English

Abstract

Educational tests and examinations cover massive data sharing to distribute question papers, aptitude tests, answer sheets, and quizzes for new admissions. Question Paper Leaking (QPL) can cause an unreasonable issue during exams. Today, QPL was a severe problem worldwide, from university entrance exams to public exams, and the situation is getting worse in emerging countries. QPL can cause specific rigorous results such as erosion of ethical standards and the education quality being compromised. There is a need for the security of e-learning mechanisms through cryptographic techniques. Blockchain (BC) fulfilled educational valuations and personalized curricula with smart contracts over a public permission BC. It exhibits the potential of this developing technology to enhance various core learning experiences, such as learner privacy, assessments, and curriculum personalization. This study presents an Artificial Bee Colony Optimization with Hybrid Image Encryption with Random Key Driven Share Creation Scheme for Blockchain Assisted Question Paper Sharing (ABCHIE-RKDSC) technique. In the presented ABCHIE-RKDSC model, three main procedures are involved, called share creation, share encryption, and BC-enabled transmission. During the process of share creation, a set of four shares is created for every input image and the random key generation method is performed by a user input equation instead of a conventional random seed function. Next, the generated shares undergo encryption by hybrid Advanced Encryption Standard with the Elliptic Curve Cryptography (AES-ECC) method. Moreover, the key generation process of the AES-ECC method is performed by the use of the ABC algorithm. The proposed ABCHIE-RKDSC technique involves BC technology that enables secure transmission of encrypted QPs. Finally, the share reconstruction and image decryption process take place to retrieve the original QPs. The experimental validation of the ABCHIE-RKDSC algorithm is investigated, and the outputs are evaluated under varied measures. A comprehensive result investigation highlighted the advancement of the ABCHIE-RKDSC method over other methods.