Open Access
ARTICLE
A Derivative Matrix-Based Covert Communication Method in Blockchain
Xiang Zhang1, Xiaona Zhang2,4,*, Xiaorui Zhang3,5,6, Wei Sun6,7, Ruohan Meng8, Xingming Sun1
1
School of Computer and Software, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China
2
School of Hydrology and Water Resources, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China
3
Wuxi Research Institute, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Wuxi, 214100, China
4
Key Laboratory of Hydrometeorological Disaster Mechanism and Warning of Ministry of Water Resources, Nanjing, 210044, China
5
Engineering Research Center of Digital Forensics, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Engineering Center of Network Monitoring,
School of Computer and Software, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China
6
Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (CICAEET), Nanjing,
University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China
7
School of Automation, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China
8
School of Computer Science Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
* Corresponding Author: Xiaona Zhang. Email:
Computer Systems Science and Engineering 2023, 46(1), 225-239. https://doi.org/10.32604/csse.2023.034915
Received 01 August 2022; Accepted 08 October 2022; Issue published 20 January 2023
Abstract
The data in the blockchain cannot be tampered with and the users are
anonymous, which enables the blockchain to be a natural carrier for covert communication. However, the existing methods of covert communication in blockchain suffer from the predefined channel structure, the capacity of a single
transaction is not high, and the fixed transaction behaviors will lower the concealment of the communication channel. Therefore, this paper proposes a derivation
matrix-based covert communication method in blockchain. It uses dual-key to
derive two types of blockchain addresses and then constructs an address matrix
by dividing addresses into multiple layers to make full use of the redundancy
of addresses. Subsequently, to solve the problem of the lack of concealment
caused by the fixed transaction behaviors, divide the rectangular matrix into
square blocks with overlapping regions and then encrypt different blocks sequentially to make the transaction behaviors of the channel addresses match better with
those of the real addresses. Further, the linear congruence algorithm is used to
generate random sequence, which provides a random order for blocks encryption,
and thus enhances the security of the encryption algorithm. Experimental results
show that this method can effectively reduce the abnormal transaction behaviors
of addresses while ensuring the channel transmission efficiency.
Keywords
Cite This Article
APA Style
Zhang, X., Zhang, X., Zhang, X., Sun, W., Meng, R. et al. (2023). A derivative matrix-based covert communication method in blockchain. Computer Systems Science and Engineering, 46(1), 225-239. https://doi.org/10.32604/csse.2023.034915
Vancouver Style
Zhang X, Zhang X, Zhang X, Sun W, Meng R, Sun X. A derivative matrix-based covert communication method in blockchain. Comput Syst Sci Eng. 2023;46(1):225-239 https://doi.org/10.32604/csse.2023.034915
IEEE Style
X. Zhang, X. Zhang, X. Zhang, W. Sun, R. Meng, and X. Sun "A Derivative Matrix-Based Covert Communication Method in Blockchain," Comput. Syst. Sci. Eng., vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 225-239. 2023. https://doi.org/10.32604/csse.2023.034915