We study a mechanism design problem in the blockchain proof-of-stake (PoS) protocol. Our main objective is to extend the transaction fee mechanism (TFM) recently proposed in Chung and Shi (SODA, p.3856-3899, 2023), so as to incorporate a long-run utility model for the miner into the burning second-price auction mechanism $\texttt{BSP}(γ)$ proposed in Chung and Shi (where $γ$ is a key parameter in the strict $γ$-utility model that is applied to both miners and users). First, we derive an explicit functional form for the long-run utility of the miner using a martingale approach, and reveal a critical discontinuity of the utility function, namely a small deviation from being truthful will yield a discrete jump (up or down) in the miner's utility. We show that because of this discontinuity the $\texttt{BSP}(γ)$ mechanism will fail a key desired property in TFM, $c$-side contract proofness ($c$-SCP). As a remedy, we introduce another parameter $θ$, and propose a new $\texttt{BSP}(θ)$ mechanism, and prove that it satisfies all three desired properties of TFM: user- and miner-incentive compatibility (UIC and MIC) as well as $c$-SCP, provided the parameter $θ$ falls into a specific range, along with a proper tick size imposed on user bids.
In the evolution from 5G to beyond 5G networks, new business models are emerging where multi-domain and multistakeholder scenarios will play a paramount role as enablers. In these scenarios, the automated management of the services with minimal human intervention, also known as zero-touch management, is a pivotal requirement to ensure a proper functioning and to enable real-time responses to possible incidents or scalability needs. Nonetheless, these new scenarios and requirements also introduce new security risks that entail a complex threat landscape for beyond 5G networks. Hence, zero-touch management demands new solutions capable of securely controlling network resources into end-to-end scenarios distributed in multiple domains. In this vein, several challenges arise and need to be addressed, such as integrity, non-repudiation, confidentiality, security, and trust. Therefore, the H2020 5GZORRO project proposes new security and trust solutions for multi-domain and multi-stakeholder scenarios in 5G and beyond networks. To deal with the utmost importance security and trust challenges, we introduce different modules to mitigate them, namely, integrity and non-repudiation through Distributed Ledger Technologies, decentralized identity through an Identity and Permission Manager, end-to-end trustworthy relationships via a Trust Management Framework, secure workloads across different tenants and stakeholders via Trusted Execution Environment Security Management, detection and response to internal vulnerabilities and attacks via Network Monitoring, and on-demand secure cross-domain connections via VPN-as-a-Service. Therefore, the built security and trust 5GZORRO mechanisms form a secure environment with zero-touch automation capabilities, minimizing human intervention.
Andrea Tesei, Domenico Lattuca, Alexandr Tardo, Luca Di Mauro · 8 authors
Major maritime carriers are globally demanding improvements in the efficiency of port operations. Cargo carried by ships must be loaded and unloaded quickly with minimal stopover time in the port. This requirement mandates seaports to deploy cutting-edge technology to the port area so that logistic processes are increasingly efficient and reliable. In this scenario, the attack surface of such critical infrastructure is growing very rapidly and advanced security techniques must be deployed to enforce a high attack resilience. A Distributed Ledger-based Credential Management System exploiting a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to enable transparent and real-time tracking of logistic vehicles and cargos within a terminal is presented in this paper. Based on a customization of Vehicular Ad-Hoc Network (VANET) security standards, the proposed scheme provides authentication, authorization, and revocation capabilities to promptly exclude misbehaving logistic vehicles from the system, while maintaining an immutable record of all the logistic vehicles' activity. The laboratory validation demonstrates that the delay of the devised scheme is not dependent on the quay area capacity, thus being applicable in seaports of any size. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the solution is demonstrated with the field trial results obtained with the EU Horizon 2020 COREALIS project testbed deployed in the Port of Livorno.
Tato diplomová práce se zabývá technologii blockchain se zaměřením na konsenzus protokoly, zvláště protokoly typu proof-of-stake. V této práci naleznete popis těchto protokolů následovaný popisem konsenzu v technologii blockchain. Prvotní kapitoly detailněji popisují a porovnávají jednotlivé proof-of-stake protokoly na základě teoretických znalostí. Druhá část práce se zaobírá návrhem a implementací testbedu, který je následně použitý pro praktické porovnání proof-of-stake protokolů. V závěrečné částí práce je diskutováno nad zjištěnými výsledky pozorováním testbedu a zjištěnými vlatnostmi protokolů. Na tomto základě práce ve svém konci naznačuje další směřování consesus protokolů, ba jejich případné zlepšení, a zvláště proof-of-stake typu protokolů.
