Smart Contract Security via High Granularity Metrics
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current blockchain security approaches fail to effectively protect smart contracts from malicious behavior and security breaches, as they do not adequately serve as security gatekeepers for the blockchain platform or its operations, leading to vulnerabilities that can result in hacks and fund thefts.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system-level High Granularity Metrics (HGM) detection mechanism within a kernel execution framework for smart contracts, which involves function boundary detection, monitoring function calls, and applying HGM-based control rules to block potentially malicious behavior by comparing detected metrics against permitted or prohibited sets, thereby ensuring secure execution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional blockchain security approaches (Proof of Work, consensus protocols, private keys) are used, then basic blockchain integrity is maintained, but smart contracts remain vulnerable to security breaches and malicious behavior
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a security gateway as an intermediary component between the blockchain execution environment and smart contracts. This gateway monitors function calls, enforces access control policies, and detects malicious behavior patterns without requiring changes to the underlying blockchain consensus mechanisms or smart contract code, thus improving security while maintaining relative simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary security checks and function call validations before smart contract execution proceeds. By pre-defining allowed function calls, access control policies, and malicious behavior patterns, the security gateway can prevent attacks before they execute, rather than reacting after breaches occur
2Reliability
If security gatekeepers are added to protect smart contracts, then security improves, but execution speed and transaction throughput may decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The security gateway applies partial monitoring and validation only to critical function calls and high-risk operations within smart contracts. Rather than scrutinizing every single operation, the system focuses security resources on the most vulnerable points, maintaining security effectiveness while minimizing impact on overall transaction throughput
3Measurement precision
If detailed monitoring of function calls is implemented, then detection precision improves, but system complexity and computational overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The security gateway segments the monitoring function into distinct modules: function call interception, pattern matching engine, policy enforcement, and logging. This segmentation allows each component to specialize in a specific aspect of security monitoring, improving detection precision while making the overall system more manageable and less complex
Data Source
AI summary
Technologies are shown for high granularity metric (HGM)-based control for smart contract execution. In accordance with some aspects, a function call associated with one or more methods of a smart contract on a blockchain is detected by identifying an entrance or exit of the function call in a kernel for smart contract execution on the blockchain. The function call is added to a function call stack, and one or more detected HGMs are identified in the function call stack. A comparison of the detected HGMs in the function call stack against one or more control rules is performed. Execution or completion of the function call is blocked based on the comparison.