2018-10-21 03:42 |
Hedera Hashgraph in a next-gen public ledger that has diversified governance. It recently announced that the hashgraph consensus algorithm had been validated as being asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerant. This was done by a math proof that was checked by a computer utilizing the Coq system.
Distributed System Security ProofThis is proof of the claims that were made in the hashgraph report. It was claimed that hashgraph was aBFT mathematically the highest level of security for a distributed system. Dr. LEemon Baird is set to present a session on the formal methods. This will take place at Hedera18, which is the inaugural hashgraph developer conference. There is also an online live stream for those who are interested.
Coq is a formal proof of verification that offers a formal language to write mathematical definitions and algorithms that are executable. It can also be used to write theorems and an environment for the semi-interactive development of machine-checked proofs. Coq is often used to certify properties of programs, programming languages, and math. Unlike math proofs, which are checked by humans, Coq proof is checked using a computer. This helps to avoid mistakes that a human might make when reading the proof.
Verification was achieved using the Coq Proof of Assistance. It checks that the proof is correct. Karl Crary, an Associate Professor of computer science at the Cambridge Mellon University, completed the verification. Dr. Leemon said that this was the beginning. He said the computer verification of proof was the future, where trust and security matter.
Asynchronous Byzantine Fault ToleranceFor more than 30 years, Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) has been used as the security standard for any distributed system. A system is said to be BFT if it can guarantee that there will be a time when all the nodes agree on consensus and know they have reached consensus. This consensus is always the same.
BFT entails achieving this while allowing a wide array of faults and attacks. These Byzantine faults include behaviors such as collusion, lying, and selective non-participation. It will usually be harder for nodes to come to a given consensus with these errors. Besides that, the nodes might just crash.
The best type of BFT is asynchronous. In an aBFT system, there is the chance of messages between the honest members being delayed or being too long. Additionally, they might not get to their recipients. In fact, a bad actor could take control of the network partially. This is a gold stand for the distributed consensus. A secure and distributed ledger technology needs to achieve consensus under such an assumption.
Some algorithms might claim to support ‘partially’ asynchronous BFT. This is where messages are not delayed by more than a given period. They always get through by the set deadline. However, the reality is that many attackers might prey on this assumption. They can either bring the network to its knees or disrupt how transactions occur.
With the Coq proof, Hedera will be the first ledger to use computer verified mathematical proof, which is truly asynchronous BFT. It ensures that consensus will occur even under assumptions about network errors and malicious nodes.
Similar to Notcoin - Blum - Airdrops In 2024