NFB: A Protocol for Notarizing Files over the Blockchain

Abstract

Blockchains, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum and their respective P2P networks have seen significant adoption in many sectors in the past few years. All these technologies that use the Blockchain pattern show that it is possible to rebuild any transactional system with better performance without relying on any trusted parties to manage transactions between peers. This insight has lead many companies to invest millions to understand the technology and to find a way to migrate from centralized to decentralized solutions. These solutions need to store large amounts of data in a secure and confidential way. Many distributed storage systems now exist using Blockchain technology (Cloud, FileSystems, etc.). But none of the tools proposed are able to manage the document life cycle nor archive documents based on regulatory compliance. In this paper, we describe our protocol named NFB (Notarizing Files over the Blockchain). This protocol ensures the communication between two systems: a permissive Blockchain and a secured centralized archiving Document Management System. The method described is used to allow users to archive, control, analyze and validate their transactions in a system that offers confidentiality, security and distribution features.