Hybrid Encryption Blockchain Storage Prototype

Project Title

Basic University-Level Implementation of Hybrid Encryption with Blockchain for Secure Cloud Storage

Project Description

I am a university student working on a special research project titled “A Hybrid Encryption Model with Blockchain Integration for Secure Cloud Data Storage and Retrieval.”

I am looking for a developer who can build a basic, working, university-level implementation based on my provided base research paper and extended-version project requirements.

I do not need an advanced commercial application. I need a simple, understandable implementation that follows the algorithms and workflow in the research paper and can be demonstrated and explained during my university project evaluation.

1. Strict Requirement — No AI Usage

AI TOOLS ARE STRICTLY PROHIBITED FOR THIS PROJECT.

- Do not use ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, Gemini, Claude, or any other AI coding or content-generation tools.
- Do not generate, rewrite, or complete code using AI.
- All source code must be written manually by the developer from scratch.
- Do not submit AI-generated explanations, documentation, diagrams, or reports.
- Do not copy complete projects from GitHub or other sources.
- The developer must understand and be able to explain every function, algorithm, and important line of code.
- The work must be original and suitable for university plagiarism and AI-use checks.
- Be honest about the development process and do not make false claims about AI-free authorship.

Please accept this project only if you can follow these conditions.

2. Project Objective

Develop a basic system that demonstrates secure file storage and retrieval using three main components:

1. AES (Advanced Encryption Standard): Encrypts and decrypts files.
2. RSA (Rivest–Shamir–Adleman): Protects the AES session key.
3. Blockchain: Records file hashes and relevant metadata to support file-integrity verification.

The implementation should follow the supplied base paper rather than introduce unrelated algorithms.

3. Required Technologies

- Python for the main implementation.
- AES for file encryption and decryption.
- RSA for protecting the AES session key.
- Blockchain for hash and metadata verification.
- Solidity and Web3.py if required for a basic smart-contract implementation.
- Local storage simulation for the initial prototype, unless actual cloud deployment is specifically required.

Keep the technologies and implementation simple enough for a university student to understand.

4. Required Functional Modules

Module 1: User Registration and Key Generation

- Basic user identification.
- RSA public and private key generation.
- Safe handling of private keys.

Module 2: File Encryption

- Select a file for encryption.
- Generate a unique AES session key for each storage operation.
- Encrypt the file using AES.
- Protect the AES key using the user's RSA public key.

Module 3: Secure File Storage

- Store the encrypted file.
- Store the encrypted AES key separately.
- Keep the original file unchanged.
- Use a simple and organized folder structure.

Module 4: Blockchain Integrity Verification

- Calculate a cryptographic hash of the encrypted file.
- Record the hash and relevant metadata in the blockchain component.
- Verify the retrieved file against the recorded hash.
- Demonstrate how unauthorized file modification can be detected.

Module 5: File Retrieval and Decryption

- Retrieve the encrypted file and protected AES key.
- Verify file integrity before decryption.
- Recover the AES key using the authorized user's RSA private key.
- Decrypt the file using AES.
- Compare the recovered file with the original file.

5. Code Requirements

The code must be:

- Written manually without AI tools.
- Basic and suitable for university-level work.
- Organized into simple Python files and modules.
- Properly commented and easy to understand.
- Based on the three main components in the base paper.
- Runnable on a standard computer with clear instructions.
- Free from unnecessary advanced features.

6. Expected Deliverables

1. Complete source code.
2. Organized project folder structure.
3. Requirements file and installation instructions.
4. Step-by-step execution guide.
5. Working file-encryption and decryption demonstration.
6. Blockchain-based integrity-verification demonstration.
7. Test cases, including file-tampering detection.
8. Actual performance measurements from program execution.
9. Architecture diagram and workflow explanation.
10. Detailed explanation of the modules and algorithms.
11. Guidance for preparing the final university project report.

7. Detailed Project Explanation

I must understand the implementation for my university evaluation. Please explain:

- Why AES is used for file encryption.
- Why RSA is used to protect the AES session key.
- How blockchain supports integrity verification.
- How file hashes are calculated and compared.
- How the complete upload and retrieval workflow operates.
- What happens when an encrypted file is modified.
- How to run and test the program.
- What the limitations of the prototype are and what improvements are possible.

The explanation must be based on the actual implementation and written manually without AI assistance.

8. Research and Report Requirements

The extended-version requirements include:

- At least 15 mathematical equations.
- Approximately 7–10 visualizations or comparison charts.
- Experimental results and performance analysis.
- Comparison with traditional cloud storage.
- Discussion of security, integrity, performance, and limitations.
- A final report in Word or a LaTeX-generated PDF, following the university's submission template.

All measurements and results must come from actual experiments. Do not invent results.

9. Before Accepting the Project

Please confirm the following:

1. You can develop the project without using AI tools.
2. You can write and explain the code manually.
3. You can implement AES, RSA, and blockchain-based verification.
4. You can provide a basic working demonstration.
5. You can explain the code and experimental results clearly.

Priority: Original manually written code, basic university-level implementation, understandable explanations, and strict compliance with the no-AI requirement.

I will provide the base research paper and extended-version requirements for reference.