RV-TEE: secure cryptographic protocol execution based on runtime verification

Analytical security of cryptographic protocols does not immediately translate to operational security due to incorrect implementation and attacks targeting the execution environment. Code verification and hardware-based trusted execution solutions exist, however these leave it up to the implementer to assemble the complete solution, imposing a complete re-think of the hardware platforms and software development process. We rather aim for a comprehensive solution for secure cryptographic protocol execution, which takes the form of a trusted execution environment based on runtime verification and stock hardware security modules. RV-TEE can be deployed on existing platforms and protocol implementations. Runtime verification lends itself well at several conceptual levels of the execution environment, ranging from high level protocol properties, to lower level checks such as taint inference. The proposed architectural setup involving two runtime verification modules is instantiated through a case study using a popular web browser. We successfully monitor high and low level properties with promising results with respect to practicality.

Unique Software Engineering Techniques: Panacea for Threat Complexities in Secure Multiparty Computation (MPC) with Big Data

Most large corporations with big data have adopted more privacy measures in handling their sensitive/private data and as a result, employing the use of analytic tools to run across multiple sources has become ineffective. Joint computation across multiple parties is allowed through the use of secure multi-party computations (MPC). The practicality of MPC is impaired when dealing with large datasets as more of its algorithms are poorly scaled with data sizes. Despite its limitations, MPC continues to attract increasing attention from industry players who have viewed it as a better approach to exploiting big data. Secure MPC is however, faced with complexities that most times overwhelm its handlers, so the need for special software engineering techniques for resolving these threat complexities. This research presents cryptographic data security measures, garbed circuits protocol, optimizing circuits, and protocol execution techniques as some of the special techniques for resolving threat complexities associated with MPC’s. Honest majority, asymmetric trust, covert security, and trading off leakage are some of the experimental outcomes of implementing these special techniques. This paper also reveals that an essential approach in developing suitable mitigation strategies is having knowledge of the adversary type.

A (Zero-Knowledge) Vector Commitment with Sum Binding and its Applications

Vector commitment (VC) schemes allow committing to an ordered sequence of ${q}$ values ${(m_1,\cdots ,m_q)}$ in such a way that one can later open the commitment at specific positions. However, the existing VC schemes suffer from two substantial shortcomings that limit their use: (i) the commitments cannot be opened except at some specific positions, and (ii) their security only captures position-binding but offers no privacy: the client may learn additional information about the committed sequence through the proofs and the commitments. To resolve these problems, we first extend VC to a more expressive primitive called VC with sum binding (VCS), in which the commitment can also be opened to the sum of all elements in the committed sequence. VCS additionally satisfies the security of sum binding, which guarantees that the commitment cannot be opened to different sums. To enhance its privacy, we extend VCS to zero-knowledge VCS (ZKVCS), in which commitments and proofs constructed during the protocol execution leak nothing about the committed sequence. We formalize this new property by a standard real/ideal experiment. Meanwhile, the detailed performance analyses and simulations show that our proposed schemes are more practical. Finally, we introduce a novel notion of (zero-knowledge) verifiable database supporting sum and show how to construct it from our (ZK)VCS scheme.

Dynamic Combined with Static Analysis for Mining Network Protocol's Hidden Behavior

Unknown protocol's hidden behavior is becoming a new challenge in network security. This paper takes the captured messages and the binary code that implement the protocol both as the studied object. Dynamic Taint Analysis combined with Static Analysis is used for protocol analyzing. Firstly, monitor and analyze the process of protocol program parses the message in the virtual platform HiddenDisc prototype system developed by the authors, record the protocol's public behavior, then based on the authors' proposed Hidden Behavior Perception and Mining algorithm, static analyze the protocol's hidden behavior trigger conditions and hidden behavior instruction sequences. According to the hidden behavior trigger conditions, new protocol messages with the sensitive information are generated, and the hidden behaviors are executed by dynamic triggering. HiddenDisc prototype system can sense, trigger and analyze the protocol's hidden behaviors. According to the statistical analysis results, the authors propose the evaluation method of Protocol Execution Security. The experimental results show that the present method can accurately mining the protocol's hidden behaviors, and can evaluate unknown protocol's execution security.

Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment Implementation in the Emergency Department

We sought to qualitatively evaluate impediments in implementing a novel Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) protocol into normal emergency department (ED) workflow for patients with at-risk drug/alcohol behavior. From 2010, administrative and nursing champions trained nurses at a single ED (census: 50,000 visits/yr) in SBIRT and incorporated SBIRT into normal ED nursing workflow in 2012. To qualitatively analyze impediments in SBIRT implementation, we created a semi-structured questionnaire for protocol champions with subsequent follow-up. Investigators analyzed responses using qualitative methodology based on a modified grounded theory framework. In 2012, 47693 visits by 31525 patients met SBIRT protocol initiation criteria with a protocol execution rate of 83.4%. Interview data identified the following impediments: (1) Need for multi-layer leadership support; (2) Application of an overarching vision to constantly address personnel attitudes towards SBIRT appropriateness in the ED; (3) Continuous performance monitoring to address implementation barriers close to real time; (4) Strategic and adaptive SBIRT training; and (5) External systemic changes through internal leadership. Qualitative analysis suggests that impediments to SBIRT implementation in the ED include views of SBIRT appropriateness in the ED, need for continuous reinforcement/refinement of personnel training / protocol execution, and fostering of additional administrative/financial champions.