Brief Announcement: Make Master Private-Keys Secure by Keeping It Public

Shlomi Dolev, Komal Kumari, Sharad Mehrotra, Baruch Schieber, Shantanu Sharma

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

The private key associated with a blockchain is the sole means of linking a cryptocurrency asset to its owner, and any loss or compromise of this key could result in significant consequences. Typically, crypto-wallets generate a private key from a string of words, which users are advised to store in a private record, such as a piece of paper. This method poses several security risks, as the private record holding the secret words can leak the private key. Additionally, private records are vulnerable to being lost or destroyed, leading to the potential loss of assets. Moreover, clients have limited control over the generation of their private key, as the wallet generates it. Our approach empowers clients to securely generate and manage their own private keys, minimizing the risk of key loss. We have developed an open-source technique that allows clients to use memorized secrets to store and retrieve their private keys. Our method employs Bloom filters with hash functions, such as SHA-256, to store and retrieve the private key from the Bloom filter securely.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationStabilization, Safety, and Security of Distributed Systems - 26th International Symposium, SSS 2024, Proceedings
EditorsToshimitsu Masuzawa, Yoshiaki Katayama, Yonghwan Kim, Hirotsugu Kakugawa, Junya Nakamura
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages338-343
Number of pages6
ISBN (Print)9783031744976
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2025
Event26th International Symposium on Stabilization, Safety, and Security of Distributed Systems, SSS 2024 - Nagoya, Japan
Duration: 20 Oct 202422 Oct 2024

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume14931 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference26th International Symposium on Stabilization, Safety, and Security of Distributed Systems, SSS 2024
Country/TerritoryJapan
CityNagoya
Period20/10/2422/10/24

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • General Computer Science

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