VKMRS: Efficient and Fair Blockchain-based Verifiable KGI-index-based Multi-keyword Ranked Search over Encrypted Cloud Server

VKMRS: Efficient and Fair Blockchain-based Verifiable KGI-index-based Multi-keyword Ranked Search over Encrypted Cloud Server | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article VKMRS: Efficient and Fair Blockchain-based Verifiable KGI-index-based Multi-keyword Ranked Search over Encrypted Cloud Server YeEun Kim, Heekuck Oh This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7003313/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This paper proposes VKMRS, a verifiable multi-keyword ranked search scheme that supports fair and privacy-preserving ranked searches on the blockchain, even with dynamic parameters, on large and complex datasets. The proposed scheme leverages a keyword-grouping-based inverted index (KGI-index) to protect the privacy of encrypted data and search/access patterns from adversaries, even under the known background model. Our work also utilizes smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain to ensure fair payment and randomly verifies the search results for correctness and completeness. Theoretical analysis and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model is efficient, secure, and offers feasible scenarios for complex and dynamic environments. Our work is valuable for large real-world applications demanding data integrity and confidentiality, such as financial services and healthcare, providing robust security, fair payment, and practical efficiency. Verifiable searchable encryption Keyword grouping based inverted index Ranked search Blockchain-based searchable encryption Smart contracts Fair payment Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7003313","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":504490442,"identity":"acd47cd0-9d35-4f26-a2e8-65efd96ea0d4","order_by":0,"name":"YeEun Kim","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hanyang University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"YeEun","middleName":"","lastName":"Kim","suffix":""},{"id":504490443,"identity":"28cca210-d8d4-4891-a6d8-a3699b77db7b","order_by":1,"name":"Heekuck Oh","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA2ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAx4GNoaPDUgiEsRoYZxJshZmXpK0mPMcPvbYdoddnsHxs4dfMNTYMUjOPoBfi2VvW7px7pnkYoMzeWkWDMeSGaT5Egg47DyPmXRuG3PihgM5ZgYMbAcY5HgIOAysxbKtPnHD+TdALf+I0XK2x0yase1w4oYbOcYPGNsOMEgT1HLmWJpkb9vxxJk33pgxJPYl80j2ENSSfEziZ1t1Yt/5HOMPH77ZyUmcIaAFDhQOMLBJJDAwEHIWEpBvYGD+QLzyUTAKRsEoGEkAAIPsQhE/cBH4AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Hanyang University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Heekuck","middleName":"","lastName":"Oh","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-06-29 14:38:12","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7003313/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7003313/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":92930398,"identity":"4b184434-6b43-4c9a-a344-c2f2d7b72fe5","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-07 08:54:17","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":859282,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SpringerP2PVKMRS.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7003313/v1_covered_417a1a82-880d-4d8c-baa8-ad1d963b07af.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"VKMRS: Efficient and Fair Blockchain-based Verifiable KGI-index-based Multi-keyword Ranked Search over Encrypted Cloud Server","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Verifiable searchable encryption, Keyword grouping based inverted index, Ranked search, Blockchain-based searchable encryption, Smart contracts, Fair payment","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7003313/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7003313/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis paper proposes VKMRS, a verifiable multi-keyword ranked search scheme that supports fair and privacy-preserving ranked searches on the blockchain, even with dynamic parameters, on large and complex datasets. 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