Dr. Richard Brooks and Dr. Tony Skjellum are presenting the talk "Using the Blockchain to Secure Provenance Meta-Data," on June 19th at
11am (Eastern). Note: Due to a CTSC conflict this presentation is being held a week earlier than our normal schedule. Provenance meta-data, also known as data pedigree, is a set of data that explains how information was derived. A number of provenance systems exist. They are useful for finding the sources of errors; allowing system users to have confidence in the materials; and potentially providing legal justification for decisions. An open issue has been how to properly secure this meta-data, in a manner that extends beyond trusting the information providers. Blockchain technology provides a universally accessible ledger of transactions that is the basis of the current generation of crypto-currencies. The blockchain structure provides guarantees of system integrity that make it exceedingly difficult for malicious insiders to tamper with data. Our project adapts blockchain concepts to securing provenance meta-data. The talk we present will include the following topics:
More information about this presentation is on the event page.
- A brief survey of provenance systems that discusses security needs;
- The presentation of three illustrative use-cases that motivate the development of a provenance security framework; • A short tutorial on the structure of the blockchain;
- A brief overview of the current generation of crypto-currencies;
- An explanation of what aspects of crypto-currencies are ill-suited to our application;
- An overview of our system architecture, emphasizing two important points:
- Our ability to integrate existing tools, and
- The portions of the system that we are developing;
- A discussion of our current status; and
- Plans for the next phase.
Presentations are recorded and include time for questions with the audience.
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