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Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
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Homomorphic Pairwise Authentication: Privacy-Preserving Identity Verification Through Zero-Detection on Encrypted Credential Differences

Authors: Lee, Eunice; Lee, Caleb;

Homomorphic Pairwise Authentication: Privacy-Preserving Identity Verification Through Zero-Detection on Encrypted Credential Differences

Abstract

We present a novel homomorphic pairwise authentication protocol that achieves strong privacy guarantees by leveraging the additive homomorphic properties of EC-ElGamal encryption for secure credential comparison. Our key innovation is the homomorphic difference verification mechanism: instead of comparing credentials directly, we compute the homomorphic difference between stored and presented encrypted credentials, then verify whether this difference encrypts the identity element (zero). This approach ensures that authentication reveals only credential validity while completely hiding credential values, achieving information-theoretic privacy for the authentication decision. The protocol eliminates plaintext credential exposure at all stages while maintaining practical efficiency with authentication times under 1.2 milliseconds and communication overhead of only 128 bytes per session. We provide formal security proofs demonstrating semantic security, unlinkability, and perfect zero-knowledge properties under the Decisional Diffie-Hellman assumption, along with practical extensions for multi-credential scenarios and threshold authentication systems.

Keywords

FOS: Computer and information sciences, Computer and information sciences, Privacy-Preserving Authentication, Secure Credential Verification, EC-ElGamal Encryption, Cryptography, FOS: Mathematics, Homomorphic Encryption, Zero-Knowledge Authentication, Pairwise Authentication, Mathematics

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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
0
Average
Average
Average
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