Eagle eye: an accountable logging framework for distributed systems

Security in computer systems has been a major concern since the very beginning. Although security has been addressed in various aspects, accountability is a main stream of security which is lacking in today's computer systems. The ability to not just detect errors but also to find the reason for the failure and also the system in charge is crucial. In this thesis, studies on the various accountability tactics available and how each one of them contributes towards providing strong accountability are performed. The various merits and tradeoffs are also studied. Accountability in distributed systems is a main issue which has to be dealt with more effectively and efficiently. This thesis introduces Eagle Eye, which is a novel approach to overlay accountability over distributed systems. It is a standalone application which does not merge with the application which is being monitored. Eagle Eye works by maintaining secure log files of all the packets being sent and received. Faults are detected using these recorded log files on-demand and periodically. Eagle Eye can be used with a wide variety of applications as it only requires that the results are deterministic and not arbitrary. Eagle Eye was applied to three different protocols over peer-to-peer system and over the network file system and was analyzed. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries