient, scalable, and well used access control. It’s based on attributes not on users, but even when the users want to get access to some resource, they must submit their attributes for the verification process which may reveal the privacy of the users. Many research papers suggest blockchain-based ABAC which provides an immutable and transparent access control system. However, the privacy of the system may be compromised depending on the nature of the attributes. A Zero-Knowledge Proof, Ethereum-Based Access Control (ZK‑ABAC) is proposed in this paper to simplify the management of access to the devices/objects and provide an efficient and immutable platform that keeps track of all actions and access management and preserve the privacy of the attributes. Our ZK-ABAC model utilizes smart contracts to facilitate access control management, Zero-Knowledge Succinct NonInteractive Argument of Knowledge (ZK-SNARK) protocol to add privacy to attributes, InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) network to provide distributed storage system, and Chainlink to manage communications and data between on/ off-chain systems. Comprehensive experiments and tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of our model, including the implementation of ZK-SNARK on the Ethereum blockchain. The results demonstrated the scalability challenges in the setup and proving phases, as well as the efficiency gains in the verification phase, particularly when scaled to higher numbers of users. These findings underscore the practical viability of our ZK-ABAC model for secure and privacy-preserving access control in decentralized environments.
The Internet of Things (IoT) offers significant convenience but also exposes users to heightened risks from malicious attacks aiming to compromise device authentication and forge identities. Existing identity authentication systems typically rely on centralized architectures, leading to single points of failure and trust issues. This study introduces a mutual identity authentication scheme leveraging blockchain technology and the unique properties of physical unclonable functions (PUFs) embedded in IoT devices. PUFs are inherently unpredictable and unique, even among chips manufactured in the same batch, rendering it virtually impossible for attackers to replicate device authentication information and forge identities. By integrating blockchain technology with zero-knowledge proof protocols, the proposed scheme ensures secure authentication within open and transparent networks. Once the authentication process is completed, results are recorded on the blockchain to prevent tampering, and aggregate signature technology safeguards against man-in-the-middle attacks during data transmission from gateways to devices. Security analysis demonstrates that the proposed blockchain-PUF method is robust against common IoT security threats and is suitable for IoT devices with limited computational and storage capacities, offering a secure and efficient solution for modern IoT networks.
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
You-Hyun Kim, Ongee Jeong, Kevin Choi, Inkyu Moon · 5 authors
Zero-knowledge proof systems based on Feige-Fiat–Shamir (FFS) protocol are an interactive protocol between two anonymous authentication parties. However, they require heavy computations because of many iterations for reducing the probability that an attacker can trick a remote server. The algorithm’s time complexity rapidly increases with the total number of the challenge values, which should be unpredictable. Hence, the FFS protocol is not suitable for practical zero-knowledge proof systems. In this study, we propose new zero-knowledge proof systems based on phase mask generation that are complex sinusoidal waveform versions of the FFS algorithm for efficient anonymous authentication in the diverse interactive systems. The proposed anonymous authentication schemes need a single iteration only, allowing for efficient uses of a random challenge mask with large bit-depth. The proposed schemes allow the verifier to verify that the prover knows the secret mask, such as binary pattern, visual image, or hologram, which are the prover’s secrets, without revealing any information about it to anyone else, including the verifier. Various numerical simulations demonstrate the proposed schemes’ feasibility and robustness.
Blockchain technology has significantly transformed the landscape of financial transactions, offering unparalleled transparency and trust. However, the need for privacy in recurring transactions remains a critical challenge. This paper proposes an innovative approach to enhancing privacy in blockchain-based recurring transactions through the integration of Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs). We present a detailed architecture that combines the efficiency of smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain with the confidentiality offered by ZKPs. Our implementation ensures that transaction details remain private while maintaining the integrity and non-repudiation inherent to blockchain technology. We evaluate the proposed solution in terms of performance, scalability, and security, demonstrating its potential to revolutionize privacy-preserving recurring payments in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. This work addresses the privacy paradox in blockchain and sets the stage for future advancements in secure, automated financial systems.
This paper surveys the landscape of security and data attacks on machine unlearning, with a focus on financial and e-commerce applications. We discuss key privacy threats such as Membership Inference Attacks and Data Reconstruction Attacks, where adversaries attempt to infer or reconstruct data that should have been removed. In addition, we explore security attacks including Machine Unlearning Data Poisoning, Unlearning Request Attacks, and Machine Unlearning Jailbreak Attacks, which target the underlying mechanisms of unlearning to manipulate or corrupt the model. To mitigate these risks, various defense strategies are examined, including differential privacy, robust cryptographic guarantees, and Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs), offering verifiable and tamper-proof unlearning mechanisms. These approaches are essential for safeguarding data integrity and privacy in high-stakes financial and e-commerce contexts, where compromised models can lead to fraud, data leaks, and reputational damage. This survey highlights the need for continued research and innovation in secure machine unlearning, as well as the importance of developing strong defenses against evolving attack vectors.
