Blockchain Protocol Research Articles

Web Application Firewall for Detecting and Mitigation of Based DDoS Attacks Using Machine Learning and Blockchain

Applications have rapidly transformed the data access, business operations, and communication methods. This sudden shift has resulted in significant security challenges such as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, which intensify Internet security issues. This paper introduces a novel approach to enhancing the Web Application Firewall (WAF) for detecting and mitigating botnet-based DDoS attacks through the use of Machine Learning (ML) and blockchain technologies. Legacy security systems often struggle to adapt to evolving digital threats, particularly with the rise of complex botnet designs. The integration of ML and blockchain within the WAF ecosystem represents a substantial advancement in cyber defense mechanisms. Insights are provided into the development of advanced ML algorithms for precise anomaly detection and the formulation of efficient blockchain protocols for streamlined threat intelligence sharing. The proposed approach addresses current challenges associated with botnet-driven DDoS attacks establishes a foundation for adaptive, future-proof cybersecurity strategies.

Movie recommendation and classification system using block chain

Recommender Systems are mainly used in various e-commerce applications, especially online stores threatening users’ privacy. The privacy issues can be overcome by using security solutions, which include blockchain technology for privacy applications. The fusion of the Internet of Things and blockchain technology has fully improved modern distributed systems. The combination guarantees the safety and scalability of the recommender system. We aim to create an authorized secure exchange device using blockchain-enabled multiparty computation by adding smart contracts to the core blockchain protocol. The recommendation structure and Blockchain technology make online shopping more convenient and private. We propose a blockchain-related recommender system using the “movielens” data. The case study includes a smart contract model that recommends movies to buyers. Initially, we tested the model on a small “movielens dataset” and extended it to a 3M movielens dataset. We developed a classifier model for movielens and proposed a Dual light graph convolutional network for movielens data classification. Our results, including ablation analysis, show that blockchain strategies and Dual light graph convolutional networks can effectively improve recommender systems’ privacy. Furthermore, the suggested blockchain technique can be stretched by similar procedures.

Maritime Supply Chain Optimisation: A Case Study of Blockchain Integration in Port Logistics Management

This research examines the potential for maritime supply chain optimisation through the integration of blockchain technology in port logistics management. In the era of global digitalisation, the maritime sector faces challenges to improve operational efficiency and transparency. This study uses a case study approach to evaluate the implementation of blockchain in one of Indonesia's major ports. The research methodology involved qualitative and quantitative analyses, including interviews with key stakeholders, direct observation of logistics processes, and analysis of historical port operational data. The blockchain system was implemented over a six-month period, and its performance was compared with conventional logistics management systems. Key challenges identified include the need for a large initial investment, resistance to change from some stakeholders, and the need for industry-wide standardisation of blockchain protocols. This research demonstrates the great potential of blockchain technology in optimising maritime supply chains. Recommendations for further implementation and future research are discussed, with an emphasis on the importance of industry collaboration and regulatory support to accelerate the adoption of this technology in the maritime sector.

A sharding blockchain protocol for enhanced scalability and performance optimization through account transaction reconfiguration

Sharding is a critical technology for enhancing blockchain scalability. However, existing sharding blockchain protocols suffer from a high cross-shard ratio, high transaction latency, limited throughput enhancement, and high account migration. To address these problems, this paper proposes a sharding blockchain protocol for enhanced scalability and performance optimization through account transaction reconfiguration. Firstly, we construct a blockchain transaction account graph network structure to analyze transaction account correlations. Secondly, a modularity-based account transaction reconfiguration algorithm and a detailed account reconfiguration process is designed to minimize cross-shard transactions. Finally, we introduce a transaction processing mechanism for account transaction reconfiguration in parallel with block consensus uploading, which reduces the reconfiguration time overhead and system latency. Experimental results demonstrate substantial performance improvements compared to existing shard protocols: up to a 34.7% reduction in cross-shard transaction ratio, at least an 83.2% decrease in transaction latency, at least a 52.7% increase in throughput and a 7.8% decrease in account migration number. The proposed protocol significantly enhances the overall performance and scalability of blockchain, providing robust support for blockchain applications in various fields such as financial services, supply chain management, and industrial Internet of Things. It also enables better support for high-concurrency scenarios and large-scale network environments.

