Enhancing Student Credential Security: Integrating Hierarchical Merkle Trees with Multi-Factor Authentication in Blockchain

The escalating intrusion of institutional networks to steal or modify sensitive data has created a security gap that needs to be addressed urgently. SecureEdu, a blockchain credential verification system, presented a new approach to securing credentials from unauthorized access. However, blockchain-based credential verification systems struggle to scale and are not robust to authentication attacks. This paper presented a pioneering framework that reinforced blockchain-based attestation systems using Hierarchical Merkle Trees (HMTs) and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). HMTs not only secured data but also reduced computational overhead. On the other hand, MFA protected the integrity of sensitive academic records from cyber threats by implementing multiple layer of protection. The proposed system achieved scalability and performance and this system lays the groundwork for a scalable and high-performing credential verification system, achieving the lowest latency, CPU and memory usage at 120ms, 28% respectively.