Research Article Open Access

Anonymous and Distributed Authentication for Peer-to-Peer Networks

Pasan Tennakoon1, Supipi Karunathilaka1, Rishikeshan Lavakumar1 and Janaka Alawatugoda2,3
  • 1 Department of Computer Engineering, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
  • 2 Research and Innovation Centers Division, Faculty of Resilience, Rabdan Academy, United Arab Emirates
  • 3 Institute for Integrated and Intelligent Systems, Griffith University, Australia

Abstract

Well-known authentication mechanisms such as Public-key Infrastructure (PKI) and Identity-based Public-key Certificates (ID-PKC) are not suitable for integration in a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network environment, the reason being either the lack of or the difficulty in maintaining a centralized authority to manage the certificates. Authentication becomes even harder in anonymous environments. In this study, we present three authentication protocols such that the users can authenticate themselves in an anonymous P2P network, without revealing their identities. The first protocol uses existing ring signature schemes to obtain anonymous authentication, the second is an anonymous authentication protocol utilizing secret sharing schemes, and lastly a zero-knowledge-based anonymous authentication protocol. We provide security justifications for the three aforementioned protocols in terms of anonymity, completeness, soundness, resilience to impersonation attacks, and resilience to replay attacks. We also provide examples of conceptual topologies and how the peers would behave and rearrange in case of failure.

Journal of Computer Science
Volume 19 No. 1, 2023, 1-10

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3844/jcssp.2023.1.10

Submitted On: 7 September 2022 Published On: 3 January 2023

How to Cite: Tennakoon, P., Karunathilaka, S., Lavakumar, R. & Alawatugoda, J. (2023). Anonymous and Distributed Authentication for Peer-to-Peer Networks. Journal of Computer Science, 19(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.3844/jcssp.2023.1.10

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Keywords

  • Anonymous Authentication
  • Peer-to-Peer Networks
  • Ring Signatures
  • Secret Sharing
  • Zero-Knowledge
  • Blockchains