Blockchain-based Identity Management Systems Research Articles

Adapting Blockchain for Secure and Efficient Identity Management in Oman's e-Government

This research paper examines the potential application of blockchain technology in e-government identity management, with a specific focus on the case of Oman. Traditional centralized identity systems in e-government face various challenges, such as security vulnerabilities and limited compatibility among government agencies. By utilizing the decentralized and unalterable characteristics of blockchain, Oman can enhance the security, privacy, efficiency, and transparency of identity management in e-government. The advantages include improved security and privacy, streamlined processes, data sharing and interoperability, transparency, cost reduction, and empowerment of citizens. The paper presents examples of blockchain-based identity management systems implemented in different sectors and countries, along with research studies in the field. Additionally, a survey was conducted to assess awareness and willingness to adopt blockchain-based identity management in Oman's e-government. The findings emphasize the importance of considering technical requirements, legal frameworks, interoperability standards, and user acceptance for successful implementation. Overall, blockchain technology offers promising solutions to strengthen identity management in e-government and establish a trustworthy digital environment for citizens and businesses.

A Dynamic Blockchain-Based Mutual Authenticating Identity Management System for Next-Generation Network

In the blockchain-based identity management system (B-IMS) of the next-generation network, mutual authentication is encouraged to be performed between service providers (SP) and user equipment (UE), because SP tend to provide services directly to UE independently from network operator (NO), comparing with traditional B-IMS. As static asymmetric cryptographic keys and append-only ledger data are adopted by most of the B-IMS, the reliability of the system cannot meet the requirements of the next-generation network as static data are less difficult to crack and obtain. Moreover, the storage pressure on blockchain nodes might be stressful due to the exponential increase in the ledger data. Motivated by the circumstances presented above, we propose a dynamic B-IMS which features mutual authentication between SP and UE, where dynamic cryptographic key generation and dynamic chameleon hash key are introduced to strengthen the reliability of the system. We designed a rigorous simulation model and simulated the risk scores of the system and the size of the ledger over runtime respectively. The simulation results confirm the achievability and feasibility of the proposed system.

Decentralized Identity Management for E-Health Applications: State-of-the-Art and Guidance for Future Work

Background: The increasing usage of various online services requires an efficient digital identity management approach. Unfortunately, the original Internet protocols were not designed with built-in identity management, which creates challenges related to privacy, security, and usability. Thereis an increasing concern regarding the management of these sensitive data in the society, who have access to it and where it is stored. Blockchain technology can, potentially offer a secure solution to address this problem, in a decentralized manner without any centralized authority. This is of importance for e-health services where the patient and the healthcare provider often are required toprove their identity. Blockchain technology can be utilized for creating digital identities and make themanagement of those identities easier, giving a higher degree of control to the user than what current solutions offer. It can be used for creating a digital identity on the blockchain, making it easier to manage for individuals and entities, giving them greater control over who has their personal in-formation and how they handle it, and it could be utilized to create a higher degree of trust andsecurity to e-health applications. Objective The aim of this research work is to review the state-of-the- art regarding blockchain-based decentralized identity management for healthcare applications. Based on this summary, we provide a viewpoint on how blockchain-based decentralized identity frameworks couldbe utilized for virtualized healthcare applications. Method This research has applied a scoping, semi-systematic review approach to summarize thestate-of-the-art. Included identity management systems were evaluated based on seven criteria:Autonomy, Authority, Availability, Approval, Confidentiality, Tenacity and Interoperability ResultsSeven blockchain-based identity management systems were included and evaluated in this work:These include solutions built with Ethereum, Hyperledger Indy, Hyperledger Fabric, Hedera andSovrin  blockchains. Conclusion Digital identity management is crucial for virtual healthcare. Decentralized identity management for healthcare purposes is currently being explored, both in academia and the private sector. More work is needed with the aim to improve the efficiency of current DIM solutions and to fully understand what technical frameworks are best suited for e-health applications.

Developing an IoT Identity Management System Using Blockchain

Identity (ID) management systems have evolved based on traditional data modelling and authentication protocols that are facing security, privacy, and trust challenges with the growth of Internet of Things (IoT). Research surveys reveal that blockchain technology offers special features of self-sovereign identity and cryptography that can be leveraged to address the issues of security breach and privacy leaks prevalent in existing ID management systems. Although research studies are recently exploring the suitability of blockchain based support to existing infrastructure, there is a lack of focus on IoT ecosystem in the secured ID management with data provenance of digital assets in businesses. In this paper, we propose a blockchain based ID management system for computing assets in an IoT ecosystem comprising of devices, software, users, and data operations. We design and develop a proof-of-concept prototype using a federated and distributed blockchain platform with smart contracts to support highly trusted data storage and secure authentication of IoT resources and operations within a business case scenario.

Decentralized Identity Management for E-Health Applications: State-of-the-Art and Guidance for Future Work.

