Blockchain Papers

Ashutosh Chandra Jha

As digital technologies increase interconnectivity among us, the need to safeguard our network infrastructure from sophisticated cyber threats has never been more important. This chapter provides a review of the modern cybersecurity technologies that seek to protect our networks. A discussion of strategic approaches for protecting networks, tools needed, and the future of technology in cyber- protection. It has considered traditional forms of cybersecurity protection (e.g., firewalls, intrusion detection systems; IDS) along with modern AI-driven cyber threat detection and response. We discuss predecessor and subsequent paradigms of cybersecurity protection, including, but not limited to, zero trust architecture, the continued monitoring of networks as an operational method, and distributed ledger technology using blockchain; blockchain solutions like smart contracts and protocols (e.g., Hyperledger). Examining the trends in the future of cybersecurity protections, and highlight some of those that include predictive analytics and automated remediation of malware threats via Automated Threat Remediation, threat intelligence sharing, and a collaborative approach to countering threats. In summary, this chapter reinforced the importance of a low-latency, adaptive, and multi-layered defense approach to evolved cyber threats, and highlighted the need for organizations to demonstrate compliance with global standards and regulatory frameworks.

Thomas Miller, Xavier Boyen, Shoufeng Cao, Marcus Foth · 5 authors

Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) has gained significant attention due to its potential for enabling secure and decentralised systems. However, this premise can only be achieved if information asymmetry is eliminated and there is equal and simultaneous access to consistent and transparent data by all participants in the network. In this article, we explore various DLT information symmetry challenges, including theoretical fundamentals and practical hurdles in relation to the technology stack. We explore the potential of using DLT to facilitate mutual knowledge sharing in E-Commerce scenarios via Proofs of Information Symmetry (PoIS). We found that PoIS have the ability to significantly improve trust between transacting parties, specifically in the context of producer-consumer relationships and associated investor-asset management and contract obligations. In addition, we discovered that the effectiveness of PoIS strongly depends on the presence of a reliable notification system. Our study found that the utilisation of Zero-Knowledge (ZK) proofs can improve confidence among transaction partners, particularly in situations where safeguarding trade secrets or maintaining the privacy of agents is necessary. Our results are demonstrated by deriving from testing PoIS in a commercial context that includes a vehicle under a short-term lease management setup. This evaluation demonstrates the benefit of a contextual ZK proof that maintains the individual privacy of trading partners.

Gabriele De Vito, Damiano D'Amici, Fabiano Izzo, Filomena Ferrucci · 5 authors

As blockchain technology continues to evolve, the need for accessible solutions for developing smart contracts has grown, especially for non-technical users. This paper addresses practitioners' challenges in generating Solidity smart contracts from natural language requirements within the AstraKode Blockchain no-code platform (AKB). Our goal is to lower the barrier of entry into smart contract development, making it more accessible to users with limited technical expertise. We propose three methods, i.e., Naive Generation, Augmented Generation, and Enhanced Generation, each utilizing large language models to streamline the code generation process. These methods cater to different user needs, from rapid prototyping to handling complex business scenarios, improving accessibility and usability within AKB. We demonstrate their practical relevance, potential, and limitations in addressing real-world challenges in smart contract development through empirical evaluations and practitioner feedback. Thanks to collaboration with academia and effective knowledge transfer, these methods provide innovative solutions to the challenges of smart contract generation. Furthermore, they have been integrated into AKB to enhance user services, ultimately promoting the development and deployment of secure and efficient smart contracts in the industry.

П. С. Сорокоумов

Abstract When using autonomous robots for group foraging, it is extremely important to properly organize the exchange of information between members. In a decentralized system, it can be accomplished through pairwise interactions between closely located agents. The paper examines the role of obstacles and bottlenecks in creating an environment conducive to multiple exchanges. Reinforcement learning of groups with various exchange process organizations and obstacle distributions showed a weak impact on the results of randomly placed obstacles and a more significant effect of extended obstacles for both simulated and real robots. The role of data sharing turned out to be higher at the initial stage of the system’s operation and in changing operating environments. The results of the work can be used to organize data exchange when training groups of agents.

