Blockchain can be used wherever trust issues arise
in fact, blockchain uses the basic principles of modern cryptography to ensure its security mechanism. The knowledge system involved in the field of cryptography and security is very complicated. Here, I only introce the basic knowledge of cryptography related to blockchain, including hash algorithm, encryption algorithm, information digest and digital signature, zero knowledge proof, quantum cryptography, etc. Through this lesson, you can learn how to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, authentication and non repudiation of the blockchain using cryptography technology
basic course lesson 7 basic knowledge of blockchain security
1. Hash algorithm (hash algorithm)
hash function (hash), also known as hash function. Hash function: hash (original information) = summary information. Hash function can map any length of binary plaintext string to a shorter (generally fixed length) binary string (hash value)
a good hash algorithm has the following four characteristics:
1. One to one correspondence: the same plaintext input and hash algorithm can always get the same summary information output
2. Input sensitivity: even if the plaintext input changes slightly, the newly generated summary information will change greatly, which is greatly different from the original output
3. Easy to verify: plaintext input and hash algorithm are public, anyone can calculate by themselves, and whether the output hash value is correct
4. Irreversibility: if there is only the output hash value, the hash algorithm can never dece the plaintext
5. Conflict avoidance: it is difficult to find two plaintexts with different contents, but their hash values are the same (collision)
for example:
hash (Zhang San lent Li Si 100000 yuan for 6 months) = 123456789012
such a record as 123456789012 is recorded in the account book
it can be seen that hash function has four functions:
simplify information
it is easy to understand, and the information after hashing becomes shorter
identification information
you can use 123456789012 to identify the original information, and summary information is also called the ID of the original information
hidden information
the account book is a record like 123456789012, and the original information is hidden
verification information
if Li Si cheated that Zhang San only lent Li Si 50000 when repaying, both parties can verify the original information with the hash value of 123456789012 recorded before
hash (Zhang San lent Li Si 50000 for 6 months) = 987654321098
987654321098 is completely different from 123456789012, which proves that Li Si lied, Then the information can't be tampered
common hash algorithms include MD4, MD5 and Sha series algorithms, and Sha series algorithms are basically used in mainstream fields. Sha (secure hash algorithm) is not an algorithm, but a group of hash algorithms. At first, it was SHA-1 series, and now the mainstream applications are sha-224, SHA-256, sha-384 and sha-512 algorithms (commonly known as SHA-2). Recently, Sha-3 related algorithms have been proposed, such as keccak-256 used by Ethereum
MD5 is a very classic hash algorithm, but unfortunately, both it and SHA-1 algorithm have been cracked. It is considered by the instry that its security is not enough to be used in business scenarios. Generally, sha2-256 or more secure algorithm is recommended
hash algorithm is widely used in blockchain. For example, in blocks, the latter block will contain the hash value of the previous block, and the content of the later block + the hash value of the previous block will jointly calculate the hash value of the later block, which ensures the continuity and non tamperability of the chain< Encryption and decryption algorithm is the core technology of cryptography, which can be divided into two basic types: symmetric encryption algorithm and asymmetric encryption algorithm. According to whether the key used in the encryption and decryption process is the same or not, the two modes are suitable for different needs, just forming a complementary relationship, and sometimes can be combined to form a hybrid encryption mechanism
symmetric cryptography (also known as common key cryptography) has the advantages of high computational efficiency and high encryption strength; Its disadvantage is that it needs to share the key in advance, which is easy to leak and lose the key. The common algorithms are des, 3DES, AES and so on
asymmetric cryptography (also known as public key cryptography) is different from the encryption and decryption key, and its advantage is that it does not need to share the key in advance; Its disadvantage is that it has low computational efficiency and can only encrypt short content. Common algorithms include RSA, SM2, ElGamal and elliptic curve series. Symmetric encryption algorithm is suitable for the encryption and decryption process of a large number of data; It can't be used in signature scenario: and it often needs to distribute the key in advance. Asymmetric encryption algorithm is generally suitable for signature scenario or key agreement, but it is not suitable for large amount of data encryption and decryption< Third, information digest and digital signature
