Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Blindly Backrunning Private Transactions With Fully Homomorphic Encryption(Imperial College London, 2024-09) Althonayan, Majed; Passerat-Palmbach, JonathanBlockchains and cryptocurrencies have experienced a monumental rise over the past decade. With Ethereum alone having around 1 million transactions per day [1], making it increasingly more attractive to opportunists who attempt to extract monetary value from transactions. This is, however, often at the expense of the user. As a result, it is of paramount importance to ensure that users are protected from malicious agents who exploit the public, transparent nature of Blockchains for individual gain. A Blockchain is a chain of blocks, each of which consisting of transactions that are executed sequentially. The ability to alter this order of transactions (by insertion, removal and re-ordering of transactions) can lead to the extraction of additional value commonly referred to as Maximal Extractable Value (MEV). MEV has led to the extraction of $750 million from Ethereum before the merge [2]. Although certain forms of MEV are universally considered to have adverse effects on users and their experience, other forms of MEV, such as arbitrage and liquidations, are believed to have a positive effect in regulating the markets. This research introduces a promising solution that allows searchers to backrun transactions, leveraging the effects of arbitrage while mitigating the harmful effects of MEV. It expands on the work done by Flashbots by utilising fully homomorphic encryption to enable the blind backrunning of transactions by searchers through the fhEVM framework [3] on the UniswapV2 decentralised exchange. This paper also addresses the challenges faced by previous works, aiming to reduce the computational overhead and enhance the solution’s usability. Despite computational constraints, this paper presents a novel solution to the outlined aims through the advancement of known solutions by allowing searchers to combine multiple transactions and accept a greater number of UniswapV2 methods, thereby allowing searchers to generate complex and novel arbitrage opportunities. This advancement is aided with use of the fhEVM framework [3] which was utilised to build and deploy the solution on the public network. This paper represents a solid foundation for future research with the aim of further enhancing the use of fully homomorphic encryption in decentralised finance to create a fairer, more ethical ecosystem.5 0Item Restricted Explainability Requirement in Blockchain Smart Contracts: A Human-Centred Approach(The university of Birmingham, 2024-07) Alghanmi, Hanouf; Bahsoon, RamiBlockchain smart contracts have emerged as a transformative technology, enabling the automation and execution of contractual agreements. These self-executing software programs leverage blockchain's distributed and immutable nature to eliminate the need for third-party intermediaries. However, this new paradigm of automation and authority introduces a complex environment with technical intricacies that users are expected to understand and trust. The irreversible nature of blockchain decisions exacerbates these issues, as any mistake or misuse cannot be rectified. Current smart contract designs often neglect human-centric approaches and the exploration of trustworthiness characteristics, such as explainability. Explainability, a renowned requirement in Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) aimed at enhancing human understandability, transparency and trust, has yet to be thoroughly examined in the context of smart contracts. A noticeable gap exists in the literature concerning the early development of explainability requirements, including established methods and frameworks for addressing requirements analysis phases, design principles, evaluation of their necessity and trade-offs. Therefore, this thesis aims to advance the field of blockchain smart contract systems by introducing explainability as a design concern, fundamentally prompting requirements engineers and designers to cater to this concern during the early development phases. Specifically, we provide guidelines for explainability requirements analysis, addressing what, why, when and to whom to explain. We propose design principles for integrating explainability into the early stages of development. To tailor explainability further, we propose a human-centred framework for determining information requirements in smart contract explanations, utilising situational awareness theories to address the `what to explain' aspect. Additionally, we present `explainability purposes' as an integral resource in evaluating and designing explainability. Our approach includes a novel evaluation framework inspired by the metacognitive explanation-based theory of surprise, addressing the `why to explain' aspect. The proposed approaches have been evaluated through qualitative validations and expert feedback. We have illustrated the added value and constraints of explainability requirements in smart contracts by presenting case studies drawn from literature, industry scenarios and real-world projects. This study informs requirements engineers and designers regarding how to elicit, design and evaluate the need for explainability requirements, contributing to the advancement of the early development of smart contracts.18 0Item Restricted A Simulation Framework for Evaluating the Performance of Blockchain-based IoT Ecosystems(Newcastle University, 2024-09-05) Albshri, Adel; Solaiman, EllisRecently, it has been appealing to integrate Blockchain with IoT in several domains, such as healthcare and smart cities. This integration facilitates the decentralized processing of IoT data, enhancing cybersecurity by ensuring data integrity, preventing tampering, and strengthening privacy through decentralized trust mechanisms and resilient security measures. These features create a secure and reliable environment, mitigating potential cyber threats while ensuring non-repudiation and higher availability. However, Blockchain performance is questionable when handling massive data sets generated by complex and heterogeneous IoT applications. Thus, whether the Blockchain performance meets expectations will significantly influence the overall viability of integration. Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate the feasibility of integrating IoT and Blockchain and examine the technology readiness level before the production stage. This thesis addresses this matter by extensively investigating approaches to the performance evaluation of Blockchain-based IoT solutions. Firstly, it systematically reviews existing Blockchain simulators and identifies their strengths and limitations. Secondly, due to the lack of existing blockchain simulators specifically tailored for IoT, this thesis contributes a novel blockchain-based IoT simulator which enables investigation of blockchain performance based on adaptable design configuration choices of IoT infrastructure. The simulator benefits from lessons learnt about the strengths and limitations of existing works and considers various design requirements and views collected through questioners and focus groups of domain experts. Third, the thesis recognises the shortcomings of blockchain simulators, such as support for smart contracts. Therefore, it contributes a middleware that leverages IoT simulators to benchmark real blockchain platforms' performance, namely Hyperledger Fabric. It resolves challenges related to integrating distinctive environments: simulated IoT models with real Blockchain ecosystems. Lastly, this thesis employs Machine Learning (ML) techniques for predicting blockchain performance based on predetermined configurations. Contrariwise, it also utilises ML techniques to recommend the optimal configurations for achieving the desired level of blockchain performance.49 0Item Restricted Leveraging Blockchain for Trust Enhancement in Decentralized Marketplaces: A Reputation System Perspective(Old Dominion University, 2024-07) Aljohani, Meshari; Olariu, Stephan; Mukkamala, RaviCentralized marketplaces provide reliable reputation services through a central authority, but this raises concerns about single points of failure, user privacy, and data security. Decentralized marketplaces have emerged to address these issues by enhancing user privacy and transparency and eliminating single points of failure. However, decentralized marketplaces face the challenge of maintaining user trust without a centralized authority. Current blockchain-based marketplaces rely on subjective buyer feedback. Additionally, the transparency in these systems can deter honest reviews due to fear of seller retaliation. To address these issues, we propose a trust and reputation system using blockchain and smart contracts. Our system replaces unreliable buyer feedback with objective transaction assessments. Performance challenges of blockchain-based systems are tackled through three innovative schemes, resulting in a substantial improvement over the baseline approach. Furthermore, we proposed a decentralized marketplace utilizing blockchain-based smart contracts to address privacy concerns in buyer reviews that arise from the transparency of decentralized marketplaces. This enables buyers to use one-time identities for reviews to promote anonymity. This system ensures that buyers provide reviews by requiring a review fee, which is fully refunded after the review is submitted. Moreover, we proposed a trust and reputation service based on Laplace’s Law of Succession, where trust in a seller is defined as the subjective probability that they will fulfill their contractual obligations in the next transaction. This method accommodates multi-segment marketplaces and time-varying seller performance, predicts trust and reputation far into the future, and discounts older reputation scores. In addition, we propose SmartReview, an automated review system utilizing blockchain smart contracts to generate objective, bias-free reviews. The review module is designed as a smart contract that takes the contract terms and the evidence provided by the buyer and seller as inputs. It employs advanced computer vision and machine learning techniques to produce quantitative and qualitative reviews for each transaction, ensuring objectivity and eliminating reviewer bias. Lastly, we introduce a structured blockchain architecture featuring a layered approach. This architecture includes mechanisms for secure transaction recording and efficient query retrieval through auxiliary indexing, demonstrating significant advancements in decentralized data management.24 0Item Restricted Verification of Smart Contracts using the Interactive Theorem Prover Agda(Swansea University, 2024-07-25) Alhabardi, Fahad; Setzer, AntonThe goal of this thesis is to verify smart contracts in Blockchain. In particular, we focus on smart contracts in Bitcoin and Solidity. In order to specify the correctness of smart contracts, we use weakest preconditions. For this, we develop a model of smart contracts in the interactive theorem prover and dependent type programming language Agda and prove the correctness of smart contracts in it. In the context of Bitcoin, our verification of Bitcoin scripts consists of non-conditional and conditional scripts. For Solidity, we refer to