Append-Only Log Verification Using Chained Hash Entries
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ledger verification systems are vulnerable to tampering, as attackers can bypass one-time checks by altering the ledger after verification, necessitating periodic spot checks that require additional storage and specialized encoding, and may not efficiently verify the integrity of append-only logs without maintaining hash values.
Innovation Solution
A storage provider maintains an append-only log with entries containing log data, signatures, and hash values derived from preceding entries, enabling on-demand verification using public keys, private keys, or zero-knowledge proofs, and proof-of-storage protocols to ensure tamper-resistance without requiring verifiers to maintain hash value sets.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If periodic spot checks are performed to verify ledger integrity, then tamper detection capability is improved, but storage requirements and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-calculating and storing hash values of ledger entries at the time of entry creation. This advance preparation enables efficient verification without requiring complex periodic spot checks, as the hash values are already available for immediate comparison during verification operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts only the essential verification information (hash values) from the complete ledger entries and stores them separately. This extraction allows the system to maintain tamper detection capability while reducing storage requirements, as only the critical hash data needs to be preserved rather than the entire ledger structure.
2Measurement precision
If hash values are maintained for all log entries, then verification accuracy is improved, but storage space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and stores only the hash values of log entries rather than maintaining complete copies of all entries. This selective extraction preserves verification accuracy by retaining the essential cryptographic identifiers while significantly reducing storage space requirements compared to storing full entry data.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of storing the entire log entries, the system creates and stores copies of only the hash values. These hash copies serve as sufficient verification artifacts that enable accurate tamper detection without requiring the full original data to be stored, thus optimizing the balance between verification accuracy and storage efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
Verification of a tamper-resistant log is disclosed herein. A storage provider maintains an append-only log storing a first log entry written by a first writer, the first log entry comprising first log data, a first signature and a first hash value. A verifier requests, from the storage provider, verification of the first log entry. The verifier obtains, from the storage provider, the first log entry and at least a portion of a second log entry preceding the first log entry to enable verification of the first log entry, wherein the second log entry comprises second log data, a second signature and a second hash value. The first log entry is verified based, at least in part, on the portion of the second log entry.