Secure SDLC: Incorporating Blockchain for Enhanced Security

In the rapidly evolving landscape of software development, security has emerged as a critical concern, particularly as the frequency and sophistication of cyber threats continue to rise. The Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) traditionally emphasizes security at various stages; however, the integration of cutting-edge technologies such as blockchain has the potential to revolutionize this process. This research explores the incorporation of blockchain technology into the Secure SDLC to enhance security measures throughout the software development process. Blockchain, characterized by its decentralized, transparent, and immutable nature, offers a robust framework for mitigating risks associated with software vulnerabilities, data breaches, and unauthorized access. The study delves into how blockchain can be seamlessly integrated into each phase of the SDLC—requirements analysis, design, implementation, testing, deployment, and maintenance. By embedding blockchain protocols within these stages, the SDLC can achieve a higher level of security assurance. For instance, during the requirements analysis and design phases, smart contracts can be utilized to enforce security policies and validate the integrity of design documents. The implementation phase can benefit from blockchain's version control capabilities, ensuring that code changes are tracked, verified, and secure. During testing and deployment, blockchain can facilitate the creation of an immutable audit trail, recording all test results, configurations, and deployments, thereby preventing tampering and ensuring transparency.

Optimizing Blockchain Protocols with Algorithmic Game Theory

Because blockchain technology is changing so quickly, different algorithms have been created to make sure that independent systems are safe, scalable, and efficient. However, as blockchain networks get bigger, protocol efficiency problems get harder to solve. This study looks at how blockchain technology and algorithmic game theory can be used together to solve these problems and suggests a new way to make blockchain systems work better. A part of mathematics called algorithmic game theory studies strategic exchanges where the results depend on the actions of many players. It can instruct us a part almost how to create blockchain frameworks work superior. Able to consider and move forward distinctive parts of convention execution, such as agreement forms, exchange preparing, and network security, by considering of blockchain clients as coherent specialists with their possess objectives. The primary portion of the paper talks approximately essential blockchain conventions, like Confirmation of Work (PoW) and Verification of Stake (PoS), and how they have issues with scaling and proficiency. At that point, we conversation around a few imperative thoughts from algorithmic amusement hypothesis, like Nash equilibrium, component plan, and sell off hypothesis. We appear how these thoughts can be used in blockchain systems. We see at how different game-theoretic strategies can alter how individuals act, make the most excellent utilize of assets, and boost the full execution of systems utilizing complex numerical models and re-enactments. A huge portion of the study is around how game-theoretic forms can be utilized to create assention strategies superior. For illustration, we see at how motivating force structures can be made so that the objectives of mineworkers or validators are adjusted with those of the organize. This brings down the chance of awful behaviour and makes the convention more solid.

Exploring Scalability of BFT Blockchain Protocols through Network Simulations

Novel Byzantine fault-tolerant (BFT) state machine replication protocols improve scalability for their practical use in distributed ledger technology, where hundreds of replicas must reach consensus. Evaluating the performance of BFT protocol implementations requires careful evaluation. We propose a new methodology using scalable network simulations to predict BFT protocol performance. Our simulation architecture allows for the integration of existing BFT implementations without modification or re-implementation, offering a cost-effective alternative to large-scale cloud experiments. We validate our method by comparing simulation results with real-world cloud deployments, showing that simulations can accurately predict performance at larger scales when network limitations dominate. In our study, we applied this methodology to assess the performance of several “blockchain-generation” BFT protocols, including HotStuff, Kauri, Narwhal & Tusk, and Bullshark, under realistic network conditions (with constrained 25 Mbit/s bandwidth) and induced faults. Kauri emerges as the top performer, achieving 6742 operations per second (op/s) with 128 replicas, outperforming BullShark (2318 op/s) and Tusk (1952 op/s). HotStuff, using secp256k1 and BLS signatures, reaches 494 op/s and 707 op/s, respectively, demonstrating the efficiency of BLS-signature aggregation for saving bandwidth. This study demonstrates that state-of-the-art asynchronous BFT protocols can achieve competitive throughput in large-scale, real-world scenarios.