Pavlos Papadopoulos, Nikolaos Pitropakis, William J. Buchanan, Owen Lo · 5 authors
The Domain Name System (DNS) was created to resolve the IP addresses of the web servers to easily remembered names. When it was initially created, security was not a major concern; nowadays, this lack of inherent security and trust has exposed the global DNS infrastructure to malicious actors. The passive DNS data collection process creates a database containing various DNS data elements, some of which are personal and need to be protected to preserve the privacy of the end users. To this end, we propose the use of distributed ledger technology. We use Hyperledger Fabric to create a permissioned blockchain, which only authorized entities can access. The proposed solution supports queries for storing and retrieving data from the blockchain ledger, allowing the use of the passive DNS database for further analysis, e.g. for the identification of malicious domain names. Additionally, it effectively protects the DNS personal data from unauthorized entities, including the administrators that can act as potential malicious insiders, and allows only the data owners to perform queries over these data. We evaluated our proposed solution by creating a proof-of-concept experimental setup that passively collects DNS data from a network and then uses the distributed ledger technology to store the data in an immutable ledger, thus providing a full historical overview of all the records.
Budankailu Kumar Subudhi, Faruk Catal, Nikolay Tcholtchev, Kin Tsun Chiu · 7 authors
VoIP-based emergency communication is a promising approach to improving the safety of citizens worldwide. The transition required in this scope includes substituting the legacy PSTN/SS7 based emergency call system by Next Generation IP based components for call establishment and control. Thereby, SIP is used as a session control protocol and RTP as the means to transfer emergency data between the caller and the corresponding Public Safety Access Point (PSAP). The emergency data is not only restricted to voice communication but can cover a rich variety of data, which can be acquired by different means (including the end-user devices) and transmitted over IP. This includes video, geopositioning data, voice, Real-Time Text, and sensor data in line with emerging IoT architectures and approaches. A vital aspect in this scope is given by the performance of the underlying network, including its capability to establish calls in emergencies and to transfer the data required for serving the situation. Therefore, in this paper, we evaluate the computational performance of the most recent VoIP emergency system implementation, which was developed by the H2020-EMYNOS project as a realisation of the EENA NG112 Long Term Definition (LTD) vision. We perform a series of trials and evaluate the performance of the EMYNOS system in a multi-party lab environment established during the project. We evaluate the time needed to perform basic emergency call operations over IP, whilst in parallel generating Internet type of background traffic. Correspondingly, we worked out a methodology and implemented it in our testbed, both of which are presented in the current paper. The obtained numerical results lead to the conclusion that SIP-based emergency services stand a good chance to replace legacy systems when it comes to their performance. Additionally, we also provide a perspective on how the blockchain technology could potentially be put to use to enhance the quality of the next-generation emergency services. We propose the utilisation of blockchain technology for tracking emergency calls and enabling efficient recognition of fraud calls, which is a critical aspect for PSAP providers concerning the potential denial of service attacks. In this context, we provide evaluations and numerical results based on a private Ethereum based blockchain playground running at the premises of Fraunhofer FOKUS.
In order to deploy a secure WLAN mesh network, authentication of both users and APs is needed, and a secure authentication mechanism should be employed. However, some additional configurations of trusted third party agencies are still needed on-site to deploy a secure authentication system. This paper proposes a new block chain-based authentication protocol for WLAN mesh security access, to reduce the deployment costs and resolve the issues of requiring key delivery and central server during IEEE 802.11X authentication. This method takes the user’s authentication request as a transaction, considers all the authentication records in the mesh network as the public ledger and realizes the effective monitoring of the malicious attack. Finally, this paper analyzes the security of the protocol in detail, and proves that the new method can solve the dependence of the authentication node on PKI and CA.
As a brand-new network structure, WLAN Mesh network is a distributed network with large capacity, fast speed and wide coverage. However, the security problems caused by the characteristics of wireless connection are not negligible. This paper proposes a new blockchain-based WLAN Mesh design method, including user encryption module, blockchain authentication module and kernel space module. Using the blockchain technology, each user's access authentication request is treated as a transaction, and all authentication records in the mesh network are treated as public ledgers. This method based on blockchain enables secure access to the network and prevents malicious attacks.