as the name suggests, information digest is to hash the information content to obtain a unique digest value to replace the original and complete information content. Information digest is the most important use of hash algorithm. Using the anti-collision feature of hash function, information digest can solve the problem that the content has not been tampered
digital signature is similar to signing on paper contract to confirm contract content and prove identity. Digital signature is based on asymmetric encryption, which can be used to prove the integrity of a digital content and confirm the source (or non repudiation)
we have two requirements for digital signature to make it consistent with our expectation for handwritten signature. First, only you can make your own signature, but anyone who sees it can verify its validity; Second, we want the signature to be only related to a specific file and not support other files. These can be achieved by our asymmetric encryption algorithm above
in practice, we usually sign the hash value of information instead of the information itself, which is determined by the efficiency of asymmetric encryption algorithm. Corresponding to the blockchain, it is to sign the hash pointer. In this way, the front is the whole structure, not just the hash pointer itself< Zero knowledge proof means that the verifier can make the verifier believe that a certain conclusion is correct without providing any additional information to the verifier
zero knowledge proof generally meets three conditions:
1. Completeness: authentic proof can make the verifier successfully verify
2. Soundness: false proof can not make the verifier pass the verification
3. Zero knowledge: if you get proof, you can't get any information other than the proof information from the proof process< With more and more attention paid to the research of quantum computing and quantum communication, quantum cryptography will have a huge impact on the information security of cryptography in the future
the core principle of quantum computing is that qubits can be in multiple coherent superposition states at the same time. Theoretically, a large amount of information can be expressed by a small number of qubits and processed at the same time, which greatly improves the computing speed
in this way, a large number of current encryption algorithms are theoretically unreliable and can be cracked, so the encryption algorithm has to be upgraded, otherwise it will be broken by quantum computing
as we all know, quantum computing is still in the theoretical stage, which is far from large-scale commercial use. However, the new generation of encryption algorithms should consider the possibility of this situation.
Blockchain technology is widely used. Under the integration of new technologies, the main application scenarios of blockchain include finance and insurance, intelligent manufacturing, intelligent environmental protection, energy and power, health care, ecation, culture and innovation, smart city, social welfare, agriculture and many other fields
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blockchain + finance
blockchain can help financial institutions solve problems such as trust and data sharing
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blockchain + right art
Tianhe Guoyun's blockchain right system
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3. Blockchain + government
in statistics, voting, budget management and other aspects, blockchain can rece costs, improve efficiency, and increase transparency, so as to prevent the risk of failure of centralized system
4. Blockchain + insurance
fraud identification and risk prevention: by placing insurance claims under an unchangeable general ledger, blockchain helps to eliminate the common sources of fraud in the insurance instry
property insurance and accidental injury insurance: policies and shared ledgers recorded in the form of smart contracts can improve the efficiency of property insurance and accidental injury insurance
Health Insurance: blockchain technology enables medical records to be encrypted and shared among health service providers, thus improving the interoperability of the health insurance ecosystem
Reinsurance: the information security of reinsurance contracts on the blockchain platform can be ensured through the form of smart contracts, which can rece the amount of information and simplify the payment process between insurers and reinsurers
the application fields of blockchain include digital currency, token, finance, anti-counterfeiting traceability, privacy protection, supply chain, entertainment, etc. with the popularity of blockchain and bitcoin, many related top domain names have been registered, which has a great impact on the domain name instry
taking the tourism instry as an example, blockchain applications mainly focus on tourism travel, tourism community reviews, digital identity management, credit consumption management, tracking pilot's professional certificate and qualification, loyalty plan of hotels and airlines, reservation management and consumption points management. In addition, blockchain also has applications in finance, games, entertainment and other fields.
with the rise of blockchain technology, the encryption of blockchain technology can provide solutions for the protection of personal information. Blockchain technology can store personal information in a distributed way to avoid the security risks faced by a single server. Jinwowo network technology has concted in-depth research and Application on blockchain technology