Blockchain-enabled data governance for privacy-preserved sharing of confidential data

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Cryptography
• Information Security

Background:

• Traditional cloud storage offers convenience but suffers from security vulnerabilities.
• Ciphertext-Policy Attribute-Based Encryption (CP-ABE) provides fine-grained access control but faces challenges with illegal authorization and privacy leakage.
• Existing research often overlooks security against adaptive adversaries and privacy concerns in ABE-based systems, especially when integrated with blockchain.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose an enhanced blockchain-based data governance system to prevent illegal authorization and privacy leakage in cloud storage.
• To develop a novel multi-authority CP-ABE system that hides access policies and ensures identity privacy.
• To enhance data sharing security against corrupt authorities and credential misuse.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a multi-authority CP-ABE scheme integrated with blockchain technology.
• Utilization of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) for data encryption.
• Storage of encrypted data in a decentralized system, the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS).
• Integration of smart contracts for transparency and traceability.

Main Results:

• The proposed system effectively prevents illegal authorization and privacy leakage.
• The system supports multi-authority use cases with hidden access policies and preserved identity privacy.
• Data is encrypted using AES and stored on IPFS for resilience and decentralized access.
• Security proofs demonstrate the system's robustness against corrupt authorities and credential misuse.

Conclusions:

• The enhanced blockchain-based system offers a balanced solution for fine-grained access control and privacy preservation in cloud data sharing.
• The integration of blockchain, multi-authority CP-ABE, and decentralized storage enhances security and practicality.
• The system addresses critical security and privacy gaps in existing ABE-based cloud storage solutions.