Trustworthy Distributed Certification of Program Execution

2024-02-21

arXiv.org

AI Summary

To address the core challenges of unverifiable program execution and non-reproducible results in scientific experiments and software testing, this paper proposes a decentralized, tamper-proof program execution certification framework. Methodologically, it introduces Mona—a novel lightweight deterministic programming language—and designs OCCP, an ordered causal consensus-based distributed certification protocol that enables segmented re-execution verification, generating verifiable execution proofs without full re-execution. The system integrates blockchain for trustworthy workflow management. Compared to hardware-assisted and general-purpose verifiable computing approaches, our framework achieves strong security guarantees while significantly reducing verification overhead and redundant executions. It thus enhances certification efficiency and establishes a novel trusted infrastructure for program behavior auditing and result reproducibility.

Technology Category

• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Representing, Reasoning, and Using Provenance, Trust
• Constraint Satisfaction and Optimization: Distributed CSP/Optimization
• Reasoning under Uncertainty: Probabilistic Programming

Application Category

• Security and Privacy: Data transparency and provenance
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Experiences and lessons learnt from Web-based algorithms and system deployments
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Web data provenance, reliability, and authenticity

Abstract

Verifying the execution of a program is complicated and often limited by the inability to validate the code's correctness. It is a crucial aspect of scientific research, where it is needed to ensure the reproducibility and validity of experimental results. Similarly, in customer software testing, it is difficult for customers to verify that their specific program version was tested or executed at all. Existing state-of-the-art solutions, such as hardware-based approaches, constraint solvers, and verifiable computation systems, do not provide definitive proof of execution, which hinders reliable testing and analysis of program results. In this paper, we propose an innovative approach that combines a prototype programming language called Mona with a certification protocol OCCP to enable the distributed and decentralized re-execution of program segments. Our protocol allows for certification of program segments in a distributed, immutable, and trustworthy system without the need for naive re-execution, resulting in significant improvements in terms of time and computational resources used. We also explore the use of blockchain technology to manage the protocol workflow following other approaches in this space. Our approach offers a promising solution to the challenges of program execution verification and opens up opportunities for further research and development in this area. Our findings demonstrate the efficiency of our approach in reducing the number of program executions compared to existing state-of-the-art methods, thus improving the efficiency of certifying program executions.

Problem

• verifying program execution
• distributed certification protocol
• blockchain technology integration

Innovation

• Combines Mona language with OCCP protocol
• Uses blockchain for workflow management
• Reduces program executions for certification