Digital Credential Research Articles

Towards the Development of a Blockchain-based Decentralized Digital Credential System using Hyperledger Fabric for Participatory Governance

The Philippines’ ICT agenda to promote participatory e-Governance, industry and countryside development, and ICT user protection and information security can be addressed by Blockchain. This study used Hyperledger Fabric to develop a Blockchain network for a secured and validated system for issuing, distributing, and sharing digital credentials. For the initial prototype, the network was tested on two use cases: national identification system and academic credentials. Chaincodes were developed for each type of digital credential and deployed into designated Channels in the network. Initial results show that a Blockchain-based system using the Hyperledger Fabric framework is feasible for developing a secure digital credential platform. The current architecture can support the implementation of the initial use cases and can also accommodate the addition of new use cases in the future. The current iteration of our work provides the groundwork for developing a production-level ready platform. Future work for this study includes the development of the end-user web application where users can interact with the network and initiate transactions. The deployment of the Blockchain network may pave the way toward decentralized e-Participatory governance.

A Secure and Privacy-Preserving Student Credential Verification System Using Blockchain Technology

Advancements in digital technologies have made the storage, sharing, and verification of educational credentials extremely important for entities such as students, universities, institutions, and companies. Digital credentials play an important role in students’ lives as a lifelong learning passport. The educational field is experiencing numerous issues such as academic record forgery, record misuse, credential data tampering, time-consuming verification procedures, and issues related to ownership and control. Modern-day technology, Blockchain, is an appropriate alternative to resolve these issues and increase trust among entities. In this research, we intend to propose a Blockchain-based educational digital credential issuance, and verification model that addresses these issues in the education system using Ethereum Blockchain and smart contracts. The method we propose offers a way to demonstrate the correctness of specific credential attributes without revealing other attributes, thereby leading to ownership, minimal disclosure, and control. We offer an interface for storing massively encrypted academic records in a decentralized file system like Interplanetary File System (IPFS). Furthermore, Ethereum provides tamper-resistant chains to maintain the integrity of digital credentials. Finally, in comparison with the time it requires to issue credentials, our model safely accelerates the verification process by about 8%.

Alternative Digital Credentials: UAE’s First Adopters’ Assessment and Evaluation Part (2)

Despite the wealth of research on full credentials assessments, standardized approaches are still scarce. This is even more threatening to the acceptance of higher education alternative digital credentials. To address this threat, validated and transparent assessments and evaluation processes are of paramount importance. This study is a continuum to our previous review on the pedagogical program analysis, design, development, and implementation. This paper reviews, assesses and evaluates the alternative digital credential offering case study. We review the development and administration of seven requirements and assessment tools used to evaluate students’ performance and use Kirkpatrick’s model to evaluate the effectiveness of the alternative credential offered. The predominantly clinical-based assessment tools and assessment decision criteria are reviewed in detail in this paper, allowing educators to leverage the outcome of this work. Results: The reviewed alternative digital credential case study in the human thorax and extremities from medical imaging has achieved Kirkpatrick level three, as evident in results, particularly from clinical assessments and clinical site viva-voce. When introducing a new competency-based assessment, professional standards can be used as a reference point to develop Behavioral Marker System rubrics. The Ebel method in calculating the cut score, which reflects expert judgment, should be considered when developing competency-based rubrics. Standardization of at least the top common technical and NTS is possible when researchers consider international collaboration by publishing comprehensive methodologies, frameworks, and results. This paper is unique as we are unaware of any publication on alternative digital credentials combining medical imaging and technical and non-technical skills within entrustable professional task assessment, verification, and program evaluation.

A Framework for Online Document Verification Using Self-Sovereign Identity Technology.

As the world is gradually moving towards digitization, forgery of vital digital documents has become relatively easy. Therefore, the need for efficient and secure verification and authentication practices of digital documents is also increasing. Self-sovereign identity (SSI) is a set of technologies that build on core concepts in identity management, blockchain technology, and cryptography. SSI enables entities to create fraud-proof verifiable credentials and instantly verify the authenticity of a digital credential. The online document verification solutions must deal with a myriad of issues in regard to privacy and security. Moreover, various challenging and tedious processes have made document verification overly complex and time-consuming which motivated us to conduct this research. This work presents a novel framework for online document verification based on SSI technology. The solution address the complexity and interoperability issues that are present in the current digital document verification systems. We look at a particular use case, i.e., document verification in online loan processing and evaluate how this proposed approach can make an impact on the existing system. Our solution based on SSI standards replaces the intermediary and enables trust between players in the ecosystem. The technology also holds the potential to make the system more efficient, interoperable, and privacy-preserving.

Comments on biometric-based non-transferable credentials and their application in blockchain-based identity management

In IT-ecosystems, access to unauthorized parties is prevented with credential-based access control techniques (locks, RFID cards, biometrics, etc.). Some of these methods are ineffective against malicious users who lend their credentials to other users. To obtain non-transferability, Adams proposed a combination of biometrics encapsulated in Pedersen commitment with Brands digital credential. However, Adams’ work does not consider the Zero Knowledge Proof-of Knowledge (ZKPoK) system for Double Discrete Logarithm Representation of the credential. Besides, biometrics is used directly, without employing any biometric cryptosystem to guarantee biometric privacy, thus Adams’ work cannot be GDPR-compliant. In this paper, we construct the missing ZKPoK protocol for Adam’s work and show its inefficiency. To overcome this limitation, we present a new biometric-based non-transferable credential scheme that maintains the efficiency of the underlying Brands credential. Secondly, we show the insecurity of the first biometric-based anonymous credential scheme designed by Blanton et al.. In this context, we present a brute-force attack against Blanton’s biometric key generation algorithm implemented for fuzzy vault. Next, we integrate an Oblivious PRF (OPRF) protocol to solve the open problem in Blanton’s work and improve its efficiency by replacing the underlying signature scheme with PS-signatures. Finally, we evaluate application scenarios for non-transferable digital/anonymous credentials in the context of Blockchain-based Identity Management (BBIM). We show that our modified constructions preserve biometric privacy and efficiency, and can easily be integrated into current BBIM systems built upon efficient Brands and PS-credentials.