Shabnam Bolandhemat

Blockchain-based tokenization is transforming the real estate sector, presenting a compelling alternative to the traditional model of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). As the industry shifts from financialization to decentralization, driven by technological advancements, these two models offer different approaches to democratizing real estate investment.REITs have been a foundational aspect of real estate financialization, enabling individual investors to participate in large-scale real estate ventures through fractional ownership of diversified property portfolios. This has broadened the investor base and improved market liquidity. However, the emergence of blockchain technology and decentralized finance (DeFi) introduces a new paradigm: real estate ownership can now be fractionalized into digital tokens. This enhances liquidity, transparency, and accessibility through global 24/7 trading platforms. While REITs have made significant strides in expanding access to real estate investment, blockchain-based tokenization can further enhance these achievements by lowering entry barriers, reducing transaction costs, and decentralizing market operations. Nevertheless, the adoption of blockchain technology in real estate also comes with challenges, including regulatory uncertainties, technological risks, and the need for robust governance frameworks. As the lines between finance and technology continue to blur, it is essential to adapt regulatory frameworks and investment strategies to navigate this evolving landscape. The critical review highlights the future implications of these trends, emphasizing the importance of continued research and regulatory innovation to fully realize the potential of decentralized real estate markets. This is particularly relevant in addressing issues of housing inequality and affordability, as housing serves not only as an investment vehicle but also as a fundamental shelter for people.

Y Tsudzenko

With the development of digital technologies, smart contracts are becoming an important tool for improving social networks. The research examines the integration of smart contracts for intelligent data analysis and process automation. These self-executing blockchain-based applications could revolutionize the way data management, content monetization, and user engagement are approached. The developed system provides automation of transactions, payments to authors, protection of personal data and decision-making in communities. This makes it possible to monitor user interaction in real time and analyze their activity, automatically recording and processing data without the intervention of intermediaries. This approach provides high transparency and accuracy, which makes it effective for researching social trends, identifying public opinion leaders, and evaluating content impact. Smart contracts also help streamline processes that previously required human intervention, keeping all actions and transactions stored on the blockchain transparent. This increases user trust and creates a fairer environment for interaction on the platform. Therefore, the developed system includes several technological aspects, such as blockchain, smart contracts, intelligent data analysis, as well as the integration of these technologies in social networks

Esmira Abdullaieva, Leonid Galchynsky

This work is devoted to the research of the blockchain network, in particular, aimed at detecting illegal activity in the Ethereum network using forensic methods. The paper describes the concepts and basic vulnerabilities related to the Ethereum network and the integration of graph analysis to develop an algorithm that scrutinizes Ethereum's transaction structure for illegal activities, including money laundering. In addition, the study includes an analysis of the very structure of Ethereum and the blockchain, which allows insight into the identification and analysis of various aspects of their functioning. The research results are used for the software implementation of the study and improvement of the security level of the blockchain network, including the creation of advanced software solutions for network analysis and protection of the integrity of the blockchain ecosystem. This integrated methodology aims to protect the integrity of blockchain ecosystems.

Ulysse Pavloff

Blockchains have sparked global interest in recent years, gaining importance as they increasingly influence technology and finance.This thesis investigates the robustness of blockchain protocols, specifically focusing on Ethereum Proof-of-Stake. We define robustness in terms of two critical properties: Safety, which ensures that the blockchain will not have permanent conflicting blocks, and Liveness, which guarantees the continuous addition of new reliable blocks.Our research addresses the gap between traditional distributed systems approaches, which classify agents as honest or Byzantine (i.e., malicious or faulty), and game-theoretic models that consider rational agents driven by incentives. We explore how incentives impact the robustness with both approaches.The thesis comprises three distinct analyses. First, we formalize the Ethereum PoS protocol, defining its properties and examining potential vulnerabilities through a distributed systems perspective. We identify that certain attacks can undermine the system's robustness. Second, we analyze the inactivity leak mechanism, a critical feature of Ethereum PoS, highlighting its role in maintaining system liveness during network disruptions but at the cost of safety. Finally, we employ game-theoretic models to study the strategies of rational validators within Ethereum PoS, identifying conditions under which these agents might deviate from the prescribed protocol to maximize their rewards.Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the importance of incentive mechanisms for blockchain robustness and provide insights into designing more resilient blockchain protocols.

