Native Cryptography in the Browser, An Exploratory Approach

As applications move from the desktop to the web browser, security needs to be taken into consideration. The new Web Crypto API provides native support for web applications to perform cryptographic operations and key management functions. Client side cryptographic support is a critical component in the future development of secure web based applications. This thesis presents an exploration of the Web Crypto API. The aim of this research was to determine the feasibility of developing complex cryptographic applications in the browser. This evaluation was performed by building an end to end encrypted messaging system that implements the off the record (OTR) messaging protocol. This thesis also proposes Joey’s Web Crypto Library (JWCL), a wrapper library around the native Web Crypto API that provides network portable output, secure default options, and a class based modern interface. In this thesis the Web Crypto API is shown to be capable of supporting the development of a functional, proof of concept, end to end encrypted secure messaging system in the browser. JWCL succeeds in providing a high level, simple yet elegant interface to the low level Web Crypto API

PROPOSED APPROACH FOR IMPROVING RNA CRYPTO-KEY BASED ON POLYNOMIAL CONVOLUTION

Random Number Generators are fundamental toolsfor cryptography protocols and algorithms. The basic problems thatface any crypto key generator are randomness, correlations anddistribution of the state of key sequence. This paper proposed a newmethod to enhance RNA crypto key generation. It has beenimplemented by extending the crypto key by applying polynomialconvolution technique which extracts the mask filter from the sameRNA key sequence depending on the start and end codon properties.This will provide another high level of extension and generaterandom-strength crypto key. The proposal approach could passthrough the statistical measurements successfully and achieved highrate of randomness (approximated to 96%)

MASC: A Tool for Mutation-Based Evaluation of Static Crypto-API Misuse Detectors

While software engineers are optimistically adopting crypto-API misuse detectors (or crypto-detectors) in their software development cycles, this momentum must be accompanied by a rigorous understanding of crypto-detectors' effectiveness at finding crypto-API misuses in practice. This demo paper presents the technical details and usage scenarios of our tool, namely Mutation Analysis for evaluating Static Crypto-API misuse detectors (MASC). We developed $12$ generalizable, usage based mutation operators and three mutation scopes, namely Main Scope, Similarity Scope, and Exhaustive Scope, which can be used to expressively instantiate compilable variants of the crypto-API misuse cases. Using MASC, we evaluated nine major crypto-detectors, and discovered $19$ unique, undocumented flaws. We designed MASC to be configurable and user-friendly; a user can configure the parameters to change the nature of generated mutations. Furthermore, MASC comes with both Command Line Interface and Web-based front-end, making it practical for users of different levels of expertise.Comment: To be published in Proceedings of the 31st ACM Joint European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineerin

The duty to communicate and the impacts of the lack of regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges in Brazil

The theme of this paper consists in characterizing the regulation of crypto-active products and the operation of exchanges in the Brazilian normative and economic scenario. To this end, it proposes to show the reader the distinctive characteristics that have enabled the ver-tiginous leverage in the use of crypto-active instruments over the last decade through the establishment of concepts that are relevant to the understanding of this market, as well as the speed of the degree of advancement in the accounting regulation of crypto-active in-struments and the brokers that provide this type of service around the world. Taking into consideration the structural characteristic, the first section brings the contextualization of the functioning of crypto-active products and blockchain technology, whilst the second refers to the presentation of the provision for possible legal provision to which the func-tioning of crypto-active products shall be submitted. The third section, in turn, seeks to demonstrate the mode of operation of exchanges, as well as through which ways exchanges provide their services to their clients. In the fourth section, the possible regulatory paths for exchanges in Brazil are addressed taking as a basis what is being discussed in the Brazilian Parliament and what is the guiding parameter in the rest of the world. What we see is a regulatory grey area concerning exchanges: what information, how, and to whom it should be reported. In this sense, on one end there is total centralization by the State in the func-tioning of the crypto market. On the other hand, there is the absence of any form of regula-tion on crypto-activities and exchanges. It advocated the existence of guarantees provided to customers by exchanges, such as asset segregation, transparency in the provision of in-formation, and contribution to the reporting of suspiciously illicit activities to the compe-tent authorities

The Internet of Money between Anonymity and Publicity: Legal Challenges of Distributed Ledger Technologies in the Crypto Financial Landscape

