SBIR Phase I: Security Gateway Processing Software for an Inclusive Public-Facing, Limited-Purpose Destination System

National Currency Technologies, Inc., Ashburn VA

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to help enable safe and inclusive internet interfaces with the worldwide public for limited purposes, starting with the purpose of providing a ledger system for digital currency. The inclusive aspect of the internet interface allows intermediaries and the worldwide public to use varied mechanisms to send communications, as long as the communications received at the internet interface comply with the uniform format. As an enabling technology for implementing digital currency, this project will reduce reliance on current mechanisms for cash transactions including automatic teller machines (ATMs), checks, and services that require fees for sending money. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to enable a ledger system to operate without requiring the provider to rely on any particular intermediary, and conceivably to accept and safely process packets from unrecognized sources. Two problems at the heart of this project are the lack of trust in giving third party institutions special access or privileges in interfacing with a digital currency ledger, and the need to increase access so individuals do not need a smartphone with a preapproved application in order to interface with the digital currency ledger. The research objectives ensure that a specific format pushed out for a security gateway for a digital currency ledger can be inspected to ensure a variety of threats are not present. The project will program different cores of a multicore processor with different security checks and synchronize performance of the security checks as a safety protocol that quickly and efficiently processes large volumes of packets for compliance with the required format. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.