Proposal under Ockam Routing & Messaging Protocols in TypeScript

[nk7608]

Hello, this is Nayana. I’m currently a senior-year ECE Undergrad at SRM IST. Getting to the basics to wrap my head around this tech, I tried to understand exactly why is it important to have this another application layer enabling end-to-end encryption in the first place through some real-world scenarios. (Kindly correct me if I’m wrong) An Explain like I’m a Layman Version would be:

1. To quote my understanding with examples, the most recent related incident that came to light was the log4j vulnerability that had been exposed since 2013 but discovered only recently.
2. I could relate this high-level application layer to actual low-level applications that we use every day in our consumer-driven economy where we use autonomous smart devices like electric cars, IoT Devices with a point of control like Sirens, etc. seeking simple solutions to complex problems, unaware of the background work. Now, on implementing such systems at scale comes with certain challenges that if not taken care of at the right time by the right person, to put simply, leave us exposed to exploitable vulnerabilities. So, building responsible tech from the very start is important to prevent such occurrences.
3. The importance of an additional end-to-end encryption layer can be understood from the fact that regular users of an application like Whatsapp were hesitant to agree to the new terms and conditions listed out by the big tech company, now Meta which was earlier involved in recording and giving away of user’s private data in the Cambridge Analytica row without them being aware of this. This is relevant to the private data of current operational Industrial Devices in terms of location, authorization points, transaction-related information, etc. which need to be protected by enabling secure and dependable conversations among these systems.
4. Now, the major drawback of the current existing application layers is that due to the nature of the distributed systems, the data has to be transferred over a range of distances and the underlying transport layer has a kind of restricted functionality apart from the hick-ups/hindrances faced by the data at different points in the scenario. This is where the requirement for reliable systems like Ockam comes into play.
   Next, I went through the available detailed documentation broken down into digestible steps on establishing end to end connections through some lines of code in Rust and Kafka making the network safer and faster than our exposed VPN’s through effective encryption and decryption on both the ends which results in an architecture similar to tunnel under the tunnel. On a side note, I was simply fascinated while going through the Readme files of the project and I could see the building of a modern early-stage Enigma software into action and I’d love to be a part of the project in any potential, although I don’t have any prior knowledge on security because my primary domain is of development, yet to reach Typescript but I’m an adaptable learner who has a rough overview of the working and I’m willing to learn and contribute new stuff on the go!

Here’s what I learned about this project so far – After going through the working model along with the example of secure messaging between any 2 devices, in this case, Alice and Bob, regardless of the nature of the intermediate network (here being cloud), and the number of nodes that come in between which implies the number of TCP hops (that are very adaptable with the few lines of Rust & Elixir Code) basically work through initiator, router, and receiver by encryption (using Vault) of the incoming HTTP data which travels through the TCP stream. This encrypted data is transferred through this tunnel under tunnel based-application layer by wrapping and nesting of the new Ockam routing message through the established secure channel at the example port of 4001. There are 3 parameters to consider in this process namely, Echoer, App, and Payload, which is the actual message. This Ockam routing can also handle multiple hops here. The received Ockam message is then decrypted to release the Payload on the other end, the Ockam Outlet operating here at port 5000 which is then transferred as a normal HTTP message to the client.

This Routing helped us to tackle 4 major problems namely Integrity, Confidentiality, Availability, and Authentication while messaging between data points/centers across a secured channel. The choice of languages like Rust not only makes this process look really understandable to the end-user but also ensures a faster process.

As regards the Ockam Routing & Messaging Protocols in TypeScript, I’ve never really worked on Rust or Typescript but I would love to explore these languages and their implementation relevant to the project. While going through the documentation, I realized that this routing had not been tested on other TCP-based protocols , UDP, WebSockets, Bluetooth, etc. I was really glad when I found this as a good first-timer issue with no assignees under a mentor and immediately commented it away. I’d be a good choice for the job because I’m willing to commit to the learning curve. I have some background in Computer Communication Networks because I had a basic course on this subject in the previous year of college which I believe would be relevant to the work involved in the project. I can figure out the direction of work under the guidance of our mentors and adhere to the timelines defined by them.

Also, I’d built a mini-project at the end of the course I mentioned earlier which had a hands-on virtual lab to help us understand the concepts of encryption, decryption, protocols, routers, etc. I built this project while collaborating with 2 group members using Cisco packet Tracer, a link to the project report is mentioned here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/19Pl8hjgoK3VBbSrUBi4NepgzeugLhIqOdmt5FINZaBI/edit?usp=sharing

I really hope I’m actually able to convey my relevant experience and get a chance to improve my skill set through this project while collaborating with others remotely under the guidance of mentors involved in this amazing and intelligent implementation of the application layer idea!