Secure time-stamping schemes: a distributed point of view

Alexis Bonnecaze (1) , Pierre Liardet (2) , Alban Gabillon (3) , Kaouther Blibech (4)

1 IML - Institut de mathématiques de Luminy
2 LATP - Laboratoire d'Analyse, Topologie, Probabilités
3 GePaSUD - Géopôle du Pacifique Sud
4 LIUPPA - Laboratoire Informatique de l'Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour

Time-stamping is a technique used to prove the existence of a digital document prior to a specific point in time. Today, implemented schemes rely on a centralized server model that has to be trusted. We point out the drawbacks of these schemes, showing that the unique serveur represent a weak point for the system. We propose an alternative scheme which is based on a network of servers managed by administratively independent entities. This scheme appears to be a trusted and reliable distributed time-stamping scheme.

Mots clés: timestamping

Domaines: Cryptographie et sécurité [cs.CR]

Alexis Bonnecaze, Pierre Liardet, Alban Gabillon, Kaouther Blibech. Secure time-stamping schemes: a distributed point of view. Annals of Telecommunications - annales des télécommunications, 2006, 61 (5-6), pp.662-681. ⟨hal-00994704⟩