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A Novel Approach For Computer Worm Control Using Decentralized Data Structures

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Re: A Novel Approach For Computer Worm Control Using Decentralized Data Structures

#41

Post by needmoney90 »

DangerousPie wrote: post #9
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On what basis are you saying this paper "isn't published"? Just curious.

"Published" papers are papers published in a scientific journal after peer review. This just appears to be an un-reviewed article.

It is not. I wrote this for a computer security class, and the paper itself was (unfortunately) last minute. I posted it to reddit last night as an afterthought, found it here in the morning. I'm sorry if it isn't up to any sort of standards, this draft was rushed, and I wasn't expecting it to get any sort of traction.

Re: A Novel Approach For Computer Worm Control Using Decentralized Data Structures

#43

Post by needmoney90 »

troymc wrote: post #33
kyrre wrote: post #2

is this a published paper? O_o

I suspect it's a student project, maybe done for a class at UCSC. The two authors worked together on another project [1], as students at UCSC, in the Spring 2013 semester. [1] http://news.ucsc.edu/2013/06/entrepreneurship-showcase.html

You suspected correctly. Christopher and I wrote this for a computer security class at UCSC (taught by Ethan Miller, who I expect will at some point read this), and I posted it to reddit to see what people thought. The paper was a bit rushed, and isn't proofread at all, if I had known it would pop up on HN, I would have polished it a bit more.

Re: A Novel Approach For Computer Worm Control Using Decentralized Data Structures

#44

Post by needmoney90 »

verroq wrote: post #7

Haha, I had the same idea. The since (valid) transactions are passed freely to all nodes in the Bitcoin network, one can just use the network as a signed messaging platform. You don't need to query blockchain.info, all you need is a Bitcoin client that listens for incoming transactions. I've been writing an implementation on and off for a while now. The general idea is as follows: The botnet client connects to "n" Bi…

I'm not surprised that someone else had the idea. Honestly, the fact that it wasn't in the wild yet surprised me. Great code, I'll be looking over it in my free time!

(I'm one of the authors of the paper)

Re: A Novel Approach For Computer Worm Control Using Decentralized Data Structures

#45

Post by hedgehog »

needmoney90 wrote: post #44
verroq wrote: post #7

Haha, I had the same idea. The since (valid) transactions are passed freely to all nodes in the Bitcoin network, one can just use the network as a signed messaging platform. You don't need to query blockchain.info, all you need is a Bitcoin client that listens for incoming transactions. I've been writing an implementation on and off for a while now. The general idea is as follows: The botnet client connects to "n" Bi…

I'm not surprised that someone else had the idea. Honestly, the fact that it wasn't in the wild yet surprised me. Great code, I'll be looking over it in my free time! (I'm one of the authors of the paper)

Are you aware of Dave Dittrich's work at University of Washington? He wrote a nice overview on secured P2P C&C networks in Storm and Nugache that you might find interesting:

http://staff.washington.edu/dittrich/writing.html

Re: A Novel Approach For Computer Worm Control Using Decentralized Data Structures

#46

Post by needmoney90 »

hedgehog wrote: post #45
needmoney90 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not surprised that someone else had the idea. Honestly, the fact that it wasn't in the wild yet surprised me. Great code, I'll be looking over it in my free time! (I'm one of the authors of the paper)

Are you aware of Dave Dittrich's work at University of Washington? He wrote a nice overview on secured P2P C&C networks in Storm and Nugache that you might find interesting: http://staff.washington.edu/dittrich/writing.html

I cited one of his papers actually, I didn't know that site with all his works existed though. Thanks for the link, I'll read some more of his writings.

Re: A Novel Approach For Computer Worm Control Using Decentralized Data Structures

#47

Post by verroq »

hedgehog wrote: post #45
needmoney90 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not surprised that someone else had the idea. Honestly, the fact that it wasn't in the wild yet surprised me. Great code, I'll be looking over it in my free time! (I'm one of the authors of the paper)

Are you aware of Dave Dittrich's work at University of Washington? He wrote a nice overview on secured P2P C&C networks in Storm and Nugache that you might find interesting: http://staff.washington.edu/dittrich/writing.html

It seems that even DHT based botnets need to hard code initial peers. Using the Bitcoin network eliminates this completely (now you need just need Bitcoin's bootstrap nodes).

Re: A Novel Approach For Computer Worm Control Using Decentralized Data Structures

#48

Post by kordless »

murbard2 wrote: post #42

Can't worms simply relay to each other the message signed by the botnet master? No Sybil attack there. The trend of throwing blockchains at problems for which they are totally uncalled for is profoundly annoying.

The use of the blockchain here appears to be based on the fact shutting down the Bitcoin network is considered to be impossible, at least for the immediate purpose of stopping the control of a botnet. I assume a Sybil attack can still occur within a peer-to-peer network that uses signed messages because of the location and addresses of the nodes can't be signed as well. i.e. the node you are talking to may be repeating previously re-transmitted signed messages, or simply not sending messages at all. It's not as if the master can sign a message vouching for the entire network's current state...

Re: A Novel Approach For Computer Worm Control Using Decentralized Data Structures

#49

Post by kordless »

needmoney90 wrote: post #39

Author here! I'm surprised to see this up on HN, I checked the front page, and here it was. This was written for a computer security class, and definitely hasn't been proofread yet. If anyone has any questions, I can answer anything you like.

I'd like to schedule a time to discuss this with you further. I've written a framework which starts virtual instances based on payments. Here's the implementation: https://www.stackmonkey.com/. A control system for the network created by the framework based on your premises might be interesting, especially if the process were tied to a pegged sidechain.

Re: A Novel Approach For Computer Worm Control Using Decentralized Data Structures

#50

Post by murbard2 »

kordless wrote: post #48
murbard2 wrote: post #42

Can't worms simply relay to each other the message signed by the botnet master? No Sybil attack there. The trend of throwing blockchains at problems for which they are totally uncalled for is profoundly annoying.

The use of the blockchain here appears to be based on the fact shutting down the Bitcoin network is considered to be impossible, at least for the immediate purpose of stopping the control of a botnet. I assume a Sybil attack can still occur within a peer-to-peer network that uses signed messages because of the location and addresses of the nodes can't be signed as well. i.e. the node you are talking to may be repeati…

You just timestamp the messages and give them a TTL. The worms can use ntp to sync.
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