Ru Jia, Yun Li, Yu Zhou, Mingze Gao · 6 authors

The current power networked command system is usually centrally deployed, and there is a risk of data tampering during the command process. This article utilizes the technological advantages of blockchain tamper resistance and traceability to design smart contracts for the entire commanding process, achieving full process tracking of the commanding, orderly storage of instruction information, and effective verification of the operation process. This article first analyzes the security issues existing in the current networked command system and explains the necessity of instruction authentication and verification. Then, combined with the command process, the technical architecture and business logic of the smart contract were designed, including a scheduling instruction certificate contract, a content consistency verification contract, and a sequence verification contract. Finally, according to the scheduling instruction execution scheme of the smart contract, a typical networked ordering process is implemented. Tests have shown that the ordering contract has anti tampering and traceability characteristics, and its performance meets the system requirements.

Zheng Huang, Shuo Li, Zhijun Ding

The tamper-proof feature of blockchain makes the correctness of smart contracts crucial before they are run on the chain. Using model checking methods to verify smart contracts helps ensure their correctness. Methods for converting smart contracts into semantically rigorous formal models that can be used in model checking methods still face the challenges of poor usability and difficulty in breaking away from manual modeling. Colored Petri nets, as discrete state-based systems, have similarities to smart contracts and are suitable for analyzing interactions between transactions. The analysis of control flow and data flow interactions, and transactions on the blockchain is missing in the research on converting smart contracts into colored Petri nets. In this paper, we propose an automated modeling method based on colored Petri nets, using template modeling and combination with data flow interactions and transaction modeling. Firstly, the data and control flows are modeled and combined, and secondly, the external user invocation is modeled to be able to correctly portray the on-chain contract invocations. The correctness in the smart contract is then verified based on the colored Petri net. Finally a prototype tool is implemented to demonstrate the usability and correctness of the modeling algorithm.

Maria Lyakina, A. Fedorov

See the retraction notice E3S Web of Conferences 549 , 00001 (2024), https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202454900001

Lyudmila Kovalchuk, Nataliia Kuchynska, Mikhail S. Kondratenko

The paper investigates the issues of the safe operation of a two-level blockchain with a complex mixed consensus protocol — Proof-of-Stake in the main blockchain (mainchain) and Proof-of-Work in the secondary (sidechain). This two-level blockchain is built on the principle of the Proof-of-Proof protocol, where the safety of the sidechain is ensured by the stability of the mainchain, by referring the mainchain blocks to the sidechain blocks using special transactions. Such a structure allows faster issuance of blocks in the sidechain and, accordingly, faster processing of transactions without loss of security and without increasing the volume of the block. In turn, such a two-level blockchain is of the greatest interest for the creation of a cascade system of state registers, which will be guaranteed to be protected against the substitution and forgery of documents. The main results of the work are explicit analytical expressions for estimates of probability of double spend attack on such two-level blockchain, under the condition of adversary in sidechain and in mainchain. Keywords: blockchain, mainchain, sidechain, cryptocurrencies, mining, Proof-of-Proof consensus protocol, double spend attack.