Cryptocurrency Transactions in the Perspective of Islamic Economic Law

The advancement of the digital era which is increasingly widespread and commonplace has encouraged a shift in transactions that makes various transactions easier. Modern innovation in the digital era has expanded payment methods beyond the traditional use of cash and current accounts (non-physical). Many people utilize cryptocurrency as digital money, but there are unavoidable pros and cons to this technology based on the blockchain protocol. Various arguments have been put forward for and against cryptocurrencies in Indonesia. One argument is that this does not adhere to standard practices for transactions and currencies. Another argument is that the Indonesian government has firmly stated that Bitcoin and similar virtual currencies are not legal tender in the country. The widespread use of digital money in people's lives requires research and analysis from religious and technology experts considering these events and facts. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency transactions are considered gharar and dharar from an Islamic economic perspective

The Democratization of Wealth Management: Hedged Mutual Fund Blockchain Protocol

We develop several innovations to bring the best practices of traditional investment funds to the blockchain landscape. Specifically, we illustrate how: (1) fund prices can be updated regularly like mutual funds; (2) performance fees can be charged like hedge funds; (3) mutually hedged blockchain investment funds can operate with investor protection schemes, such as high water marks; and (4) measures to offset trading related slippage costs when redemptions happen. Using our concepts – and blockchain technology – traditional funds can calculate performance fees in a simplified manner and alleviate several operational issues. Blockchain can solve many problems for traditional finance, while tried and tested wealth management techniques can benefit decentralization, speeding its adoption. We provide detailed steps – including mathematical formulations and instructive pointers – to implement these ideas and discuss how our designs overcome several blockchain bottlenecks, making smart contracts smarter. We provide numerical illustrations of several scenarios related to our mechanisms.

In blockchain we trust? Demystifying the “trust” mechanism in blockchain ecosystems

The purpose of the paper is to conceptualize and redefine trust within the blockchain ecosystem by exploring the trust construct across academic disciplines and its applicability in the blockchain context. We develop a conceptual model and testable propositions that extend the work of McKnight et al. (2001, 2002, 2011) to the blockchain ecosystem based on an integrative literature review. We conceptualize trust as a multidimensional, multi-object construct combining three major objects of trust: algorithmic trust in the blockchain protocol (platform), trust towards peers and services providers, and trust in decentralized applications (product). The model reflects the process of building a trust layer for users and institutions on top of the trustless technology. The paper demystifies the trust building process, from initial trust to knowledge-based trust, and its dimensions within the blockchain ecosystem, and, consequently, helps practitioners to build strategies that increase users' trust. The contribution to the academic literature resides in the unification of multiple perspectives on trust within an integrative conceptual framework to point out the mechanisms of trust building process, as well as to identify future research directions.

Analysis and justification of the use of existing blockchain solutions for the protection of digital assets

The subject of this article is consideration of modern blockchain solutions and their potential use in the context of digital asset protection. Various aspects of blockchain technology are explored, including consensus mechanisms, security levels, and functionality. The goal of the work is a systematic analysis and justification of the application of various blockchain solutions for the protection of digital assets. The article is aimed at determining the effectiveness and feasibility of using specific blockchain protocols and their functional elements to ensure the safety, reliability, and integrity of digital assets. The following tasks were solved in the article: consideration of modern blockchain technologies and consideration of their role in ensuring the security of digital assets. Conducting a detailed analysis of popular blockchain protocols, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Hyperledger Fabric, with a focus on their security against various types of cyber threats and attacks. The following methods are used: analysis of blockchain protocols, expert evaluations of the effectiveness of protection of digital assets, and study of the technical features of each solution. The following results were obtained: clearly defined advantages and disadvantages of each protocol were obtained, taking into account their applicability in the field of digital assets in various fields of application, such as semantic analysis of texts, E-Learning, Big Data, DDP-systems, finance, etc. In addition, the issue of network privacy in the context of information protection was investigated and justifies the choice of the optimal blockchain solution for a specific use. Conclusions: The article provides readers with an overview of how to effectively use blockchain to ensure the reliability and security of digital assets in a variety of usage scenarios. In today's digital world, where the value of digital assets is growing exponentially, protecting them from cyber threats becomes a critical task. Blockchain technologies, originally developed for cryptocurrencies, have gained recognition as an effective tool in the field of cyber security. The importance of standardization and regulation in the field of blockchain technologies to ensure their effective integration and compliance with the requirements of the law is put forward.

