List signature schemes

Abstract

A group signature scheme allows group members to issue signatures on behalf of the group, while hiding for each signature which group member actually issued it. Such scheme also involves a group manager, who is able to open any group signature by showing which group member issued it. We introduce the concept of list signatures as a variant of group signatures which sets a limit on the number of signatures each group member may issue. These limits must be enforced without having the group manager open signatures of honest group members—which excludes the trivial solution in which the group manager opens every signature to see whether some group members exceed their limits. Furthermore, we consider the problem of publicly identifying group members who exceed their limits, also without involving the group manager.