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https://github.com/paragonie/chronicle

Public append-only ledger microservice built with Slim Framework
https://github.com/paragonie/chronicle

append-only blake2b chain cryptography hash hash-chain knowledge php proof sapient security security-tools

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Public append-only ledger microservice built with Slim Framework

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README 

        


 Chronicle



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[![Latest Stable Version](https://poser.pugx.org/paragonie/chronicle/v/stable)](https://packagist.org/packages/paragonie/chronicle)

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[![License](https://poser.pugx.org/paragonie/chronicle/license)](https://packagist.org/packages/paragonie/chronicle)



**Chronicle** is a self-hostable microservice, built with [Slim Framework](https://www.slimframework.com),

which enables authorized users to commit arbitrary data to an immutable,

append-only public ledger.



Chronicle is superior to "blockchain" solutions for most real-world

technical problems that don't involve proofs-of-work or Byzantine fault

tolerance.



More precisely, Chronicle is a self-hostable microservice exposing an append-only,

cryptographically-secure hash chain data structure that accepts arbitrary

data from authorized clients through an HTTP API, secured by [Sapient](https://github.com/paragonie/sapient),

that can be used as a building block for building a cryptographic audit trail

similar to [Certificate Transparency](https://www.certificate-transparency.org/).



> [Chronicle will make you question the need for blockchain technology](https://paragonie.com/blog/2017/07/chronicle-will-make-you-question-need-for-blockchain-technology).



Chronicle was developed by [Paragon Initiative Enterprises](https://paragonie.com)

as part of our continued efforts to make the Internet more secure.



## Getting Started with Chronicle (Documentation)



* [Instructions for Installing Chronicle](docs/01-setup.md)

* [How to write (publish) to your  Chronicle](docs/02-publish.md)

* [How to setup cross-signing to other Chronicles](docs/03-cross-signing.md)

* [How to replicate other Chronicles](docs/04-replication.md)

* [Concurrent Instances](docs/05-instances.md)

* [Configuration](docs/06-config.md)

* [Internal Developer Documentation](docs/internals)

    * [Design Philosophy](docs/internals/01-design-philosophy.md)

    * [SQL Tables](docs/internals/02-sql-tables.md)



### Client-Side Software that Interacts with Chronicle



#### PHP



* [Gossamer](https://gossamer.tools) - PIE

  * [gossamer-server](https://github.com/paragonie/gossamer-server)

  * [libgossamer](https://github.com/paragonie/libgossamer) 

* [Herd](https://github.com/paragonie/herd) - PIE

* [Quill](https://github.com/paragonie/quill) - PIE

  * [Monolog-Quill](https://github.com/paragonie/monolog-quill) - PIE

* [Chronicle-API](https://github.com/lookyman/chronicle-api) - 

  [Lukáš Unger (@lookyman)](https://github.com/lookyman) 



## What does Chronicle do?



Chronicle allows trusted clients to send data to be included in an immutable,

auditable, cryptographic permanent record.



Furthermore, Chronicle has cross-signing and many-to-one replication built-in,

which, when used, greatly enhances the auditability and availability of the

data written to your local Chronicle instance.



## What problems do Chronicle solve?



### Chain of Custody



If you have sensitive information, you can write metadata about client access

times to a private Chronicle in order to have verifiable, tamper-resistant

proof that specific records were accessed by specific user accounts at a

specific time.



### Proof of Knowledge



By inserting an encrypted message and then revealing the key at a later date,

you can provide strong evidence of prior knowledge.



### Userbase Consistency Verification



For building a [secure code delivery](https://defuse.ca/triangle-of-secure-code-delivery.htm) system,

committing some metadata and a SHA256 or BLAKE2 hash of each update file to

a publicly verifiable Chronicle allows users to compile a whitelist of known

update files to help block trojan horse malware (in the event of a compromised

update server).



For best results, combine with cryptographic signatures (which may also be

registered in the Chronicle) and reproducible builds.



### Auditable Security Event Logging



Because of Chronicle's cryptographically assured append-only properties, and

its use of [modern elliptic curve digital signatures](https://ed25519.cr.yp.to/),

Chronicle is a good fit for integrating with SIEM solutions and internal SOCs.



## How does it work?



All communications are secured with [Sapient](https://github.com/paragonie/sapient).

Sapient ensures that all published messages are signed with Ed25519. All messages

are committed to a hash chain data structure backed by BLAKE2b, which we call

[Blakechain](https://github.com/paragonie/blakechain) for short.



There are two hashes for each message:



1. The hash of the current message, whose BLAKE2b key is the previous message's

   block. This is just called `currhash` internally.

2. The summary hash, which is a BLAKE2b hash of all message hashes to date,

   concatenated together in order. This is called `summaryhash` internally.



The rationale for using the previous message's hash was to add a degree of domain

separation in the event that a BLAKE2b collision attack is ever discovered. The

keying should reduce the likelihood of any practical attacks, especially if the

chain is updated rapidly.