🤖 AI Summary
This work proposes a lightweight authentication mechanism based on the Schnorr zero-knowledge protocol to address the challenge of secure and efficient identity verification in resource-constrained environments. The scheme integrates QR codes to transmit constant-size proofs (approximately 0.5 KB) containing a nonce and a timestamp, effectively mitigating replay attacks without revealing the private key. Leveraging 256-bit elliptic curve cryptography, both proof generation and verification are completed within milliseconds, substantially reducing computational and communication overhead. Notably, this study presents the first practical integration of QR codes with replay-resistant zero-knowledge proofs, enabling deployment on mobile and low-resource devices.
📝 Abstract
This study proposes a lightweight Zero-Knowledge authentication model supported by QR codes. The approach is based on the Schnorr authentication protocol and provides an additional security layer against replay attacks through nonce and timestamp mechanisms. The proof data generated by the prover is embedded within a QR code and transmitted to the verifier. Thus, the system enables verification of knowledge of the secret key without revealing it. Simulation results show that proof generation and verification times under a 256-bit security level are in the millisecond range. Additionally, the proof size remains constant at approximately 0.5 KB, making it suitable for practical applications in terms of QR code capacity. The findings indicate that the proposed model is applicable in mobile and low-resource systems in terms of both security and performance.