Tamper-Evident Log for Secure Blockchain Data Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional databases and blockchain systems face challenges in securing data against internal threats, tampering, and scalability, particularly in handling large data sets and high-latency operations, with existing solutions being inadequate for low-latency access and storage of large binary objects.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a tamper-evident, immutable data repository using Merkle Trees and Docuchain, which stores data directly in Merkle Trees, employs cryptographic hash pointers, and fragments data across multiple directed acyclic graphs for secure and scalable storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional databases are used for data storage, then data can be stored and retrieved, but data security and integrity cannot be trusted against internal threats and tampering
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data into individual records and organizes them in a sequential chain structure where each record is cryptographically linked to the previous one. This segmentation allows each record to be independently verified while maintaining the integrity of the entire data set, preventing internal threats from undetected tampering.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary anti-action by creating a tamper-evident log structure where cryptographic hash values are calculated and stored in advance. This preliminary cryptographic binding prevents attackers from modifying records without detection, as any modification would break the cryptographic chain established beforehand.
2Reliability
If blockchain systems are used for secure data storage, then data integrity is improved, but scalability and access latency worsen for large data sets
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential cryptographic elements (hash values and sequential identifiers) into the blockchain structure, while storing the actual data records in a more accessible format. This extraction allows the system to maintain blockchain security guarantees while improving access speed by avoiding the need to retrieve entire blockchain blocks for simple read operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-calculating and storing cryptographic hash values with each record in the tamper-evident log. This preliminary cryptographic preparation enables fast verification of data integrity without requiring complex blockchain consensus operations during data access, thus improving productivity while maintaining reliability.
3Ease of operation
If cryptographic hash values include sequence position parameters, then data integrity verification is simplified, but hash value security is compromised due to predictability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by including sequence position information only in specific contexts where it aids verification, while keeping the core cryptographic hash values independent of position. This selective inclusion maintains verification simplicity where needed while preserving hash security by avoiding predictable patterns in the cryptographic core.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent separates sequence position information into a different dimension from the cryptographic hash values. By storing position metadata separately from the core hash chain, the system maintains verification simplicity through structured organization while preserving hash security by keeping positional information from influencing the cryptographic calculations.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a process including: obtaining a plurality of records to be protected; forming a tamper-evident log configured to prevent an attacker from undetectably modifying any of the plurality of records stored in the tamper-evident log, wherein the cryptographic hash value of a given entry in the tamper-evident log is sequence agnostic to the sequence of entries in virtue of being based on values that do not specify a position in the sequence of entries; and storing the tamper-evident log in memory.