The advent of Web3 technologies promises a paradigm shift toward decentralized and autonomous economic interactions enabled by blockchain and smart contracts. However, the lack of robust trust and reputation mechanisms hinders its evolution into a fully functional economic system. This paper introduces the Dmany Nexus Protocol, a decentralized reputation system that quantifies user trustworthiness through verified on-chain and off-chain actions. By integrating principles from information economics, game theory, and mechanism design, the protocol addresses issues of information asymmetry, moral hazard, and adverse selection inherent in decentralized networks. Leveraging the Dmany Quest Engine for decentralized task management and employing zero-knowledge proofs for privacy preservation, Dmany Nexus establishes a foundation for trust and cooperation in the Web3 ecosystem. The protocol enhances economic efficiency, mitigates security risks like Sybil attacks, and fosters mass adoption by enabling secure, privacy-preserving interactions among pseudonymous actors.
In the digital information age, the traditional centralized storage model is vulnerable to security attacks, which leads to the spread of false information and difficulty in tracing. This study proposes a decentralized campus information security system using blockchain technology and builds a tamper-proof, traceable, and privacy-protected architecture through Ethereum and Inter Planetary File System (IPFS). The system uses zero-knowledge proof and homomorphic encryption technology to ensure privacy and uses IPFS as an off-chain storage mechanism to improve the scalability of the system and data access speed. Experimental results show that compared with traditional digital applications, the system performs well in ensuring the authenticity and security of information and effectively protects user privacy.
As the importance of data privacy protection continues to grow, blockchain technology has emerged as a new avenue for safeguarding data privacy due to its immutable and decentralized characteristics. This paper proposes a blockchain-based provenance mechanism designed for data privacy protection, leveraging blockchain technology to ensure data integrity and traceability while securing personal privacy. First, the limitations of existing data protection mechanisms are analyzed, and the application of blockchain in various scenarios for data provenance is elaborated. Next, the critical role of smart contracts in the automatic execution of data processing and access control rules is explored, along with how blockchain's transparency and anonymity protect user privacy. Additionally, a novel blockchain architecture combining zero-knowledge proof technology is proposed to enable encrypted processing and verification of sensitive data without exposing the actual content. Finally, a series of experiments validate the effectiveness and efficiency of this mechanism. This research not only provides a new technical approach for data privacy protection but also lays a theoretical foundation for the application of blockchain in the field of data security.
Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol is a cryptographic protocol designed to secure communication over the internet. The TLS protocol has become a fundamental in secure communication, most commonly used for securing web browsing sessions. In this work, we investigate the TLSNotary protocol, which aim to enable the Client to obtain proof of provenance for data from TLS session, while getting as much as possible from the TLS security properties. To achieve such proofs without any Server-side adjustments or permissions, the power of secure multi-party computation (MPC) together with zero knowledge proofs is used to extend the standard TLS Protocol. To make the compliacted landscape of MPC as comprehensible as possible we first introduce the cryptographic primitives required to understand the TLSNotary protocol and go through standard TLS protocol. Finally, we look at the TLSNotary protocol in detail.
Decentralized identity systems promise user-controlled identifiers and cross-domain verification without a shared identity provider, yet authentication still reduces to possession of keys or credentials once secrets are leaked, reused, or replayed. We present BioZero, a privacy-preserving biometric authentication protocol for decentralized identity that binds an enrolled identity to a biometric witness without revealing biometric templates, while enabling publicly verifiable on-chain decisions. BioZero combines Pedersen commitment-homomorphic computation, consistency spot-checks, and Groth16 zero-knowledge proofs to achieve identity-bound authentication with succinct on-chain verification. We analyze acceptance soundness, freshness, template privacy, and non-malleability under an open decentralized threat model including replay, timing, brute-force, oracle, and forgery attacks. On an Ethereum testbed, BioZero achieves up to 67.8x lower network-adjusted total authentication latency and up to 266.4x faster client-side proving than a zk-SNARK-only baseline. Verification stays in the millisecond range (28.8-41.2 ms vs. 35.4-77.6 ms). With lambda=1 spot-checking, gas grows from 336,778 to 954,066 as N increases from 2 to 128, becomes lower than the baseline from N>=16, and is 2.59x lower at N=128. LFW experiments on 128D and 512D models show accuracy loss below 1% across practical quantization ranges. These results indicate that BioZero is a practical authentication layer for decentralized biometric identity systems.
