Cryptographic Key Exchange Using Blockchain Technology

Abstract

Abstract:Cryptographic key management systems (KMS) are an important component of secure communications systems and organisations must protect sensitive information by maintaining confidentiality, integrity, and reliability. In this paper, we create an efficient cryptographic key management application that uses blockchain technology (BC) and fingerprint biometrics to meet this demand. A private network of ten authorised users is created according to the Fingerprint Verification Competition 2000 (FVC2000)database. They create and exchange encrypted keys according to security standards that include confidentiality, authenticity, trust, and limited access to the system. The system requires each authorized user to log in using their email and password, in addition to their fingerprint. The fingerprint is converted to binary if it is grayscale. If the fingerprint already exists in binary format, the system will extract the fingerprint features in matrix form by processing any missing or incorrect information with an emphasis on accurate representation. A 256-bit encrypted key is produced from this matrix after feature retrieval, by converting the feature matrix into a long string which is then fed through the secure hash algorithm 256 (SHA256) function. The app uses blockchain technology to encrypt the key, apply additional encryption, and associate it with a unique hash. The encrypted key is contained within a block. Users then securely exchange this encrypted block. The application strictly accepts authorised users and rejects unauthorised users. The encryption KMS application provides a high level of security and reliability for organizations looking to protect their encryption keys by combining the use of fingerprint biometrics and BC technology.