SeDiCom: A Secure Distributed Privacy-Preserving Communication Platform

Alexander Marsalek*, Bernd Prünster, Bojan Suzic, Thomas Zefferer

*Corresponding author for this work

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

Abstract

Efficient and secure electronic communication is crucial for successful business-to-business processes. Due to the weaknesses of e-mail communication, a shift towards instant messaging can also be observed in this context. However, reliance on instant-messaging solutions in business processes has its own drawbacks such as the lack of archiving capabilities and unsatisfactory legal compliance. Furthermore, special business scenarios such as bidding processes come with complex security requirements that are not met by current instant-messaging solutions. To also enable efficient and secure electronic communication for these scenarios, we propose a blockchain-based instant-messaging solution under the name SeDiCom. SeDiCom employs the capabilities of the blockchain technology, one-time identities, and the Tor anonymity network to enable confidential instant messaging without leaking any identifying metadata. Our proposed solution provides non-repudiation, censorship resistance, integrated backup facilities, and verifiable notices of receipt, while inherently preventing man-in-the-middle attacks and virtually all other forms of eavesdropping. By this means, SeDiCom enables efficient and secure electronic communication for business scenarios with special security requirements while also catering to today’s usage patterns.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationInformation Systems Security - 14th International Conference, ICISS 2018, Proceedings
PublisherSpringer Verlag Heidelberg
Pages345-363
Number of pages19
ISBN (Print)9783030051709
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018
Event14th International Conference on Information Systems Security: ICISS 2018 - Bangalore, India
Duration: 17 Dec 201819 Dec 2018

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume11281 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference14th International Conference on Information Systems Security
Country/TerritoryIndia
CityBangalore
Period17/12/1819/12/18

Keywords

  • Blockchain
  • Censorship-resistant
  • Decentralized
  • Messenger
  • Non-repudiation
  • Privacy preserving
  • Secure data exchange

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • Computer Science(all)

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