Ring Signature: Presenting New Design with Keyed Hash Function

Abstract

Ring Signature is a cryptographic technique of signing a message on behalf of a group, as a member of that group. The basic property of ring signature is anonymity, which does not let reveal the information about the signer and this information can be sent in privately signed manner. But definitely, the receiver can verify that the message has come from a valid group member. This is different from traditional digital signatures, where identity of signer is revealed and verified too. The paper discusses few very popular ring signature schemes and their evolution into next higher level scheme while considering their limitations. At the end of the paper we also propose implementation and use of a new keyed hash function for improving authentication and integration of message. The proposed technique of hashing enables authentication of group member at the time of signing the message before transmission.

Keywords: Ring Signature, Group Signature, Hashing Encryption, Secret Key, Key Distribution Center