Crypto wallets store and protect the private keys needed to sign transactions for crypto currencies; they are secured by multi-factor authentication schemes. However, the loss of a wallet, or a dysfunctional factor of authentication, can be catastrophic, as the keys are then lost as well as the crypto currencies. Such difficult tradeoffs between the protection of the private keys and factors of authentication that are easy to use are also present in public key infrastructures, banking cards, smartphones and smartcards. In this paper, we present protocols based on novel challenge–response pair mechanisms that protect private keys, while using factors of authentication that can be lost or misplaced without negative consequences. Examples of factors that are analyzed include passwords, tokens, wearable devices, biometry, and blockchain-based non-fungible tokens. In normal operations, the terminal device uses all factors of authentication to retrieve an ephemeral key, decrypt the private key, and finally sign a transaction. With our solution, users can download the software stack into multiple terminal devices, turning all of them into backups. We present a zero-knowledge multi-factor authentication scheme allowing the secure recovery of private keys when one of the factors is lost, such as the token. The challenge–response pair mechanisms also enable a novel key pair generation protocol in which private keys can be kept secret by the user, while a Keystore can securely authenticate the user and transmit the public key to a distributed network. The standardized LWE post-quantum cryptographic CRYSTALS Dilithium protocol was selected in the experimental section.
Open access
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
Stefan Dziembowski, Shahriar Ebrahimi, Parisa Hassanizadeh
Ensuring the authenticity and credibility of daily media on internet is an ongoing problem. Meanwhile, genuinely captured images often require refinements before publication. Zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) offer a solution by verifying edited image without disclosing the original source. However, ZKPs typically come with high costs, particularly in terms of prover complexity and proof size. This paper presents VIMz, a framework for efficiently proving the authenticity of high-resolution images using folding-based zkSNARKs; a type of proving system that minimizes computational overhead by recursively folding multiple evaluations of the same constraints into a compact proof. As a complete proof system, VIMz proves the integrity of both the original and edited images, as well as the correctness of the transformation without revealing intermediate images within a chain of edits--only the final result is disclosed. Moreover, VIMz maintains the anonymity of the original signer and all subsequent editors while proving the authenticity of the final image. We also compare VIMz with the system model in Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) from different perspectives and show that VIMz offers higher level of security guarantee by eliminating the need to trust the editing environment. Experimental results show that VIMz performs efficiently in both prover and verifier sides. It can prove the transformations on 8K (33MP,i.e., 100MB) images with up to 13%~25% faster than the competition, while reaching to a peak memory of only 10 GB. Moreover, VIMz has a verification time of under 1 second and achieves succinct proofs of less than 11 KB for all resolutions, which is more than 90% improvement compared to the competition. VIMz's low memory complexity allows for proving multiple transformations in parallel to achieve a 3.5x additional speedup on average.
Open access
Advanced Steganography and Watermarking Techniques
Digital Media Forensic Detection
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
Deploying smart contracts and invoking their functions on block-chains incur gas costs, which depend on the operations executed by those functions. This makes optimizing the gas cost of smart contract functions a rewarding goal. However, existing approaches to gas cost optimization of smart contracts mainly involve rule-based optimization or automatic optimization for specific types of patterns. In this paper, we discuss a novel approach to automatically retrieving optimized versions of Solidity functions from a repository of smart contracts. The system identifies and suggests gas-efficient alternatives that maintain functional equivalence by comparing the opcode sequences of individual functions. We evaluate this approach on a dataset of 16,529 functions from real-world contracts, demonstrating substantial gas savings, as high as 34% on average when considering the most similar functions.
