10216231
On the Security of Two Threshold Signature Schemes with Traceable Signers
A (t,n) threshold signature scheme allows t or more group members to generate signatures on behalf of a group with n members, while any t-1 or less members cannot do the same thing. In 2001, based on a variant of ElGamal digital signature scheme, Li et al. proposed two (t,n) threshold signature schemes with traceable signers. One of their schemes needs the assistance of a mutually trusted center, while the other does not. In this paper, we present a security analysis on their schemes. We first point out that in fact signers in their schemes are untraceable, since anybody can convert a valid threshold signature into a new one such that another subset of group members will be wrongly considered as the signers of the new threshold signature for the same message. Furthermore, we demonstrate an attack to show that their second threshold signature scheme is insecure. In our attack, (n-t+1) colluding members can control the group secret key. Therefore, they can generate valid threshold signature for any message without the help of other members. Furthermore, honest members cannot detect this security flaw in the system, since any t members can generate threshold signatures according to the prescribed protocols.
1756971
Comments on "A Practical (t, n) Threshold Proxy Signature Scheme Based on the RSA Cryptosystem"
In a (t, n) threshold proxy signature scheme, the original signer can delegate his/her signing capability to n proxy signers such that any t or more proxy signers can sign messages on behalf of the former, but t-1 or less of them cannot do the same thing. Such schemes have been suggested for use in a number of applications, particularly, in distributed computing where delegation of rights is quite common. Based on the RSA cryptosystem, [M. -S. Hwang et al. (2003) recently proposed an efficient (t, n) threshold proxy signature scheme. We identify several security weaknesses in their scheme and show that their scheme is insecure.
1647421
Generic, Optimistic, and Efficient Schemes for Fair Certified Email Delivery
As a value-added service for standard email systems, a certified email scheme allows a sender to deliver a message to a receiver in a fair way in the sense that either the sender obtains a receipt from the receiver and the receiver accesses the content of the email simultaneously, or neither party gets the expected item. In this paper, we first point out some weaknesses in several existing schemes. Then, we present two generic optimistic certified email schemes with transparent TTP. Our schemes are not only fair, but also support timeliness in two flavors: one scheme supports weak timeliness but with stateless TTP, while the other guarantees (strong) timeliness though only supports weak stateless TTP. Technical discussion and comparison are provide to show that our schemes are both secure and efficient, compared with the-state-of-art in this field.
7098845
Security Analysis of Several Group Signature Schemes
At Eurocrypt’91, Chaum and van Heyst introduced the concept of group signature. In such a scheme, each group member is allowed to sign messages on behalf of a group anonymously. However, in case of later disputes, a designated group manager can open a group signature and identify the signer. In recent years, researchers have proposed a number of new group signature schemes and improvements with different levels of security. In this paper, we present a security analysis of several group signature schemes proposed in [25, 27, 18, 31]. By using the same method, we successfully identify several universally forging attacks on these schemes. In our attacks, anyone (not necessarily a group member) can forge valid group signatures on any messages such that the forged signatures cannot be opened by the group manager. We also discuss the linkability of these schemes, and further explain why and how we find the attacks.
17122000
Efficient and robust key management for large mobile ad hoc networks
Existing research efforts in key management can only handle very limited number of nodes and are vulnerable to active attacks. In addition, the flexibility and adaptivity of handling dynamic risks in different parts of networks, although critical in the practical usages of ad hoc networks, have been largely ignored. In this paper, we propose a novel hierarchical scheme based on threshold cryptography to address both security and efficiency issues of key management and certification service in Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET). The main contributions of our key management scheme include: 1. providing various parts of MANET the flexibility of selecting appropriate security configurations, according to the risks faced; 2. providing the adaptivity to cope with rapidly-changing environments; 3. handling of MANETs with a large number of nodes; 4. issuing certificates with different levels of assurance. We also propose two algorithms, which can be used independently from the hierarchical structure, to protect certification services in ad hoc networks from active attacks. Our simulation results show that, compared to the previous work [16,18,19], our second algorithm is much faster in a friendly environment. When the key length is 1024 bits, the process of generating or renewing a certificate in our second algorithm is around six to eight times faster, and the process of generating partial certificates in our second algorithm is around 20-80 times faster. The latter advantage is critical in MANET where intrinsically the less help a node requests from its neighbors, the higher is the chance of obtaining the help. Furthermore, simulation results also show that our two algorithms work well in a hostile environment in which existing schemes work poorly.
