CAREER: Building Secure Decentralized Applications with Trusted Hardware and Blockchains

该项目探索了一种新的、集成的方法来保护分散的应用程序。关键问题是，分散的应用程序是由分散的分布式系统(如区块链)中相互不信任的实体执行的，其中实体必须协作才能执行所需的计算，尽管彼此不信任。由于底层的安全机制太过脱离高层的策略，程序员很难正确地实现这些策略，所以构建分散的应用程序是困难和容易出错的。在这些情况下，不信任任何单个实体来完全指定或实施安全策略。该项目将开发Flame，这是一种编程语言，为在分散的系统中表达安全意图提供了更精确的抽象。使用Flame为开发人员提供了保证，他们的程序既安全又可实现，而不需要他们设计和实现复杂的安全协议。该项目还将开发一个去中心化的运行时平台，用于执行用Flame构建的去中心化应用程序。该项目将开源Flame和体面，并通过出版物、教程和课程材料进行推广。为了探索一种新的集成方法来加强分散应用程序的端到端安全，该项目将基于分散信息流控制、区块链网络、可信计算和加密技术构建一个原型，以创建一个高级编程层，以简化构建、验证和部署分散应用程序的任务。该原型将支持在当前信息控制模型中无法强制执行的政策，以及仅通过加密和访问控制机制难以实现的政策。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project explores a new, integrated approach to securing decentralized applications. The key problem is that decentralized applications are executed by mutually distrusting entities in a decentralized distributed system (such as a blockchain), where the entities must collaborate to execute the desired computation, despite not trusting each other. Building decentralized applications is difficult and error prone because the low-level security mechanisms are too removed from the high-level policies, thus it is difficult for programmers to correctly implement the policies. In these cases, no single entity is trusted to fully specify or enforce security policies. The project will develop Flame, a programming language offering more precise abstractions for expressing security intent in decentralized systems. Using Flame gives developers assurance that their programs are both secure and realizable without requiring them to design and implement complex security protocols. This project will also develop Decent, a decentralized runtime platform for executing decentralized applications built with Flame. The project will open-source Flame and Decent and promote them with publications, tutorials, and course materials. To explore a new, integrated approach to enforce end-to-end security for decentralized applications the project will build a prototype based on techniques for decentralized information flow control, blockchain networks, trusted computing, and cryptography to create a high-level programming layer that eases the task of building, verifying, and deploying decentralized applications. The prototype will support policies that cannot be enforced in current information control models and are too difficult to realize with cryptographic and access control mechanisms alone.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.