Secure Implementation of ECDSA Signatures in Bitcoin
Di Wang · 2014
Bitcoin, a decentralized peer-to-peer cryptocurrency system, has recently gained a lot of popularity among users. In a Bitcoin transaction, users communicate depending on cryptographic proof rather than trust on third parties. Therefore, as one of the main building blocks of Bitcoin, Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm is used to prove Bitcoin ownership, which plays a pivotal role in Bitcoin transaction. The security of Bitcoin mostly relies on the security of ECDSA algorithms. This thesis covers the steps of understanding how ECDSA works, and how it is used to create a new Bitcoin transaction. Also the speed performance in signature generation is measured and improved. Based upon it, di↵erent versions of security countermeasures are implemented to protect against side channel attacks. Finally, all the versions including both non-protective and protective implementations are tested and evaluated.