The increasing use of various online services requires an efficient digital identity management (DIM) approach. Unfortunately, the original Internet protocols were not designed with built-in identity management, which creates challenges related to privacy, security, and usability. There is an increasing societal concern regarding the management of these sensitive data, access to it, and where it is stored. Blockchain technology can potentially offer a secure solution to address these issues in a decentralized manner without centralized authority. This is important for e-health services where the patient and the healthcare provider often are required to prove their identity. Blockchain technology can be utilized for creating digital identities and making its management easier, thus giving a higher degree of control to the user than what current solutions offer. It can be used to create a digital identity on the blockchain, making it easier for individuals and entities to manage, giving them greater control over who has their personal information and how they handle it. In addition, it might be utilized to create a higher degree of trust and security for e-health applications. The aim of this research work was to review the state-of-the-art regarding blockchain-based decentralized identity management for healthcare applications. Based on this summary, we provide a viewpoint on how blockchain-based decentralized identity frameworks might be utilized for virtualized healthcare applications. This research study applied a scoping, semi-systematic review approach to summarize the state-of-the-art. Included identity management systems were evaluated based on seven criteria: autonomy, authority, availability, approval, confidentiality, tenacity, and Interoperability. Seven blockchain-based identity management systems were included and evaluated in this work: these include solutions built with Ethereum, Hyperledger Indy, Hyperledger Fabric, Hedera, and Sovrin blockchains. DIM is crucial for virtual health care. Decentralized identity management for healthcare purposes is currently being explored in both academia and the private sector. More work is needed with the aim of improving the efficiency of current DIM solutions and to fully understand what technical frameworks are best suited for e-health applications.

Understanding of blockchain-based identity management system adoption in the public sector

PurposeThis study aims to understand the benefits and challenges associated with the adoption of a blockchain-based identity management system in public services by conducting an academic literature review, and to explore the design of such a system that can be applied to the Korean government.Design/methodology/approachThis study explores the adoption of a blockchain-based identity management system using a literature review and an actual design case intended for use by the government sector.FindingsBlockchain-based identity management systems can significantly improve transparency, accountability, and reliability in the user control of one's own data while reducing the time and cost needed to deliver public services, as well as increasing administrative efficiency. However, it is not always easy to implement such systems, and introducing new technologies in the government field requires a complicated, time-consuming process. There is currently an appetite for research extending beyond the typical technology-driven approach to elucidate the government adoption of new technologies and explore its implications.Practical implicationsThe idea behind this system is that by storing and managing personal information on the blockchain and providing mobile apps to customers, users can log in or retrieve previously authenticated personal information without having to go through an authentication process. Since users do not need to go through the verification process every time, it is expected that they will be able to access only the necessary personal information more quickly and conveniently without having to deal with unnecessary details. In addition, the blockchain-based operation of a public service effectively increases the transparency and reliability of that service and reduces the social costs caused by personal information leakage.Originality/valueThis study introduces the design of a blockchain-based identity management system that can be used in public services, specifically in the Korean government sector for the first time. Along with a literature review, the implications that this study gleans from these real-world use cases can contribute to this field of research.

Efficient biometric-based identity management on the Blockchain for smart industrial applications

In this work, we propose a new Blockchain-based Identity Management system for smart industry. First, we describe an efficient biometric-based anonymous credential scheme, which supports selective disclosure, suspension/thaw and revocation of credentials/entities. Our system provides non-transferability through a freshly computed hidden biometric attribute, which is generated using a secure fuzzy extractor during each authentication. This mechanism combined with offchain storage guarantees GDPR compliance, which is required for protecting user’s data. We define blinded (Brands) DLRep scheme to provide multi-show unlinkability, which is a lacking feature in Brands’ credential based systems. For larger organizations, we re-design the system by replacing the Merkle Tree with an accumulator to improve scalability. The new system enables auditing by adapting the standard Industrial IoT (IIoT) Identity Management Lifecycle to Blockchain. Finally, we show that the new proposal outperforms BASS, i.e. the most recent blockchain-based anonymous credential scheme designed for smart industry. The computational cost at the user-side (can be a weak IoT device) of our scheme is 8-times less than that of BASS. Thus, our system is more suitable for IIoT.

Sovereignty, privacy, and ethics in blockchain-based identity management systems

Self-sovereign identity (SSI) solutions implemented on the basis of blockchain technology are seen as alternatives to existing digital identification systems, or even as a foundation of standards for the new global infrastructures for identity management systems. It is argued that ‘self-sovereignty' in this context can be understood as the concept of individual control over identity relevant private data, capacity to choose where such data is stored, and the ability to provide it to those who need to validate it. It is also argued that while it might be appealing to operationalise the concept of ‘self-sovereignty’ in a narrow technical sense, depreciation of moral semantics obscures key challenges and long-term repercussions. Closer attention to the normative substance of the ‘sovereignty’ concept helps to highlight a range of ethical issues pertaining to the changing nature of human identity in the context of ubiquitous private data collection.

A New Transitively Closed Undirected Graph Authentication Scheme for Blockchain-Based Identity Management Systems

Blockchain can potentially be deployed in a wide range of applications due to its capability to ensure decentralization, transparency, and immutability. In this paper, we design a cryptographic membership authentication scheme (i.e., authenticating graph data) to support blockchain-based identity management systems (BIMS). Such a system is designed to bind a digital identity object to its real-world entity. Specifically, we introduce a new transitively closed undirected graph authentication (TCUGA) scheme, which only needs to use node signatures (e.g., certificates for identifying nodes). The trapdoor hash function used in our scheme allows the signer to efficiently update the certificates without the need to re-sign the nodes. In other words, our scheme is efficient even though the graph dynamically adds or deletes vertices and edges. Moreover, our proposal can efficiently provide a proof when the edge between two vertices does not exist, thus solving the existing intractability issue in transitive signature (the main tool for authenticating graph data). Finally, we prove the security of our proposed TCUGA in the standard model and evaluate its performance to show its feasibility for BIMS.