Introducing Privacy-Enhancing Technologies to Consortium Blockchains

Master thesis (2023)

Authors

B.T.J. van Schaick Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Contributors

R.G. Kromes Cyber Security - EEMCS (mentor)
K. Liang Cyber Security - EEMCS (graduation committee member)
G. Smaragdakis Cyber Security - EEMCS (graduation committee member)
S. Roos Data-Intensive Systems - EEMCS (graduation committee member)
Faculty
Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Copyright: © 2023 Bart van Schaick
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Published Date

20-02-2023

Language

English

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Faculty

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Abstract

Blockchain technology has revolutionized the way data is stored, managed, and shared across various industries. Its decentralized nature and immutability make it highly attractive in use cases that require transparency, integrity, and accountability. However, some applications demand confidentiality, necessitating the development of permissioned/consortium blockchains that try to strike a balance between transparency and privacy. Hyperledger Fabric is a permissioned blockchain that has gained popularity due to its modular architecture, performance, and scalability. Despite its strengths, the current set of privacy-enhancing features leaves room for improvement.

Therefore, this master thesis aims to explore the potential of introducing various privacy-enhancing technologies to Hyperledger Fabric, including Dynamic Searchable Symmetric Encryption (DSSE), Multi Authority Attribute-based Encryption (MA-ABE), and Trusted Execution Environments (TEE). Based on the promising results of our study, we decided to implement DSSE and MA-ABE. The combination of blockchain technology with TEE was ruled out after the thorough analysis of two research papers on the subject.

Our main result is the first implementation of a provable secure DSSE scheme in the context of consortium blockchains. Moreover, we developed a blockchain-enabled MA-ABE system that utilizes a novel and generic approach to foreign function invocation. Finally, the thesis discusses unexplored challenges in the field of logistics related to electronic consignment notes used in road transport. To address these issues, we designed a blockchain architecture that incorporates our developed privacy-enhanced technologies.