Growing worries about data security and privacy are driving the development of privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) like secure multiparty computation (MPC) and zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs. These technologies offer strong theoretical guarantees for protecting sensitive data while still allowing its use. Critical sectors like finance and healthcare are increasingly adopting PETs, facilitated by complex PET systems designed for secure and efficient implementation. However, despite the theoretical strengths of PETs, the intricate nature of these systems can create practical vulnerabilities. Severe incidents have already caused significant financial losses and eroded trust. This thesis tackles these reliability concerns by systematically testing modern PET systems. The first work in this thesis uncovers logic bugs in secure multiparty computation (MPC) compilers. These compilers automatically transform high-level MPC programs, written in domain-specific languages (DSLs), into low-level MPC executables. We introduce MT-MPC, a metamorphic testing (MT) framework, to test MPC compilers using three tailored metamorphic relations (MRs). Despite the high engineering quality of MPC compilers, MT-MPC finds 13 bugs in leading compilers, which compromises the dependability of MPC systems. The second work focuses on the correctness and security of zero-knowledge (ZK) compilers, which compile ZK DSL programs into ZK circuits. We propose MTZK, a MT framework that uncovers logic bugs in ZK compilers. These bugs can allow attackers to generate false ZK proofs that ZK verifiers unexpectedly accept, leading to security breaches and financial losses. MTZK uses two carefully designed MRs to deliver effective test cases for ZK compilers. Evaluation of four industrial ZK compilers reveals 21 bugs. We also demonstrate the severe security implications of these bugs through potential exploits. The third work unveils a new class of vulnerabilities in PET-enhanced machine learning (ML) models. We present ConPETro, the first attack on PET-enhanced ML models with maliciously crafted configurations. These configurations cause PET-enhanced models to behave similarly to plaintext models under normal inputs, but exhibit significantly reduced robustness under trigger-embedded inputs. ConPETro achieves an average maximum attack success rate of 65.6% while maintaining merely 4% of accuracy drop on normal inputs. We also show that such attacks are highly stealthy and can hardly be detected or defended by traditional mechanisms.
Open access
Information and Cyber Security
Transportation Systems and Safety
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
The proposed blockchain-based product authentication system successfully addresses the growing challenges caused by fraud and unauthorized products. By integrating Metamask, Ganache, smart contracts and, the system ensures secure, transparent, and tamper-proof product verification across the entire supply chain. The decentralized architecture eliminates the need for third-party verification agencies, thereby reducing vulnerabilities and enhancing user trust. The inclusion of QR-code–based real-time authentication enables consumers, manufacturers, and sellers to easily verify product legitimacy through a web interface. Experimental testing conducted with both genuine and fake product entries demonstrates that the system consistently provides accurate and reliable results. Overall, the system proves to be highly effective with an authentication accuracy of approximately 86%, showing strong potential for large-scale adoption across various industries. With its scalable database support and user-friendly interface, the framework can be further expanded to include advanced features such as supply-chain traceability, multi-factor authentication, and integration with public blockchain networks. This work highlights how blockchain can be a powerful tool in combating product fraud while ensuring consumer safety and protecting brand integrity.
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Food Supply Chain Traceability
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
The rapid evolution of quantum computing poses significant threats to traditional cryptographic schemes, particularly in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) systems that rely on legacy mechanisms like RSA and ECDSA for digital ident... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on Tech Science Press
Open access
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
Advancements in Semiconductor Devices and Circuit Design
Physical unclonable function (PUF) is a critical hardware primitive that provides unique identities for authenticating a large number of devices in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Most existing PUF-based schemes face challenge-response pair (CRP) leakage during machine-learning attack. Some studies that use hardware or time-consuming cryptographic operations to protect the PUF responses are expensive and unsuitable for existing IIoT devices. To address these issues, a lightweight and anonymous PUF-based authentication scheme is proposed for resource-constrained IIoTs. Using elliptic curve cryptography and zero-knowledge proof, a lightweight blinding mechanism is designed in the proposed scheme that prevents explicit CRP leakage and ensures anonymity. In addition, the authenticated keys are random with forward and backward secrecy. Moreover, the security of the proposed scheme is demonstrated using a random oracle model. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed scheme is notably more efficient and practical for resource-constrained devices compared to other related schemes.
