Self-Sovereign Digital Diploma Protocol with Technological Retrocompatibility - A Solution Adapted to the Brazilian Reality
Abstract
Studies reveal that the process of issuing degree certificates in Brazil has the potential to be complex, time-consuming, and vulnerable to attacks. In this context, in 2018, the Ministry of Education proposed a digitally signed degree certificate in XML format. One of their goals was to reduce cases of false degree certificates. However, their solution does not cover monitoring the student's academic records, a stage in which fraud may also occur. Furthermore, even solutions that use innovative technologies, such as Blockchain, do not contemplate the student's entire journey and do not present a convincing way for the technological leap. This article proposes a protocol for issuing credits and degree certificates based on the Hyperledger Indy platform, a Blockchain technology derived from the Hyperledger initiative and focused on SSI (Self-Sovereign Identity). The proposed protocol provides validity and traceability even for previous degree certificates issued with other legacy technologies.
Keywords:
Blockchain, SSI, Diploma
References
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Allen, C. (2016). The path to self-sovereign identity. [link].
Arenas, R. and Fernandez, P. (2018). Credenceledger: A permissioned blockchain for verifiable academic credentials. In ICE/ITMC, pages 1–6. IEEE.
Asiri, L. (2020). Blockchain For Educational Certificate Distribution. PhD thesis, Florida Institute of Technology.
Atasen, K. and Aslan, B. (2020). A blockchain based digital certification platform: Certidapp. (JMEST).
Averin, A., Snegireva, D., and Ladejshchikov, A. (2020). Model of a monitoring system for academic performance and the issuance of diplomas using blockchain technology. In IT&QM&IS, pages 88–91. IEEE.
Bahrami, M., Movahedian, A., and Deldari, A. (2020). A comprehensive blockchainbased solution for academic certificates management using smart contracts. In 2020 10th ICCKE, pages 573–578. IEEE.
Bhumichitr, K. and Channarukul, S. (2020). Acachain: Academic credential attestation system using blockchain. In IAIT2020, pages 1–8.
Blanchet, B., Smyth, B., Cheval, V., and Sylvestre, M. (2001). Proverif: Automatic cryptographic protocol verifier. https://prosecco.gforge.inria.fr/personal/bblanche/proverif/.
Brunner, C., Knirsch, F., and Engel, D. (2019). Sproof: A platform for issuing and verifying documents in a public blockchain. In ICISSP, pages 15–25.
Budhiraja, S. and Rani, R. (2019). Tudocchain-securing academic certificate digitally on blockchain. In ICICIT, pages 150–160. Springer.
Castro, R. Q. and Au-Yong-Oliveira, M. (2021). Blockchain and higher education diplomas. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 11(1):154–167.
Ceke, D. and Kunosic, S. (2020). Smart contracts as a diploma anti-forgery system in higher education-a pilot project. In MIPRO, pages 1662–1667. IEEE.
Cheng, H. e. a. (2020). A permissioned blockchain-based platform for education certificate verification. In BlockSys, pages 456–471. Springer.
Dima, G.-A., Jitariu, A.-G., Pisa, C., and Bianchi, G. (2018). Scholarium: Supporting identity claims through a permissioned blockchain. In RTSI, pages 1–6. IEEE.
Durant, E. and Trachy, A. (2017). Digital diploma debuts at mit. using bitcoin’s blockchain technology, the institute has become one of the first universities to issue recipientowned virtual credentials.
Fortnow, L. (1987). The complexity of perfect zero-knowledge. In STOC ’87, pages 204–209, New York, New York.
Ghazali, O. and Saleh, O. S. (2018). A graduation certificate verification model via utilization of the blockchain technology. JTEC, 10(3-2):29–34.
Han, M. e. a. (2018). A novel blockchain-based education records verification solution. In SIGITE ’18, pages 178–183.
Kaltyshev, M. (2018). Proof of university certificate using blockchain technology. PhD thesis, Häme University of Applied Sciences.
Leka, E. and Selimi, B. (2020). Bcert–a decentralized academic certificate system distribution using blockchain technology. International Journal on Information Technologies & Security, 12(4).
Lepiane, C. D., Pereira, F. L., Pieri, G., Martins, D., Martina, J. E., and Rabelo, M. L. (2019). Digital degree certificates for higher education in brazil: A technical policy specification. In DocEng ’19, pages 1–10.
Liu, D. and Guo, X. (2019). Blockchain based storage and verification scheme of credible degree certificate. In IICSPI, pages 350–352. IEEE.
