A Cross-Institution Information-Sharing Scheme Based on a Consortium Blockchain

Abstract

In today’s data-driven world, efficient and secure cross-institution information-sharing is an urgent challenge. Traditional information-sharing methods based on access controlling often suffer from issues such as privacy breaches and high communication complexity. To address this issue, this paper proposes a cross-institution information-sharing solution based on a consortium blockchain, in which it combines on-chain transaction consensus with off-chain institution storage, thereby facilitating collaboration among nodes from different institutions on the blockchain. To enhance the efficiency and security of transactions on the blockchain, we also introduce a dynamic and adaptive Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (DA-PBFT) consensus protocol, which permits nodes to dynamically join and exit the blockchain network, consequently improving network scalability. Through a reputation mechanism, we swiftly identify and remove faulty and malicious nodes, enhancing the trustworthiness of nodes in the information-sharing network based on consortium blockchain, thereby improving consensus efficiency. We have also employed encryption techniques to enhance the privacy and integrity of data during the process of cross-institution information sharing. A comprehensive analysis of the communication complexity in the information-sharing network confirms the effectiveness and security of our proposed solution. We offer a unique solution to improve the efficiency and security of cross-institution information-sharing while ensuring data integrity and privacy. By addressing the challenges of privacy breaches and high communication complexity in information sharing, we establish a foundation for secure cross-institution data exchange.