Open access
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
Khoa Tan Vo, Minh Ngo, Thu Nguyen, Thu-Thuy Ta · 7 authors
Scalability remains a key challenge for layer 1 blockchains. ZK-Rollups, leveraging zero-knowledge proofs, offer a promising layer 2 solution by improving throughput and reducing costs while preserving security. However, the performance of ZK-Rollup still poses a major barrier to practical implementation. The proving circuits in popular applications like ERC-20 transactions are highly complex, often containing a large number of constraints, which directly impacts the computation time and resources required to generate zero-knowledge proofs. This study presents an empirical study on the impact of constraint optimization in Circom on the performance of ERC-20 ZK-Rollups using Groth16. Three optimization levels (–O0, –O1, –O2) are evaluated across transaction batches ranging from 4 to 128, with further exploration up to 512 for specific optimization levels to assess scalability. Results show a trade-off: –O2 reduces constraints by up to 73.2% but increases compilation time by 213.35% at batch size 128, while –O1 offers a more balanced approach suitable for development stages. Findings confirm that proof generation time is closely tied to constraint count and complexity. Based on these insights, this study introduces ZCLS (ZK-Circuit Lifecycle Strategy), a practical framework for selecting optimization flags aligned with development stages to enhance ZK-Rollup system efficiency.
Open access
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
The growing importance of software supply chain security has revealed the critical need for securely sharing Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs). SBOMs enhance transparency by providing a detailed inventory of software components, but can inadvertently expose sensitive proprietary information and vulnerabilities when shared publicly. Addressing this challenge, this thesis explores the use of cryptographic techniques to achieve privacy-preserving and verifiable SBOM sharing. This thesis addresses this challenge by proposing zkSBOM (Zero-Knowledge Software Bill of Materials), a proof-of-concept system for privacy-preserving and verifiable SBOM sharing. It explores the system requirements and design for achieving secure yet transparent SBOM sharing, the effectiveness of various cryptographic techniques in safeguarding sensitive SBOM information, and the integration with real-world SBOMs. Through system design analysis and an experimental approach, this work provides solid insights into privacy-enhanced SBOM-sharing. The results demonstrate that the use of established cryptographic techniques is suitable to securely share SBOMs in real-world scenarios. We propose a centralised system enabling software vendors to upload their SBOMs and allowing verifiers to query for vulnerabilities. Additionally, we offer a local verifier system that allows verifiers to independently validate the proofs generated by the centralised system. The system leverages cryptographic techniques such as Merkle Trees, Sparse Merkle Trees, Merkle Patricia Tries, and Zero-Knowledge Sets. Using them, zkSBOM enables selective disclosure of SBOM information efficiently. The system ensures transparency through verifiable inclusion and non-inclusion proofs while safeguarding critical information. In a case study, we successfully ingest 16 out of 18 SBOMs and generate inclusion proofs for dependencies affected by a given vulnerability. This research contributes to advancing privacy-preserving SBOM sharing, paving the way for broader adoption in the software industry while strengthening the security of software supply chains.
Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
Counterfeit drugs represent a serious global risk, accounting for about 10% of the medicines worldwide. This per-centage increases significantly in developing countries, reaching up to 30%, and has become a major cause of child mortality in these regions. Blockchain technology provides a good solution to address this critical issue through improving transparency and traceability of pharmaceuticals from manufacturers to end users. However, traditional blockchain applications face major challenges, particularly in terms of high costs and scalability especially when handling large volumes of data and transactions such as those found in the pharmaceutical supply chain. To address these limitations, researchers have introduced Layer 2 blockchain technologies, which operate on top of standard blockchain networks to improve scalability and reduce costs. This paper aims to design an efficient, secure, and scalable framework that can support traceability in pharmaceutical supply chains and contribute to reducing counterfeit drugs. This framework lever-ages Layer 2 blockchain solutions and combines Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) linked to Quick Response (QR) codes to provide unique identification for each drug. Furthermore, it incorporates the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) for off-chain storage to reduce the amount of data stored directly on the blockchain. Additionally, an access control mechanism is incorporated to ensure the protection of sensitive data by limiting access based on predefined roles. This enhances privacy and reduces the risk of data leakage or misuse. In conclusion, this work provides the global scientific community with a secure and scalable framework that can be applied internationally to strengthen pharmaceutical supply chains and reduce the risks of counterfeit drugs.
