Permissioned Blockchain Verification Against APT Spoofing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Blockchain systems are vulnerable to advanced persistent threats (APTs) that can compromise the integrity and authenticity of digital content, particularly in permissioned blockchains lacking robust verification mechanisms, leading to potential long-term viability issues and security risks.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a blockchain system with multi-tier chaining, out-of-band date proof, and third-party digital signatures to ensure the integrity and authenticity of digital content, using a permissioning entity to screen submissions and leverage widespread, publicly verifiable records to prevent APTs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a permissioned blockchain uses off-chain storage to improve compactness and data management, then storage efficiency and data distribution control are improved, but verification complexity increases due to additional steps required to retrieve, hash, and compare digital content
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments verification into multiple independent stages: (1) verifying the blockchain record existence and hash value, (2) retrieving the digital content from off-chain storage, (3) independently computing the hash of retrieved content, and (4) comparing computed hash with blockchain record. This segmentation allows each stage to be optimized independently and makes the overall complex verification process more manageable and auditable.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-storing digital content in off-chain storage locations and pre-computing hash values that are recorded in the blockchain. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for real-time content retrieval and hashing during verification, reducing the computational burden and time required for each verification operation.
2Device complexity
If a blockchain provides only ordinal date proof to simplify the system, then implementation complexity is reduced, but the ability to independently establish no-later-than dates is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary mechanism using hash values as a mediator between the blockchain record and the actual digital content. The hash value serves as a cryptographic intermediary that independently verifies both the existence of content at a specific time (no-later-than date) and the integrity of the content, enabling precise date verification without complex timestamp mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter used for date verification from direct timestamp recording to hash value-based verification. By using hash values that are computationally intensive to forge and independently verifiable, the system achieves more precise and secure no-later-than date establishment without increasing operational complexity.
3Ease of operation
If a distributed ledger stores all ledger information to enable easy availability of spending history, then transparency and accessibility are improved, but security risks increase due to multiple copies being potential leak points
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts sensitive digital content from the distributed ledger storage and places it in secure off-chain storage locations. Only non-sensitive metadata (hash values, timestamps, and linkage information) remains on the blockchain, enabling easy accessibility and transparency of ledger operations while eliminating the security risk of storing sensitive data across multiple distributed copies.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a copy of the verification process that can be independently performed by any participant. Each participant can retrieve the digital content from off-chain storage, compute the hash independently, and verify against the blockchain record without needing access to the actual content stored on the ledger, thereby maintaining transparency while reducing security exposure.
Data Source
AI summary
A permissioned blockchain, using off-chain storage, provides advantages over blockchains that rely on consensus and/or store information within the blockchain. Advantages include enhanced viability, compactness, and the ability to register material with distribution limitations (e.g., military classified). Examples create an immutable public record of data signatures that confirm when data is intact, without distributing the data itself, so that widespread availability of the blockchain (beyond those privileged to see the data) advantageously increases the size of the community that is able to detect spoofing or forgery attempts. A permissioning entity limits submissions to manage blockchain growth, foreclosing problematic material that may risk long-term viability. Examples render blockchain operations resistant to advanced persistent threats (APTs), leverage digital signatures as additional trust elements for high-risk data, link records to track pedigree and enable identification of superseded (obsolete) data, and leverage out-of-band date proof to enable independent verification of integrity and no-later-than data-of-existence.