This research project focuses on the impacts exerted by the tech schemes behind virtual currencies on the EU framework to prevent the misuse of the financial system and it aims to explore legal challenges posed in the IoM landscape by the double-edged nature of DLTs as both transparency and privacy-oriented. On the one hand, it plans to identify effective legislative and regulatory measures to ensure crypto accountability from an AML/CFT standpoint, as well as to assess the relevant role of pseudonymity. On the other hand, it pursues to discover innovative legal approaches to secure AML/CFT active cooperation in the crypto ecosystem(s), to the end of mitigating anonymity and traceability concerns while respecting both the value of publicity and transparency in the law and the conceptual origin of the crypto economy

A Scalable Reinforcement Learning-based System Using On-Chain Data for Cryptocurrency Portfolio Management

On-chain data (metrics) of blockchain networks, akin to company fundamentals, provide crucial and comprehensive insights into the networks. Despite their informative nature, on-chain data have not been utilized in reinforcement learning (RL)-based systems for cryptocurrency (crypto) portfolio management (PM). An intriguing subject is the extent to which the utilization of on-chain data can enhance an RL-based system's return performance compared to baselines. Therefore, in this study, we propose CryptoRLPM, a novel RL-based system incorporating on-chain data for end-to-end crypto PM. CryptoRLPM consists of five units, spanning from information comprehension to trading order execution. In CryptoRLPM, the on-chain data are tested and specified for each crypto to solve the issue of ineffectiveness of metrics. Moreover, the scalable nature of CryptoRLPM allows changes in the portfolios' cryptos at any time. Backtesting results on three portfolios indicate that CryptoRLPM outperforms all the baselines in terms of accumulated rate of return (ARR), daily rate of return (DRR), and Sortino ratio (SR). Particularly, when compared to Bitcoin, CryptoRLPM enhances the ARR, DRR, and SR by at least 83.14%, 0.5603%, and 2.1767 respectively

THE FUTURE OF CRYPTO-CURRENCY IN THE ABSENCE OF REGULATION, SOCIAL AND LEGAL IMPACT

The Internet revolution is fast outpacing the law and creating a newer world with the momentum of gripping the unwary crowd into a boundless world of anarchism. Money is defined as a medium of exchange, store of value, and a unit of account (www.cliffnotes.com Date of use: 28/10/2017). Crypto-currency is a new wake in the digital reality that is performing the above functions of money. There are about 1,541 crypto-currencies traded in 8,894 markets by exchangers (www.coinmarketcap.com Date of use: 28/01/2018). Prominent among these crypto currencies, is the Bitcoin which as a single coin had a monetary value of $0.05 USD in July 2010 and in November 2017, was valued at$18,000 (www.useyourselfmedia.today Date of use: 28/10/2017). The drivers of crypto-currencies are basically the block-chain which is a technology, others are the exchanges, financial services provider, wallet services provider and miners. Under most jurisdictions, the exchanges and service providers are either not regulated or partially regulated. Regulations in the financial sector, are tools used in monitoring the movement of funds, fraud, financial crimes and money laundering, criminal activities, as well as the protection of consumers. In the absence of regulation, this paper seeks to examine the trend and legality of the crypto currency as a virtual currency and its current and future impact on the society. To achieve this, some monetary regulations will be evaluated and an attempt will be made to adapt these regulations to the crypto-currency framework. At the end of the paper, challenges will be identified with a view to recommending a regulated regime in the use of crypto-currencies for a safer society and consumer protection.&nbsp

End-User Adoption of Bitcoin in South Africa

Since its introduction in 2008, the value and popularity of Bitcoin have risen exponentially.  Despite being 10 years old, the concept of crypto currency is fairly new in South Africa. The increase in the value of Bitcoin, together with extensive media coverage, has led to the creation of a Bitcoin economic system with many South Africans jumping on the Bitcoin bandwagon. This study aims to identify the determinants affecting end-user adoption of Bitcoin in South Africa and to determine the main use of the crypto currency by South Africans. A research model was developed utilising constructs from the technology acceptance model and theory of planned behaviour. The model was then tested empirically by utilising two survey-based questionnaires, one for current users of Bitcoin and one for non-users. For users, perceived usefulness and access to facilitating conditions were the primary determinants influencing their decision to adopt the crypto currency while lack of trust and social influences were the primary reasons non-users chose not to adopt Bitcoin.  &nbsp