Open access
Pharmaceutical Quality and Counterfeiting
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
Mazharul Hasan, Mohammad Jabed Morshed Chowdhury, Kamanashis Biswas, Mahmudul Hasan · 5 authors
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have revolutionized the blockchain ecosystem by enabling the decentralized representation and ownership of unique digital assets. However, the NFT landscape is increasingly susceptible to security vulnerabilities and attack vectors, necessitating robust protection mechanisms. This research presents a comprehensive analysis and a structured framework to enhance the security of NFT transactions. The relevant studies were identified using a snowballing method as the paper searching approach, ensuring systematic and comprehensive coverage of the existing literature. Specifically, it examines critical security risks, including ownership duplication, duplicate token generation, unauthorized asset withdrawal, asset replication, and metadata manipulation. A key contribution of this study is the development of a detailed taxonomy of NFT-related threats and attacks, providing researchers and practitioners with a consolidated perspective on the evolving security landscape. Furthermore, we introduce and analyze attack vectors, demonstrating its implications and proposing an effective mitigation strategy.
Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Cloud Data Security Solutions
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
Joel Poncha Lemayian, Ghyslain Gagnon, Kaiwen Zhang, Pascal Giard
ABSTRACT Cryptocurrency blockchain networks safeguard digital assets using cryptographic keys, with wallets playing a critical role in generating, storing, and managing these keys. Wallets, typically categorized as hot and cold, offer varying degrees of security and convenience. However, they are generally software‐based applications running on microcontrollers. Consequently, they are vulnerable to malware and side‐channel attacks, allowing perpetrators to extract private keys by targeting critical algorithms, such as ECC, which processes private keys to generate public keys and authorize transactions. To address these issues, this work presents EthVault, the first hardware architecture for an Ethereum hierarchically deterministic cold wallet, featuring hardware implementations of key algorithms for secure key generation. Also, an ECC architecture resilient to side‐channel and timing attacks is proposed. Moreover, an architecture of the child key derivation function, a fundamental component of cryptocurrency wallets, is proposed. The design minimizes resource usage, meeting market demand for small, portable cryptocurrency wallets. FPGA implementation results validate the feasibility of the proposed approach. The ECC architecture exhibits uniform execution behavior across varying inputs, while the complete design utilizes only 27%, 7%, and 6% of LUTs, registers, and RAM blocks, respectively, on a Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ FPGA.
In recent years, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has demonstrated remarkable capabilities in high-stakes domains such as molecular science. However, challenges related to the verifiability and structural privacy of its outputs remain largely unresolved. This paper focuses on the task of molecular toxicity repair. It proposes a structure-private verification framework—ToxiEval-ZKP—which, for the first time, introduces zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) mechanisms into the evaluation process of this task. The system enables model developers to demonstrate to external verifiers that the generated molecules meet multidimensional toxicity repair criteria, without revealing the molecular structures themselves. To this end, we design a general-purpose circuit compatible with both classification and regression tasks, incorporating evaluation logic, Poseidon-based commitment hashing, and a nullifier-based replay prevention mechanism to build a complete end-to-end ZK verification system. Experimental results demonstrate that ToxiEval-ZKP facilitates adequate validation under complete structural invisibility, offering strong circuit efficiency, security, and adaptability, thereby opening up a novel paradigm for trustworthy evaluation in generative scientific tasks. The code is available at: https://github.com/DeepYoke/ToxiEval-ZKP .
Aleksandra Szczegielniak-Rekiel, Krzysztof Kanciak, Jan M. Kelner
This study explored the diverse applications of zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) in next-generation network technologies, particularly in fifth-generation (5G) and emerging sixth-generation (6G) systems. ZKPs are cryptographic methods that enable one party to prove the validity of a statement without revealing the statement itself, thereby offering significant advantages in privacy-preserving authentication and authorization. Given these properties, ZKPs have garnered increasing research attention in contexts such as the Internet of Things (IoT), vehicular communications, and telecommunication protocols. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to provide a comprehensive, taxonomy-driven analysis of ZKP applications specifically designed for 5G and beyond. We categorize existing solutions according to the type of application, the underlying cryptographic technology, maturity level, and relevance to 6G. Furthermore, this paper examines how ZKPs can help mitigate various cybersecurity threats, such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, and location tracking. We also assess recent advancements in ZKP acceleration techniques and highlight the key implementation challenges. Finally, this study outlines promising directions for future research in this rapidly evolving field.
