DEVELOPMENT OF PRIVACY PRESERVING FILE SHARING PLATFORM USING IPFS & BLOCKCHAIN

• Main Author: Rayi Arkananta, Arik
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/85037
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Blockchain technology has revolutionized the digital world due to its excellence in integrity aspects and elimination of the need for a centralized trust system. One potential application of blockchain technology outside the financial realm is as a file sharing system. In conventional file sharing systems, files are stored centrally and controlled by a few parties, thus posing challenges in protecting user file privacy. The majority of systems proposed currently combine the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) as off-chain file storage to address the challenges of storing large files in the blockchain ledger. Access control mechanisms are generally added by utilizing recording into the blockchain ledger, as IPFS does not have a built-in access control mechanism. Access control implementation is usually done in separate locations, such as proxy servers, IPFS code, or client applications. However, existing solutions have not been able to modify or delete files stored in IPFS due to its immutable nature, so file owners do not have full control over their personal files, which is one of the important aspects of user file privacy. This research proposes a system that can address these privacy issues, particularly the inability to modify or delete files on IPFS. This system implements a separate IPFS network that remains distributed, consists of several nodes, and is connected to the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain to ensure integrity. Access control mechanisms, including the encryption process, are implemented on the client application to ensure the confidentiality of user files. In addition, a re-encryption mechanism is applied to prevent reduced file security from the threat of illegal client application modifications. The results of the evaluation conducted can show that the proposed system in this study successfully resolves the mentioned privacy- related issues.