А.М. Кузнецов

Настоящая статья посвящена исследованию методов верификации данных в умных городах с использованием синергии искусственного интеллекта, распределённых реестров и сетевой теории. Актуальность вопроса определяется возрастающей сложностью городской инфраструктуры и необходимостью обеспечения безопасности, прозрачности и достоверности информации, поступающей с множества сенсоров и устройств в рамках концепции умного города. Во введении обоснована необходимость разработки новых методов проверки данных для повышения устойчивости и эффективности городских систем управления. Отмечается, что традиционные решения зачастую не справляются с масштабами и динамикой современного городского пространства, где данные генерируются в реальном времени и требуют быстрого анализа и подтверждения подлинности. В разделе «Методы» описаны использованные подходы, включающие алгоритмы машинного обучения для обработки и анализа информации, протоколы распределённых реестров, обеспечивающие неизменность данных, а также методы сетевого анализа, позволяющие выявлять ключевые узлы и связи в городской инфраструктуре. Проведён сравнительный анализ характеристик предложенных методов и технологий, что позволило сформировать единую методологическую модель верификации. Раздел «Результаты» демонстрирует, как применение интегрированной модели обеспечивает повышение надежности систем умного города. На основе экспериментальных данных показано, что использование комбинированного подхода позволяет существенно сократить число фальсификаций информации, а также оптимизировать процессы распределённой обработки данных. Выявлены основные закономерности и преимущества, связанные с синергией технологий искусственного интеллекта, блокчейн-решений и сетевой теории. В обсуждении делается акцент на перспективности интегрированных решений для устойчивого развития городской среды, а также рассматриваются вызовы и возможные направления дальнейших исследований. Авторы предлагают рекомендации по внедрению разработанных методов в реальные городские системы, что позволит обеспечить более гибкую, надёжную и саморегулируемую инфраструктуру умного города. Работа может стать основой для разработки новых стандартов верификации данных и улучшения взаимодействия между информационными компонентами городской среды. This article is devoted to the study of data verification methods in smart cities using the synergy of artificial intelligence, distributed registries and network theory. The urgency of the issue is determined by the increasing complexity of urban infrastructure and the need to ensure the security, transparency and reliability of information coming from multiple sensors and devices within the framework of the smart city concept. The «Introduction» substantiates the need to develop new methods of data verification to improve the sustainability and effectiveness of urban management systems. It is noted that traditional solutions often cannot cope with the scale and dynamics of modern urban space, where data is generated in real time and requires rapid analysis and authentication. The «Methods» section describes the approaches used, including machine learning algorithms for information processing and analysis, distributed ledger protocols that ensure data immutability, as well as network analysis methods that identify key nodes and connections in urban infrastructure. A comparative analysis of the characteristics of the proposed methods and technologies was carried out, which made it possible to form a unified methodological verification model. The «Results» section demonstrates how the use of the integrated model improves the reliability of smart city systems. Based on experimental data, it is shown that using a combined approach can significantly reduce the number of information falsifications, as well as optimize distributed data processing processes. The main patterns and advantages associated with the synergy of artificial intelligence technologies, blockchain solutions and network theory have been identified. The discussion focuses on the prospects of integrated solutions for the sustainable development of the urban environment, as well as discusses challenges and possible areas for further research. The authors offer recommendations on how to implement the developed methods into real urban systems, which will ensure a more flexible, reliable and self-regulating smart city infrastructure. This work can become the basis for developing new standards for data verification and improving interaction between information components of the urban environment.

Alexey Botchkaryov

The problem of monitoring a computer network under conditions of limitations on the use of system resources and high requirements for the survivability of the monitoring system has been considered. An autonomous decentralized computer network monitoring system has been developed, consisting of a team of software agents. Each agent can operate in two modes: main mode and monitoring system management console mode. In the main mode, the agent collects information about the computer network. In management console mode, the agent provides the user with access to information collected by all agents and allows the user to execute commands to manage the monitoring system. The developed monitoring system allows you to obtain more reliable information about the operation of the network with greater efficiency under the conditions of limitations on the use of system resources specified by the user. The autonomous monitoring system is created on the basis of the concept of multi-agent systems, within which a software agent of the system has some initiative for planning and implementing monitoring scenarios. The operation of software agents implements methods for organizing adaptive processes for collecting information using the principles of self-organization and the concept of structural adaptation. A decentralized software architecture for an autonomous monitoring system without a control center has been proposed. This ensures high reliability and survivability of the monitoring system. The software architecture of the autonomous monitoring system implements the SMA application software interface and the corresponding software library, which allows you to collect statistical data on the operation of the computer network and its nodes. The implementation of a software agent and a management console for an autonomous computer network monitoring system has been considered. Key words: computer network monitoring, autonomous system, decentralized control, software agent

Sarthak A. Chaudhari, Nilesh B. Ahire, Varunraje J. Jagtap, Prathamesh S. Shinde · 5 authors

