Internet Web Trust System Based on Smart Contract

Abstract

The current Internet web trust system is based on the traditional PKI system, to achieve the purpose of secure communication through the trusted third party. However, with the increase of network nodes, various problems appear in the centralization system of public key infrastructure (PKI). In recent years, in addition to cryptographic problems, attacks against PKI have focused on the single point of failure of certificate authority (CA). Although there are many reasons for a single point of failure, the purpose of the attack is to invalidate the CA. Thus a distributed authentication system is explored to provide a feasible solution to develop distributed PKI with the rise of the blockchain. Due to the automation and economic penalties of smart contracts, a PKI system is proposed based on smart contracts. The certificate chain was constructed in the blockchain, and a mechanism was adopted for auditing access to CA nodes in the blockchain. Experimental results show that security requirements of CA are met in this system.