Title: Attribute-based signature schemes with accountability

Authors: Yan Ren; Chunming Tang; Guilin Wang; Duncan. S. Wong

Addresses: College of Mathematics and Information Science, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510006, China; Key Laboratory of Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences of Guangdong, Higher Education Institutes, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510006, China; Department of Applied Mathematics, Yuncheng University, Yuncheng Shanxi, 044000, China ' College of Mathematics and Information Science, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510006, China; Key Laboratory of Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences of Guangdong, Higher Education Institutes, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510006, China ' Huawei International Pte Ltd., 20 Science Park Road, Singapore ' Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Abstract: Since attribute-based signature (ABS) was introduced by Guo and Zeng in 2008, considerable researches have investigated this topic. In an ABS scheme, the attribute authority (A-authority) generates the private key for each user, hence, it has to be completely trusted. The A-authority is free to engage in malicious activities without any risk of being confronted in a court of law. Motivated by this, we firstly propose the notion of accountable attribute-based signature schemes in this paper. It is not only a variant of ABS, but also a new approach to mitigate the key escrow problem. Then, we construct two efficient accountable attribute-based signature schemes. Finally, we prove that the new schemes are secure under the computational Diffie-Hellman (CDH) and the modified computational Diffie-Hellman (MCDH) assumptions. Our main goal is to restrict the conditions that the A-authority can misbehave. In our schemes, if the A-authority maliciously generates and distributes a private key, it will run the risk of being caught and prosecuted.

Keywords: digital signatures; attribute authority; attribute-based signatures; ABS; accountability; key escrow; tracing algorithm; key family; security; cryptography; private keys; malicious activities.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICT.2015.068377

International Journal of Information and Communication Technology, 2015 Vol.7 No.2/3, pp.141 - 158

Received: 06 Sep 2013
Accepted: 26 Oct 2013

Published online: 01 Apr 2015 *

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