The brand-new field of study known as “CSs” brings together technical and physical systems to provide services to business companies. This is due to the fact that they are susceptible to a diverse selection of cyberattacks in IIOT, any one of which may put their ability to continue delivering services to companies. It is difficult to collect all of the data required to develop an intelligent Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS) that is capable of precisely recognising assaults that are now taking place as well as those that may take place in the future. Utilising this approach allows for the examination and acquisition of knowledge about the data that is included inside TCP/IP packets. This work presents a technique for discovering anomalies in IICSs that is based on Blockchain models, which can train and assess themselves using information gained from TCP/IP packets. The approach was developed by the authors of this research. This treatment is being distributed as a reaction to the findings that the inquiry uncovered. Both the well-known datasets from the UNSW-NB15 network and the Knowledge Discovery in Databases (NSL-KDD) resource are used in the process that is being described here. Both of these materials may be found in the Networked Systems Lab here at the university. This demonstrates that it is acceptable for employment in real-world IICS situations.

Evgeny A. Basinya, Nikolay Karapetyants, M. Karapetyants

Today, the Bitcoin network faces a number of challenges, such as flawed user identification and fraudulent transaction methods that are used by criminals to conduct illegal activities. As a result, there is a growing need to improve existing tools for tracking transactions, as well as to develop new methods for identifying money in the Bitcoin network. The paper presents a study and systematization of the subject area problems, and also considers possible approaches to neutralize it. The purpose of this work is to analyze the existing methods of transaction verification of the Bitcoin network. Within the framework of the work, a system architecture is proposed, which includes a comprehensive approach to the process of transaction analysis. Each of the stages of this process is described: information gathering, aggregation, processing and analysis. An extended set of empirical rules (heuristics) for transaction analysis, which are used in existing clustering methods, is considered. The results of this work will provide an opportunity to improve the existing Bitcoin transaction verification methods and develop a new one with the possibility of increasing the efficiency of the process of identification of illegally obtained funds and their sources.

Tarun Singh, M. K. Jain, Vibhav Garg, Vinay Sharma · 7 authors

Swift advances in technology are occurring every day, but equally rapidly becoming more prominent is the problem of centralization. There is strong demand for well-defined, decentralized solutions, for example, for trusting companies to keep our data safe and banks to keep our money safe. Blockchain, offering both functionalities, is a perfect solution to this issue. The blockchain is a digital platform with, at its core, a shared transaction ledger across a decentralized network. This ledger holds an immutable history of digital transactions affirmed by peer-to-peer consensus. Blockchains are built on open-source software, allowing developers to ensure the safety and security of transactions by avoiding third-party governance and interference by a central authority. This project focuses on the different categories of tokens available, which are of two types: fungible tokens and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). NFTs are now to be found everywhere, from classroom discussions to multinational companies. While these developments are exciting, the skyrocketing prices of NFTs makes them difficult to follow, especially for people of average financial status. Moreover, most of the NFTs purchased end up sitting idle in the owner’s wallet, i.e., without generating any yield for the owner. The object of this project, therefore, is to develop “smart contracts” for lending and renting NFTs.

Denis Virovets, Sergiy Obushnyi, Olena Shtepa, Hennadii Hulak · 5 authors

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO), which have already become independent participants in the relationship in the Web 3.0 economy, are currently neither decentralized nor autonomous because most of the functions and tools used are still centralized, the management of DAOs still largely depends on collective decision-making by all participants. Greater autonomy can be provided by the use of Autonomous Economic Agents (AEA) in DAOs to organize governance, improve communication between participants, create an autonomous reward system, and speed up the search for information and solutions. AEA can be used as a tool to conclude transactions or implement a part of their functions. The article provides an overview of the main technological developments in the field of AEA and DAO and also describes the main ways they could interact in economic peer-to-peer digital systems, taking into account their role, characteristics, and functions. Attention is also drawn to the economic benefits that a DAO acquires from the use of autonomous agents.