Using Multi-dimensional Quorums for Optimal Resilience in Multi-resource Blockchains

Permissionless blockchains commonly use resource challenges to defend against sybil attacks. For example, popular resource challenge designs include Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake. It is well-known that simultaneously exploiting multiple resources can help make a permissionless blockchain more robust. For example, combining PoW and PoS can help to keep a blockchain secure, even when the attacker controls more than 50% of the computational power in the system. While there have been existing efforts for combining multiple resources in blockchains, they only provide partial solutions. Specifically, it is currently still unclear how to combine PoW and PoS, or multiple resources in general, to achieve optimal resilience . Here by optimal resilience , we mean that the blockchain can tolerate every security region , unless that security region is proven to be impossible to tolerate. Existing designs are not able to achieve such optimal resilience. As our central contribution, this work proposes the novel design and formal security analysis of a blockchain protocol that combines PoS and PoW, which can be further generalized to multiple resources. Our blockchain is the very first blockchain that can achieve optimal resilience . Our design also overcomes a common tricky issue of PoW difficulty adjustment in previous designs. We have further implemented a research prototype of our blockchain design, and experimentally demonstrated its good end-to-end performance.

Sybil attack vulnerability trilemma

Public and permissionless blockchain systems are challenged by Sybil attacks, in which attackers use multiple identities to gain control. Traditionally, such attacks are prevented by consensus mechanisms relying on resource expenditure. However, such mechanisms (e.g. proof of work) face criticism for being wasteful. To address this and other concerns, novel blockchain systems backed by new consensus mechanisms have recently emerged. We formalise three key characteristics pursued by these systems: permissionlessness, Sybil attack resistance, and freeness. We demonstrate that no blockchain protocol can simultaneously achieve all three characteristics within the paradigm established by our formalisation. Thus, a trilemma emerges for distributed ledger technology designers, who must balance these characteristics thoughtfully.

Network, Cryptography, and the Next World to Come: An Everlasting American Techno-millenarianism?

To understand the nexus between networked cryptography and American religiosity, it is essential to embed this inquiry within the broader context of religious imaginaries associated with communication networks in nineteenth-century North America and their evolution into the spiritual landscape of the twentieth century. Throughout United States history, network imaginaries have exerted a substantial influence, engaging in a continuous dialogue with the evolution of religious thought, attributing eschatological expectations to networks, and ascribing them with a profound sense of ultimate purpose and significance. This investigation finds its ultimate context within the early techno-libertarian communities of 1990s California, pivotal in shaping the design, development, and objectives of networked cryptography online, ultimately giving birth to cryptocurrencies and the blockchain protocol.

Bitcoin as a Transaction Ledger: A Composable Treatment

Bitcoin is one of the most prominent examples of a distributed cryptographic protocol that is extensively used in reality. Nonetheless, existing security proofs are property-based, and as such they do not support composition. In this work, we put forth a universally composable treatment of the Bitcoin protocol. We specify the goal that Bitcoin aims to achieve as an instance of a parameterizable ledger functionality and present a UC abstraction of the Bitcoin blockchain protocol. Our ideal functionality is weaker than the first proposed candidate by Kiayias, Zhou, and Zikas [EUROCRYPT’16], but unlike the latter suggestion, which is arguably not implementable by the UC Bitcoin protocol, we prove that the one proposed here is securely UC-realized by the protocol assuming access to a global clock, to model time-based executions, a random oracle, to model hash functions, and an idealized network, to model message dissemination. We further show how known property-based approaches can be cast as special instances of our treatment and how their underlying assumptions can be cast in UC as part of the setup functionalities and without restricting the environment or the adversary.

Bitcoin forks: What drives the branches?

