Award Date

May 2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Computer Science

First Committee Member

Yoohwan Kim

Second Committee Member

Juyeon Jo

Third Committee Member

Laxmi Gewali

Fourth Committee Member

Zuobin Xiong

Fifth Committee Member

Tina Vo

Number of Pages

183

Abstract

In cybersecurity, sharing of cyber threat intelligence (CTI) plays a pivotal role in our collective defense against emerging threats. However, the current paradigm of CTI sharing is one that participants are reluctant to share due to serious concerns about privacy and the potential exposure of sensitive information.We provide a comprehensive look at the potential of blockchain technology in cybersecurity, highlighting its advantages in creating an immutable, transparent, and decentralized ledger for CTI sharing. We also explore the mechanism of decentralized identity (DID) and explain how ZKP can be used to verify the authenticity of shared data without compromising the anonymity of participants. We detail the architecture of the proposed scheme, describing the application of an interplanetary file system (IPFS) for decentralized data storage, a private blockchain for transaction management and verification, and Zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) for privacy certification. Through this research, we demonstrate that a blockchain-based CTI sharing scheme significantly mitigates privacy concerns, encourages greater participation, and improves the overall resilience of cyber defenses. This dissertation concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for future cybersecurity practices, potential challenges in adopting blockchain and DID, and directions for further research. This research contributes to the field of cybersecurity by facilitating a more collaborative and effective approach to counter cyber threats, and by providing a new solution for secure and anonymous CTI sharing.

Keywords

Anonymous Transactions; Blockchain Privacy; Circom; Ring Signatures; Zero-Knowledge Proofs; zk-SNARK

Disciplines

Computer Sciences

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Available for download on Friday, May 15, 2026


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