BlockWhisper: A Blockchain-Based Hybrid Covert Communication Scheme with Strong Ability to Evade Detection
摘要
In light of the pervasive significance of privacy protection in contemporary society, the exploration of covert communication technology has been extensive, which is designed to safeguard communication behaviors and contents from disclosure. The decentralization, anonymity, and robustness of blockchain technology render it a more suitable medium for covert communication than traditional networks, which are vulnerable to tracing and destruction. Nevertheless, state-of-the-art blockchain-based covert communication schemes tend to focus on the concealment of a single type of constituent element in a blockchain transaction. These methods are able to resist detection methods for a particular element, yet are easily exposed under the joint detection of multiple classes of methods. The absence of resistance to joint detection methods targeting all elements presents a significant challenge that impedes the advancement of blockchain-based covert channels. Consequently, BlockWhisper is proposed as a blockchain-based hybrid covert channel that is capable of evading the recognition of various detection methods. Following the probability distribution model obtained from a blockchain transaction distribution analysis method, BlockWhisper is implemented using a top address list and a special hybrid coding method. The experiments demonstrated that Graph-based Detection (GD), Similarity-based Detection (SMD), Shape-based Detection (SPD), Entropy-based Detection (ETD), and Machine Learning-based Detection (MLD) yielded inferior results on this scheme, which substantiates the assertion that BlockWhisper possesses a strong ability to evade detection. Moreover, a comparison of BlockWhisper with other schemes reveals that it has a superior channel capacity on the basis of the guarantee of channel feasibility.