A Tamper-Resistant Programming Language System
Abstract
An important and recurring security scenario involves the need to carry out trusted computations in the context of untrusted environments. It is shown how a tamper-resistant interpreter for a programming language -- currently Lisp 1.5 -- combined with the use of a secure co-processor can address this problem. This solution executes the interpreter on the secure co-processor while the code and data of the program reside in the larger memory of an associated untrusted host. This allows the co-processor to utilize the host's memory without fear of tampering even by a hostile host. This approach has several advantages, including ease of use, and the ability to provide tamper-resistance for any program that can be constructed using the language. The language approach enabled the development of two novel mechanisms for implementing tamper-resistance. These mechanisms provide alternatives to pure Merkle hash trees. Simulated relative performance of the various mechanisms is provided and shows the relative merits of each mechanism.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 02, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA449363
Entities
People
- Dennis M. Heimbigner
Organizations
- University of Colorado Boulder