programs using object- oriented features of Solidity, such as calling of other contracts, full recursion, and the use of gas in order to guarantee termination while having a Turing-complete language. We have developed a simulator for Solidity-style smart contracts. As a main example, we executed a reentrancy attack in our model. We have verified smart contracts in Bitcoin and Solidity using weakest precondition in Agda. Furthermore, Agda, combined with the fact that it is a theorem prover and programming language, allows the writing of verified programs, where the verification takes place in the same language in which the program is written, avoiding the problem of translation from one language to another (with possible translation mistakes).7 0Item Restricted Verification of Smart Contracts using the Interactive Theorem Prover Agda(Swansea University, 2024-07-25) Alhabardi, Fahad Faleh; Setzer, AntonThe goal of this thesis is to verify smart contracts in Blockchain. In particular, we focus on smart contracts in Bitcoin and Solidity. In order to specify the correctness of smart contracts, we use weakest preconditions. For this, we develop a model of smart contracts in the interactive theorem prover and dependent type programming language Agda and prove the correctness of smart contracts in it. In the context of Bitcoin, our verification of Bitcoin scripts consists of non-conditional and conditional scripts. For Solidity, we refer to programs using object- oriented features of Solidity, such as calling of other contracts, full recursion, and the use of gas in order to guarantee termination while having a Turing-complete language. We have developed a simulator for Solidity-style smart contracts. As a main example, we executed a reentrancy attack in our model. We have verified smart contracts in Bitcoin and Solidity using weakest precondition in Agda. Furthermore, Agda, combined with the fact that it is a theorem prover and programming language, allows the writing of verified programs, where the verification takes place in the same language in which the program is written, avoiding the problem of translation from one language to another (with possible translation mistakes).11 0Item Restricted Peer-to-Peer Accommodation Sub- letting Blockchain-based Platform(University of Technology Sydney, 2024-04-11) Alzahrani, Asma Ateeq; Hussain, FarookhThis study introduces Block2Let, a blockchain-based peer-to-peer (P2P) platform for accommodation sub-letting. A systematic literature review carried out revealed that the P2P accommodation industry relies heavily on third parties. This exposes the industry to various challenges ranging from breach of data integrity to violation of user privacy, poor transparency, and lack of trust. In addition, most existing P2P accommodation sharing platforms lack adequate decision support systems to guide property sub-leasers on fair pricing and local tourism experiences. To address these research gaps, this study develops the Block2Let, a platform that combines blockchain, smart contracts, artificial intelligence, and local experiences to provide an end-to-end solution for a complete tourism experience. The platform is based on the Ethereum blockchain which ensures the security, reliability, and transparency of transactions as property details are verified, validated, and encrypted before being stored on the blockchain. Furthermore, smart contracts are employed to automate and enforce agreements between original property owners, original leasers, and sub-leasers. Also, an AI algorithm is built to predict the optimal price of properties listed on the Block2Let marketplace. This provides a guide for sub-leasers in making informed decision when bidding for a property. Finally, the platform includes local experience offers from tourism operators. Sub-leasers who make successful bids can select from such local experience packages.15 0Item Restricted Blockchain Technology Adoption in Saudi Arabia’s Higher Education Sector(University of Technology Sydney, 2023-08-08) Alalyan, Mohrah Saad; Hussain, Farookh; Q.Gill, AsifBlockchain technology is a decentralised, digital ledger that records transactions in a secure and transparent way using cryptography. It allows for a trustless system where no central authority is needed to validate transactions. Originally used as a cryptocurrency mechanism, blockchain has since found applications in many fields and industries, although its applications in education are still emerging. Guided by 1) the importance assigned to innovative technologies for higher education development in Saudi Arabia and 2) the lack of blockchain adoption knowledge in this field, this study aims to develop a framework for blockchain adoption in Saudi higher education institutions. Using the Design Science Approach as a basis, this study 1) designs an original framework based on theoretical and empirical literature on blockchain adoption; 2) presents the results of the framework analysis and refinement by industry experts; and 3) demonstrates the results of the framework evaluation based on a large-scale survey of higher education professionals. The Blockchain Adoption Framework for Saudi Higher Education Institutions developed in this study is, to the best knowledge of the researcher, the first of its kind. It includes five dimensions: Technology, Organisation, Environment, Quality and Barriers. The model demonstrates a high level of validity with 11 out of 16 factors demonstrating a statistically significant relationship to blockchain adoption. The framework can serve as a practical tool for institutional decision makers in developing a plan for blockchain adoption in colleges and universities in