Reliable Video Forensics Evidence Cataloguing using Video Source device Identification on the Blockchain

Abstract

Videos and images are plentiful, shared, modified, and retrieved through different sources. They are used for the purposes of data collection and evidence gathering, as well as entertainment. The widespread use and misuse of video and/or image capturing devices has caused the need for authenticity to be preserved and the source of information to be identified for trust and security. In today's world, these devices are used to commit crimes and are sometimes used to catch them. The videos and/or images are collected as key evidence and are part of the forensics tasks. Crime investigators require access to the origin of the data, and it is usually stored in a centralized storage that produces vulnerabilities like that of a single point of failure as well as is an easy gateway to attacks. Proposed here is a decentralized evidence storage architecture where video is stored in a decentralized storage with its source identification automated and metadata stored on the chain. This provides confidentiality, integrity, and security of the video data stored. In addition, privacy is preserved through off-chain storage systems and private permissioned blockchains.