Mitigating Blockchain Endpoint Vulnerabilities: Conceptual Frameworks
Mohd Azeem Faizi Noor, Khurram Mustafa · International Journal of Computer Networks And Applications · 2024
Since the inception of Blockchain technology, attackers have consistently exploited vulnerabilities and enjoyed the money from attacks and heists.They have outpaced the users' defence mechanisms and targeted every possible way and trick to make a profit.There were numerous threats, namely double spending, Sybil attacks, phishing, block-related attacks, smart contract attacks, mining-related attacks etc.One such prominent threat is endpoint security which is identified as broken authentication, cryptographic failures, security misconfiguration, web security vulnerability and human vulnerabilities.The attackers find a relatively easy job to target the identified endpoint of the users to take complete control over the system and steal the sensitive information, resource abuse and credit the cryptocoin.Despite its significance, identified endpoint security has received limited attention, and users still lack robust frameworks or solutions.In this paper, a novel approach has been developed to manage the identified endpoint violation in blockchain applications.Overall, three different conceptual frameworks and abstract ideas were presented that aimed at mitigating the identified endpoint vulnerabilities and hence enhancing endpoint security.These conceptual frameworks were validated through Proof-of-Concept and Defence-in-Depth mechanisms.To illustrate the conceptual framework, a use case was provided.The first framework integrates two recent technologies: Blockchain and Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) that offer a secure and isolated environment for user requests.This framework solves web security vulnerabilities completely and broken authentication, cryptographic failures, security misconfiguration, and human vulnerabilities partially.The subsequent framework incorporates a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) into the in previous framework that provides secure environments for cryptographic operations.Therefore, it solves broken authentication, cryptographic failures, security misconfiguration and web security vulnerabilities completely while solving human vulnerabilities partially.Finally, the use of steganography was proposed within the above framework to enhance security.This framework, though discussed only briefly and its nature is very complex; hides sensitive data and hence makes it harder to attack and solves broken authentication, cryptographic failures, security misconfiguration and web security vulnerabilities completely while solving human vulnerabilities partially.Conclusively, this paper introduces solutions to mitigate various endpoint vulnerabilities in blockchain applications and enables users to leverage blockchain technology more frequently, more easily and more hassle-free.