Liu, Y. e. a. (2020). Blockchain-based identity management systems: A review. Journal of network and computer applications, 166:102731.
López, M. A. (2020). Self-sovereign identity: The future of identity: Self-sovereignity, digital wallets, and blockchain. [link].
Merkle, R. C. (1982). Method of providing digital signatures. US Patent 4,309,569.
Morisio, M., Ardito, L., and Yokubov, B. (2018). Blockchain based storage of students career. PhD thesis, Politecnico di Torino.
Nakamoto, S. (2008). Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system. https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf.
Nguyen, D.-H., Nguyen-Duc, D.-N., Huynh-Tuong, N., and Pham, H.-A. (2018). Cvss: a blockchainized certificate verifying support system. In SoICT 2018, pages 436–442.
Palma, L. M., Vigil, M. A., Pereira, F. L., and Martina, J. E. (2019). Blockchain and smart contracts for higher education registry in brazil. International Journal of Network Management, 29(3):e2061.
Palma, L. M. d. et al. (2020). Blockchain-based academic record system.
Patel, D. e. a. (2020). Issuing and verifying university certificates on blockchain. In IC-BCT 2019, pages 79–91. Springer.
Pereira, F. L. et al. (2015). Perspectivas para o desenvolvimento e implantação de um sistema de emiss˜ao de diplomas baseado em certificação digital na Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina-UFSC. PhD thesis, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.
Petre, L.-C., Paque, B., and Lejeune, C. (2019). What are the potential benefits of blockchain applications for the Universit´e Catholique de Louvain? PhD thesis, Louvain School of Management.
Pilkington, M. (2016). Blockchain technology: principles and applications. In Research handbook on digital transformations. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Raval, S. (2016). Decentralized applications: harnessing Bitcoin’s blockchain technology. ”O’Reilly Media, Inc.”.
Globo G1 CE (2021). Alunos pagavam até r$ 3 mil por diploma falso emitido por faculdade no ceará. [link].
Governo Brasileiro (2001). Provisoria no 2.200-2, de 24 de agosto de 2001. http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/mpv/antigas_2001/2200-2.htm.
Hypeledger Foundation (2015). Hyperledger. https://www.hyperledger.org/.
Hyperledger Foundation (2018). Hyperledger indy. https://www.hyperledger.org/use/hyperledger-indy.
Ministério da Educação Brasileiro (2018). Diploma digital. http://portal.mec.gov.br/diplomadigital/#sobre.
MIT Media Labs (2016). Blockcerts-an open infrastructure for academic credentials on the blockchain. https://www.blockcerts.org/about.html.
The Sovrin Foundation (2018). Sovrin. https://sovrin.org/.
San, A. M., Chotikakamthorn, N., and Sathitwiriyawong, C. (2019). Blockchain-based learning credential verification system with recipient privacy control. In TALE, pages 1–5. IEEE.
Sayed, R. H. (2019). Potential of blockchain technology to solve fake diploma problem. PhD thesis, University of Jyväskylä.
Schär, F. and Mösli, F. (2019). Blockchain diplomas: Using smart contracts to secure academic credentials. Journal of Higher Education Research, 41(3):48–58.
Tokarnia, M. (2014). Ex-alunos da gama filho e univercidade têm dificuldade em obter diploma. [link].
Vidal, F. R., Gouveia, F., and Soares, C. (2020a). Blockchain application in higher education diploma management and results analysis. ASTES.
Vidal, F. R., Gouveia, F., and Soares, C. (2020b). Revocation mechanisms for academic certificates stored on a blockchain. In 2020 15th CISTI, pages 1–6. IEEE.
Wood, G. et al. (2014). Ethereum: A secure decentralised generalised transaction ledger. Ethereum project yellow paper, 151(2014):1–32.
Yeh, L.-Y. e. a. (2018). E-university applications: A privacy-preserving diploma notarization platform in taiwan. In EEE, pages 44–50.
Published
2021-10-04
How to Cite
CAMPELLI, Luca; PALMA, Lucas; MARTINA, Jean.
Self-Sovereign Digital Diploma Protocol with Technological Retrocompatibility - A Solution Adapted to the Brazilian Reality. In: BRAZILIAN SYMPOSIUM ON CYBERSECURITY (SBSEG), 21. , 2021, Belém.
Anais [...].
Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
2021
.
p. 323-336.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sbseg.2021.17325.