Open access
2 source records
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
Abstract In the rapidly evolving landscape of IoT-enabled smart devices, significant challenges persist in integration to web3, security, and data reliability. This research presents the design and integration of IoT assets, particularly devices, through the Novel Decentralized Smart City of Things (DSCoT) framework. ESP32 microcontrollers serve as Ethereum clients, generating Externally Owned Accounts (EOA) for device identification and authentication. Despite resource constraints, including limited computational capabilities, essential libraries that manage tasks such as Wi-Fi module control, interaction with Ethereum-based blockchains, TCP connection management, and EEPROM operations for persistent data storage. The code is structured with functions for Wi-Fi setup, TCP API requests, and secure communication challenges. Integration involves compiling and flashing the code onto ESP32 devices, verifying EOA generation, and mapping devices, fog nodes, and users through smart contract interactions. The deployment process culminates in the generation of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) for user authentication, with transaction verification on the Goerli testnet confirming successful DSCoT edge system implementation. This research underscores the importance of secure and decentralized integration of IoT-enabled smart devices to the blockchain, enhancing performance while ensuring security and transparency.
Open access
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
Protecting integrated circuits (ICs) from piracy and theft throughout their lifecycle is a persistent and complex challenge. In order to safeguard against illicit piracy attacks, this work proposes a novel framework utilizing Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) called ICtokens, uniquely linked to their corresponding physical ICs. Each ICtoken contains comprehensive information, including authentication data, supply chain stage and status, ownership details, and other IC metadata, while also making provision for the secure integration of a logic-locking key. Designed to be publicly logged, ICtokens securely obscure metering information without compromising functionality. In addition, the ICtracker, a distributed ledger technology powered by a swift and energy-efficient consortium blockchain, is used to register and manage ICtokens and their respective owners, tracking all associated interactions. This robust ledger guarantees the traceability and auditing of ICtokens while simultaneously developing a product-level NFT at every transaction point within the supply chain. Consequently, a scalable framework is established, creating unique, immutable digital twins for ICs and IC-embedded products in the form of ICtokens and their transactions. This provides a robust and reliable supply chain trail back to the original IP owner, while also offering unprecedented assurance to consumers of IC-embedded products. The rich information contained within ICtokens facilitates more detailed audits than previous proposals for IC supply chain monitoring. A proof-of-concept, implemented as an open-source solution, ensures the ease of adoption of the proposed framework.
Jing Jiang, Xiaofeng Wang, Qianqian Xing, Jin Tang
Currently, personal information leakage and identity theft have become risks that cannot be ignored. As a robust authentication mechanism, multi-factor authentication (MFA) has gained prominence. However, many existing MFA schemes based on certificate-less public key cryptography amalgamate multiple authentication factors into a single factor for local verification, which fails to achieve independent authentication of each factor and is difficult to resist internal privilege attacks. To address these issues, this paper proposes a certificate-less multi-factor privacy authentication scheme based on elliptic curve cryptography. The proposed scheme divides the full private key into multiple authentication factors and employs the Schnorr zero-knowledge proof technique to independently generate challenge values for each factor, facilitating separate authentication of multiple factors. Notably, this approach eliminates the need to reconstruct the full private key during the authentication process, thereby effectively mitigating the risk of private key leakage.
Open access
Digital Rights Management and Security
Advanced Authentication Protocols Security
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
Hardware security is the root of trust in all modern ICT (Information and Communications Technology) systems. However, hardware security means something different for different communities. It has also a very wide scope. It covers efficient, secure implementations of new generations of cryptography such as light-weight crypto, post-quantum crypto as well as advanced schemes such as zero-knowledge proofs, fully homomorphic encryption, and computing on encrypted data in general [1][2]. Yet, implementations also must resist a wide variety of side-channel, fault, and micro-architectural attacks. Post-quantum algorithms might resist the attacks developed for quantum computers. Yet, they also have to be resistant to these attacks on classic platforms, see e.g. [3]. Security protocols rely on more than only cryptographic algorithms. They require analog and digital circuit techniques to design quality true random number generators, physically unclonable functions, secure key storage, and many more [4]. A recent report on "Revitalizing the U.S. Semiconductor Ecosystem" (from Executive Office of the President, President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, September 2022) [5] describes a set of recommendations on semiconductors and system security. In this presentation, we will demonstrate how our research addresses these recommendations and we will illustrate this with recent results and ongoing projects.
Open access
2 source records
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security