16568303
Designated-verifier proxy signatures for e-commerce
In a designated-verifier proxy signature scheme, a user delegates her/his signing capability to another user in such a way that the latter can sign messages on behalf of the former, but the validity of generated signatures can only be checked by the designated verifier. In this paper, we first point out that one such scheme proposed recently by Dai et al. is insecure. To overcome the weaknesses in their scheme, based on the two-party Schnorr signature by Nicolosi et al., we present a new designated-verifier proxy signature scheme which is efficient and secure. Finally, we suggest the use of our scheme in electronic commerce applications, such as sale of digital products (digital music, movies, and books etc.).
3417026
A rule generation algorithm based on granular computing
Granular computing has been applied in many fields to solve problems or describe problem spaces at different granularities and hierarchies. In this paper, a rule generation algorithm based on granular computing (RGAGC) is developed. RGAGC is a valid method to generate rules from the granule space. Compared with many classic decision tree algorithms, RGAGC generates a single rule granule in each step instead of selecting a suitable attribute. It is a more general algorithm for rule generation, since it could generate rules from the granule space without considering the problem of selecting an attribute according to some measure. On the other hand, in order to improve the performance of rule granule generation, the "false preserving" property of quotient space theory is used as a strategy to control the process of rule granule generation, so that RGAGC could generate rule granules from the granule space quickly. Our simulation experiment results prove that RGAGC is valid.
14355695
Deringing cartoons by image analogies
In this article, we propose a novel method to reduce ringing artifacts in BDCT-encoded cartoon images using image analogies. The quantization procedure of BDCT compression (such as JPEG and MPEG) introduces annoying visual artifacts. Our main focus is on the removal of ringing artifacts that is seldom addressed by existing methods. In the proposed method, the contaminated image is modeled as a Markov random field (MRF). We “learn” the behavior of contamination by extracting massive numbers of artifact patterns from a training set, and organizing them using tree-structured vector quantization (TSVQ). Instead of postfiltering the input contaminated image, we synthesize an artifact-reduced image. Our method is noniterative and hence, can remove artifacts within a very short period of time. We show that substantial improvement is achieved using the proposed method in terms of visual quality and statistics.
7629821
Sensor relocation in mobile sensor networks
Recently there has been a great deal of research on using mobility in sensor networks to assist in the initial deployment of nodes. Mobile sensors are useful in this environment because they can move to locations that meet sensing coverage requirements. This paper explores the motion capability to relocate sensors to deal with sensor failure or respond to new events. We define the problem of sensor relocation and propose a two-phase sensor relocation solution: redundant sensors are first identified and then relocated to the target location. We propose a Grid-Quorum solution to quickly locate the closest redundant sensor with low message complexity, and propose to use cascaded movement to relocate the redundant sensor in a timely, efficient and balanced way. Simulation results verify that the proposed solution outperforms others in terms of relocation time, total energy consumption, and minimum remaining energy.
22971764
Integrating Semantic Web Services for Declarative Accesses in Natural Language
Although extensive research on Web services has been reported in the last decade, problems still remain due to the lack of natural language query support, the lack of automatic service discovery and composition, and the existence of a large number of existing web sites that are query driven. In this paper we introduce a framework that integrates some novel solutions to the above problems. Specifically we differentiate query-based services (QBS) from the traditional function-based services (FBS) and address the following issues: natural language user interface, automatic service discovery and composition, and semantic UDDI
1009884
Movement-assisted sensor deployment
Abstract-Adequate coverage is very important for sensor networks to fulfill the issued sensing tasks. In many working environments, it is necessary to make use of mobile sensors, which can move to the correct places to provide the required coverage. In this paper, we study the problem of placing mobile sensors to get high coverage. Based on Voronoi diagrams, we design two sets of distributed protocols for controlling the movement of sensors, one favoring communication and one favoring movement. In each set of protocols, we use Voronoi diagrams to detect coverage holes and use one of three algorithms to calculate the target locations of sensors it holes exist. Simulation results show the effectiveness of our protocols and give insight on choosing protocols and calculation algorithms under different application requirements and working conditions.