Saudi Arabia. The framework is supplemented with a questionnaire tool that helps identify adoption enablers and barriers specific to each institution. The framework can also be used as a foundation for further research on blockchain adoption both in the context of higher education and related industries. Despite its rigorous research approach, the study still had some limitations regarding geographic and industry context, data collection and sampling methods. Therefore, future studies are recommended to explore the framework's applicability to other sectors and national contexts as well as using different methodologies to test its validity.38 0Item Restricted Investigating Factors Influencing Blockchain Adoption in Saudi Healthcare Data Management(Florida Institute of Technology, 2024-05-15) Alkhalifah, Noura; Slhoub, KhaledBlockchain technology can potentially address security and privacy issues concerning the collection, storage, and sharing of healthcare data. However, its adoption within the healthcare sector is nascent in Saudi Arabia. This underutilization prompted our investigation into the determinants influencing blockchain adoption, intending to fully empower the Saudi healthcare sector to leverage blockchain capabilities. To achieve this, an extensive literature review was conducted to identify the pivotal factors encompassing technology, organization, and environment (TOE) that affect the successful implementation of blockchain technologies in managing healthcare data within the Saudi context. Utilizing the TOE framework, this study formulated three hypotheses concerning the adoption of blockchain technology. Subsequently, a quantitative analysis was undertaken through an online survey distributed among healthcare organizations in Saudi Arabia. We obtained responses from 129 valid ques- tionnaires and employed a partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) for analysis and hypothesis testing. The results show that technological and organizational factors significantly influence the adoption of blockchains, whereas environmental factors have no significance. This study contributes significantly to bridging a critical gap in the academic literature by clarifying the factors influencing blockchain adoption in healthcare data management in Saudi Arabia. Our findings serve as valuable guidelines for decision-makers contemplating the adoption of blockchain technology in healthcare data management, thus facilitating the effective navigation of associated challenges.19 0Item Restricted Intelligent Blockchain for Managing Micro-credentials (IBMM)(University of Technology Sydney, 2023-04-10) Alsobhi, Hada; Hussain, FarookhRecently, blockchain technology or distributed ledger technology (DLT) has been used in a wide range of fields as a way to preserve records and information in a distributed and trusted manner. Blockchain technology has revolutionized higher education, particularly in the area of micro-credentials. The incorporation of micro-credentials in higher education has the potential to change traditional education and learning process. A number of micro-credentials can be accumulated for credit toward a specific academic degree. Validating micro-credentials is a time-consuming and cumbersome process, but blockchain technology enables students’ micro-credentials to be validated easily and quickly. The immutability, decentralization, security, and transparency of blockchain technology make it a suitable technology for addressing the significant challenges associated with micro-credential provenance and data sharing in a secure manner. Several existing micro-credential platforms that use blockchain technology to efficiently and securely manage students’ micro-credentials and academic accomplishments have been discussed in the literature. However, none of these existing platforms offer a comprehensive solution that can securely store, manage, and share micro-credentials with stakeholders in a privacy-preserving manner, nor are they able to provide personalized recommendations on students’ majors and action plans. In this thesis, we propose an intelligent blockchain for managing micro-credentials (IBMM) framework as a holistic platform for higher education students to manage their micro-credentials. A systematic literature review (SLR) was carried out to identify the shortcomings of the existing scientific studies in the micro-credential management area and to identify the research questions and solutions. By employing the SLR process, 15 relevant studies were identified and systematically reviewed which highlighted a number of research gaps. None of the existing studies propose a method that ensures the anonymity of students’ identities on the blockchain when exchanging micro-credentials. Moreover, no intelligent techniques are used to recommend suitable majors for students and assist them in selecting the best action plan. This thesis examines the use of privacy-preserving and AI methods to address these research gaps. Blockchain and AI techniques are integrated into the IBMM framework to undertake the following tasks: • verify and store micro-credentials on the blockchain ledger to ensure the immutability and security of data. • preserve the privacy of students’ identities while sharing their micro-credentials with HEIs. • recommend the most appropriate academic majors for students based on their micro-credentials. • choose the most optimal action plan for students from multiple options based on several criteria. In this thesis, research questions and objectives are identified, and an end-to-end solution is proposed to address the research issues.26 0
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