How To Re-initialize a Hash Chain

Vipul Goyal

Paper 2004/097

How To Re-initialize a Hash Chain

Vipul Goyal

Abstract

Hash Chains are used extensively in various cryptographic systems such as one-time passwords, server supported signatures, secure address resolution, certificate revocation, micropayments etc. However, currently they suffer from the limitation that they have a finite number of links which when exhausted requires the system to be re-initialized. In this paper, we present a new kind of hash chain which we call a Re-initializable Hash Chain (RHC). A RHC has the property that if its links are exhausted, it can be securely re-initialized in a non-repudiable manner to result in another RHC. This process can be continued indefinitely to give rise to an infinite length hash chain, or more precisely, an infinite number of finite length hash chains tied together. Finally we illustrate how a conventional hash chain (CHC) may be profitable replaced with a RHC in cryptographic systems.

Metadata

Available format(s): PDF
Category: Foundations
Publication info: Published elsewhere. Unpublished Note
Keywords: hash chains
Contact author(s): vipul goyal @ cse04 itbhu org
History: 2006-12-30: last of 3 revisions; 2004-04-25: received; See all versions
Short URL: https://ia.cr/2004/097
License: CC BY

BibTeX

@misc{cryptoeprint:2004/097,
      author = {Vipul Goyal},
      title = {How To Re-initialize a Hash Chain},
      howpublished = {Cryptology {ePrint} Archive, Paper 2004/097},
      year = {2004},
      url = {https://eprint.iacr.org/2004/097}
}