Enhanced bitcoin with two-factor authentication. (12th November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rezaeibagha, Fatemeh; Mu, Yi; Huang, Ke; Zhang, Leyou
• Is Part Of: International journal of information and computer security. Volume 16:Number 3/4(2021)
• Page Start: 292
• Page End: 306
• Publication Date: 2021-11-12
• Subjects: authentication -- encryption -- bitcoin -- blockchain; Computer security -- Periodicals; Information systems management -- Security measures -- Periodicals; Computer networks -- Security measures -- Periodicals; Information technology -- Security measures -- Periodicals; 005.805
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1744-1765

Abstract

Bitcoin transactions rely on digital signatures to prove the ownership of bitcoin. The private signing key of the bitcoin owner is the key component to enable a bitcoin transaction. If the signing key of a bitcoin is stolen, the thief who possesses the key can make a transaction of the bitcoin. In this paper, based on the distance-based encryption (DBE), we propose an enhanced version of bitcoin in order to protect the signing key. Our approach is based on our two-factor authentication, where the signing key cannot be retrieved without being identified via the password and biometric authentication scheme, and the user is only required to enter his password and fingerprint (or other biometric information such as a factual image) to retrieve the key. By doing this, we can effectively improve the bitcoin security and provide stronger authentication. An attractive feature of our scheme is that one of encryption schemes is asymmetric, in the sense that the decryption key (biometric information) is not stored in the device. We also provide the security model and proof to justify the security of our scheme.