Déploiement et application optimisées de la blockchain pour un internet industriel des objets de confiance L'Internet des objets (IIoT) continue d'offrir de nouvelles perspectives et de nouveaux défis, ainsi que son potentiel pour améliorer son environnement commercial, une cyberattaque, une violation de la vie privée et des probabilités. La chose est la croissance de la technologie. L'avenir de la technologie et de la blockchain est une affaire stable et stable dans le monde des systèmes IIoT. La valeur de la blockchain dans le futur et l'avenir de la bourse. Identité et contrôle d'accès. Malgré ces avantages, mesure que les applications IIoT se diversifient et que les volumes de données croissent, la demande en ressources des systèmes blockchain se heurte aux ressources limitées des appareils IIoT, ce qui entraîne des contradictions non résolues et des problèmes persistants. existence manquent encore d'authentification d'identité IIoT anonymat et efficace, avec des processus de cryptage et de décryptage complexes induisant un système non surchargé La meilleure performance de la blockchain, le travail de la blockchain, l'architecture et l'architecture de l'Internet des objets. commencent à travailler sur la blockchain et la protection du public, une solution au problème de la blockchain, une solution au problème des cours boursiers et aux questions environnementales et « l'authentification » de l'IIoT de manières et sécurisées. , d'une manière qui fait la différence dans les bas et garantit l'incongruité des origines du tissu. C'est une transaction chronophage, un processus difficile à gérer dans les transactions. C'est un processus de transaction intemporel (DAG). les avantages du manioc, du sélénium et les résultats sont comparatifs. Pour les processus industriels plus contrôlés et les données sensibles et privées IIoT, cette thèse propose un schéma Un contrat intelligent qui peut vous aider dans votre activité (ABAC) C'est stable et stable, c'est un rapide. consensus et c'est une simulation, c'est un consensus, c'est un vrai problème, c'est un problème, c'est un problème, c'est un problème, c'est une demande, c'est une demande 'Algorithme Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP), intégrer le protocole et la preuve dans. un moyen traditionnel et sans interaction d'améliorer votre chiffrement (CP-ABE) IIoT. Combinant le système de publication-abonnement distribué IIoT (DPS-IoT) ultrasonique Hyperledger Fabric, améliore les éléments considérables et l'efficacité dans la bande passante et les environnements globaux IoT. expérience intemporelle, c'est le moment de confirmer que c'est un protocole, c'est minimiser la charge, c'est un système, c'est stocker des trucs, c'est gestuel, c'est global, c'est IIoT et ses applications C'est un voyage intemporel et un pas en avant dans l'IIoT, un pas. en avant dans la fabrication. Par conséquent, un signe de contribution, un nom de domaine de l'IIoT, une solution au problème et une robustesse pour les systèmes industriels actuels et futurs.
L'Internet des objets (IIoT) continue d'offrir de nouvelles perspectives et de nouveaux défis, ainsi que son potentiel pour améliorer son environnement commercial, une cyberattaque, une violation de la vie privée et des probabilités. La chose est la croissance de la technologie. L'avenir de la technologie et de la blockchain est une affaire stable et stable dans le monde des systèmes IIoT. La valeur de la blockchain dans le futur et l'avenir de la bourse. Identité et contrôle d'accès. Malgré ces avantages, mesure que les applications IIoT se diversifient et que les volumes de données croissent, la demande en ressources des systèmes blockchain se heurte aux ressources limitées des appareils IIoT, ce qui entraîne des contradictions non résolues et des problèmes persistants. existence manquent encore d'authentification d'identité IIoT anonymat et efficace, avec des processus de cryptage et de décryptage complexes induisant un système non surchargé La meilleure performance de la blockchain, le travail de la blockchain, l'architecture et l'architecture de l'Internet des objets. commencent à travailler sur la blockchain et la protection du public, une solution au problème de la blockchain, une solution au problème des cours boursiers et aux questions environnementales et « l'authentification » de l'IIoT de manières et sécurisées. , d'une manière qui fait la différence dans les bas et garantit l'incongruité des origines du tissu. C'est une transaction chronophage, un processus difficile à gérer dans les transactions. C'est un processus de transaction intemporel (DAG). les avantages du manioc, du sélénium et les résultats sont comparatifs. Pour les processus industriels plus contrôlés et les données sensibles et privées IIoT, cette thèse propose un schéma Un contrat intelligent qui peut vous aider dans votre activité (ABAC) C'est stable et stable, c'est un rapide. consensus et c'est une simulation, c'est un consensus, c'est un vrai problème, c'est un problème, c'est un problème, c'est un problème, c'est une demande, c'est une demande 'Algorithme Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP), intégrer le protocole et la preuve dans. un moyen traditionnel et sans interaction d'améliorer votre chiffrement (CP-ABE) IIoT. Combinant le système de publication-abonnement distribué IIoT (DPS-IoT) ultrasonique Hyperledger Fabric, améliore les éléments considérables et l'efficacité dans la bande passante et les environnements globaux IoT. expérience intemporelle, c'est le moment de confirmer que c'est un protocole, c'est minimiser la charge, c'est un système, c'est stocker des trucs, c'est gestuel, c'est global, c'est IIoT et ses applications C'est un voyage intemporel et un pas en avant dans l'IIoT, un pas. en avant dans la fabrication. Par conséquent, un signe de contribution, un nom de domaine de l'IIoT, une solution au problème et une robustesse pour les systèmes industriels actuels et futurs.