Ad-hoc Trusted Groups on Blockchain
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing secure communication protocols rely on centralized public key infrastructures, which are inefficient for establishing ad-hoc secure channels and lack protection against infrastructure failures and attacks like man-in-the-middle and DDoS, especially in untrusted blockchain networks.
Innovation Solution
A method for establishing a trusted group communication channel on a blockchain by assigning public/private key pairs to member devices, publishing public keys, and verifying trusted members using a predetermined nonce value, enabling secure communication without relying on centralized authorities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If centralized public key infrastructures are used for secure communication, then security management is established, but efficiency for ad-hoc channels is reduced and reliance on centralized authorities increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the trust verification function from centralized CAs and implements it locally using blockchain-based mutual authentication. Each node independently verifies others' identities through cryptographic proofs stored on the blockchain, eliminating the need to contact centralized authorities for ad-hoc channel establishment.
Solution Approach 2:
Nodes perform self-verification of identities using blockchain-stored cryptographic data. Each participant can independently authenticate others without external intervention, enabling rapid ad-hoc channel establishment while maintaining security through decentralized mutual authentication.
2Reliability
If centralized certificate authorities are used to verify digital certificates, then trusted communication is established, but vulnerability to infrastructure failures and attacks increases
Solution Approach 1:
The blockchain serves as a decentralized intermediary that stores cryptographic verification data. Instead of relying on centralized CAs, the blockchain distributes trust verification across all nodes, making the system resistant to single-point failures and attacks while maintaining trusted communication through cryptographic proofs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the centralized CA function into distributed blockchain nodes. Each node holds and verifies cryptographic data independently, distributing the trust verification function across multiple independent entities rather than relying on a single centralized authority, thereby reducing vulnerability to infrastructure failures and attacks.
3Reliability
If all trusted certificates are stored in a certificate store, then security verification is enabled, but device complexity and storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of storing complete certificate data locally, nodes store only essential cryptographic verification data (public keys and verification signatures) on the blockchain. This minimal copying of necessary verification information enables security verification without requiring complex local certificate stores, reducing device complexity while maintaining verification capabilities.
Data Source
AI summary
An example operation may include one or more of identifying a group of blockchain member devices attempting to establish a trusted group communication channel, assigning each of the blockchain member devices public/private key pairs, publishing the public keys of the blockchain member devices in a list, identifying a request from a first blockchain member device requesting a private key, associated with a second blockchain member device, be applied to a predetermined nonce value, responsive to identifying a response to the request, verifying, via a public key assigned to the first blockchain member device, that the second blockchain member device is a trusted member of the group of blockchain member devices, and responsive to verifying the second blockchain member device is a trusted member of the group of blockchain member devices, permitting communication between the first blockchain member device and the second blockchain member device on the trusted group communication channel.