Sergey V. Ermakov, Sergey Kucenko, Rinat Gil'vanov

Purpose: The stages of becoming in a university of new trend “Digital Department” which allows also to formulate term “digitalization” anew. Methods: The birth of term “digitalization” in a university has been studied. The evolution of notions “automation”, “informatization”, “digitalization” which predetermine smooth transfer to new trend in universities — “digital department” and, hence, “digital university”, has been shown. Results: “Digital university” model has been formulated that consists of such important components as “infrastructure”, “programmatic platforms”, “informational systems”, “data corporative storage” and “digital services”. “Digital department” possibilities in a university have been demonstrated in the part of realization of “Digital technologies on railway transport” educational program and such notional trends as internet of things, big data, virtual and augmented reality systems, artificial intelligence, “digital twin”, distributed ledger systems (recent years major trends in digital economy sphere). Practical significance: “Digital department” possibilities from the point of uniform approach to widescale teaching digital competences to students of almost all IT specialties and training trends have been demonstrated. The experience of external control has been narrated — from making to teaching — by Science and Higher Education Ministry and Digital Development, Communication and Mass Communications Ministry of Russian Federation by means of Innopolis University. The article authors make an attempt to answer topical in this sphere questions: how modern digital services immediately influence training features in professional education? Which is management model of “digital university”? Which components it consists of?

P.K. Yarygin

the article describes several types of attacks at the level of autonomous systems that can be used, including in the Bitcoin network (active BGP attack, passive BGP attack by collusion, hybrid BGP attack). The mechanisms of the network separation attack and the «selfish mining» attack are described separately. Based on these two attacks, a combined attack is proposed, calculations and analysis of the effectiveness of its application are carried out.

Yu. Kryvenko

Кривенко Ю

Marina Stepantsevich, Elena Khudyakova, Oleg A. MOTORIN, Alexander V. Eder · 5 authors

The paper considers the conceptual aspects of the application of distributed ledger technology elements (blockchain) and their derivative smart contract for the construction of automated transactions on the example of individual business tasks of large wholesale distribution centers. In the course of the study, the elements and properties of the smart contract characteristic of the subject area under study were determined, as well as the conditions, types of business operations and the corresponding data allowing them to consider the business object state with its subsequent implementation in the smart contract transaction.

Yehor Rudytsia, N. V. Bogdanova

The article proposes UML diagrams of the property right distribution module using NFT fractalization based on blockchain technology, which allow to develop software for the implementation of the modern way of fractions generation according to the ERC-1155 standard. A blockchain is a distributed database that is shared among the nodes of a computer network. As a database, a blockchain stores information electronically in digital format. Blockchains are best known for their crucial role in cryptocurrency systems, such as Bitcoin, for maintaining a secure and decentralized record of transactions. The innovation with a blockchain is that it guarantees the fidelity and security of a record of data and generates trust without the need for a trusted third party. This standard was chosen for the impossibility of offering fractions for sale on other platforms, ensuring the uniqueness of the proposed decentralized application. The main reason for the development is to create a module located on the network blockchain, ensuring the security of functionality with cryptographic algorithms from one of the most secure blockchain — Ethereum. The task of development is to implement functionality that ensures the fulfillment of all functional requirements, the most important of which are the creation of a unique NFT to the user’s property, its Fractionalization and the sale of fractions to other users.

MIPT, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, 141701, Russian Federation, I. A. Fedotov, Anton Khritankov, HSE, Moscow, 115432, Russian Federation · 6 authors

One can use a multi-party agreement in distributed ledger systems and blockchain networks to reach an agreement on changes of the state of the system. If one of the network members proposes а transaction, then certain network participants shall confirm it. After that the whole network can consider transaction as a valid one. A multiparty agreement or consensus determines the composition of these participants. Based on the historical data set, one can calculate the probability of confirming a transaction for each of the participants. In this paper, we use a statistical model checking approach to determine the likelihood that the network accepts a transaction. Sending confirmation requests may require an additional fee. We calculate the probability, and the mathematical expectation of the number of messages before reaching a consensus. Further, consensus models are built in the form of a Markov chain with various strategies for sending messages. Based on the proposed methods, we design a tool that automatically builds models for various strategies of sending messages and verifies the model using a statistical model verification approach. After choosing the optimal model, one can send confirmation messages using the scheduler module of developed tool.