A Hybrid Encryption Model with Blockchain Integration for Secure Cloud Data Storage and Retrieval

Abstract

Data security, privacy, sensitivity, and integrity are major concerns when using cloud-based storage solutions. In this paper, we propose a hybrid encryption model that has been integrated with blockchain technology to secure data storage in the cloud. The proposed model facilitates data encryption using a symmetric cryptography algorithm for efficient large data encryption while ensuring the encryption key can only be exchanged using asymmetric cryptography. This model utilizes the power of blockchain to manage metadata securely and associated encryption keys to ensure that records are tamper-proof, removing the need for third parties to be trusted. The security, key management, and data integrity of the proposed model are better than traditional cloud storage and existing blockchain-based approaches. The performance evaluation suggests that the model achieves a balance between security and cost efficiency, while moderate transaction speed will be witnessed owing to blockchain operations. Our proposed work aims to provide a scalable, fast, reliable, and decentralized architecture-based solution to address the challenges of cloud data security.