Despite frequent Blockchain splits stemming from Bitcoin, few studies have examined the determinants of Bitcoin fork returns. In this paper, we investigate the relationships between the returns of Bitcoin forks and a range of common risk factors, including Bitcoin, currency, network and equity-based factors. From a statistical perspective, we find consistent and significant associations between fork returns, their Bitcoin counterparts, and equity markets. Other common factors, such as the equity small-minus-big factor and changes in the Japanese Yen, are found to have occasional links with fork returns. From an economic perspective, Bitcoin returns are the predominant driver of fork returns, accounting for essentially all of the explained variation. These findings are confirmed using orthogonalised common factors and with an alternative methodology, quantile regression. This research broadens our understanding of Bitcoin forks, indicating that a change in blockchain protocol is insufficient to sever links with the Bitcoin parent.

Cross-Chain Smart Contract Invocations: A Systematic Multi-Vocal Literature Review

The introduction of smart contracts has expanded the applicability of blockchains to many domains beyond finance and cryptocurrencies. Moreover, different blockchain technologies have evolved that target special requirements. As a result, in practice, often a combination of different blockchain systems is required to achieve an overall goal. However, due to the heterogeneity of blockchain protocols, the execution of distributed business transactions that span several blockchains leads to multiple interoperability and integration challenges. Therefore, in this article, we examine the domain of Cross-Chain Smart Contract Invocations (CCSCIs), which are distributed transactions that involve the invocation of smart contracts hosted on two or more blockchain systems. We conduct a systematic multi-vocal literature review to get an overview of the available CCSCI approaches. We select 20 formal literature studies and 13 high-quality gray literature studies, extract data from them, and analyze it to derive the CCSCI Classification Framework. With the help of the framework, we group the approaches into two categories and eight subcategories. The approaches differ in multiple characteristics, e.g., the mechanisms they follow, and the capabilities and transaction processing semantics they offer. Our analysis indicates that all approaches suffer from obstacles that complicate real-world adoption, such as the low support for handling heterogeneity and the need for trusted third parties.

An Anonymous and Supervisory Cross-chain Privacy Protection Protocol for Zero-trust IoT Application

Internet of things (IoT) development tends to reduce the reliance on centralized servers. The zero-trust distributed system combined with blockchain technology has become a hot topic in IoT research. However, distribution data storage services and different blockchain protocols make network interoperability and cross-platform more complex. Relay chain is a promising cross-chain technology that solves the complexity and compatibility issues associated with blockchain cross-chain transactions by utilizing relay blockchains as cross-chain connectors. Yet relay chain cross-chain transactions need to collect asset information and implement asset transactions via two-way peg. Due to the release of user transaction information, there is the issue of privacy leakage. In this article, we propose a cross-chain privacy protection protocol based on the Groth16 zero-knowledge proof algorithm and coin-mixing technology, which changes the authentication mechanism and uses a combination of generating functions to map virtual external addresses in transactions. It allows fast cross-chain anonymous transactions while hiding the genuine user’s address. The experiment shows that, in a zero-trust IoT context, our scheme can effectively protect user privacy information, accomplish controlled transaction traceability operations, and guarantee cross-chain transaction security.

The Implementation and Analysis of The Proof of Work Consensus in Blockchain

Communication in peer-to-peer (P2P) networks presents challenges in maintaining security, data integrity, and decentralization. Consensus mechanisms play a crucial role in addressing these challenges by validating data and ensuring that each entity has synchronized data without intermediaries. This research focuses on the implementation and analysis of the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism, widely used in blockchain, to enhance understanding of its functions, benefits, and workings or flow. This research, conducted using the Go programming language, successfully implements Proof of Work (PoW) as a security measure, ensuring data integrity, and preventing manipulation. Through black-box testing, this research confirms the functionality and reliability of the implemented Proof of Work (PoW) consensus. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of consensus mechanisms, offering insights to optimize blockchain protocols and foster trust among entities. This research highlights the relevance of sustainable Proof of Work (PoW) in blockchain technology, emphasizing its role in enhancing security and ensuring data integrity in decentralized networks.

Secure and Distributed IoV Data Sharing Scheme based on a Hybrid PoS Blockchain Protocol

Secure and Distributed IoV Data Sharing Scheme based on a Hybrid PoS Blockchain Protocol