A Blockchain Framework in Post-Quantum Decentralization
Rahul Saha, Gulshan Kumar, Tannishtha Devgun, William J. Buchanan, Reji Thomas, Mamoun Alazab, Tai-hoon Kim, Joel J. P. C. Rodrigues
Abstract
The decentralization and transparency have provided wide acceptance of blockchain technology in various sectors through numerous applications. The claimed security services by blockchain have been proved using various cryptographic techniques, mainly public key infrastructure and digital signatures. However, the use of generic cryptographic primitives using large prime numbers or elliptic curves with logarithms is going to be an issue with quantum computers as those techniques are vulnerable in post-quantum era. Therefore, the paradigm shift from pre-quantum to the post-quantum era has necessitated new cryptographic developments which are robust against quantum attacks and applicable in blockchain for post-quantum decentralization. Therefore, we have presented a solution for post-quantum decentralization in the blockchain. It uses lattices with polynomials for identity-based encryption (IBE) and aggregate signatures for the consensus to ensure efficiency and suitability in post-quantum blockchain applications. We experiment the proposed approach based on delay, throughput, energy consumption and complexity. The comparative results prove that the presented work is efficient.