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Polkadot Graph Analysis

Project

Project Details

Program
Computer Science
Field of Study
Computer Science
Division
Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering
Faculty Lab Link
https://www.kaust.edu.sa/en/study/faculty/roberto-di-pietro
Center Affiliation
Resilient Computing and Cybersecurity Center

Project Description

"Polkadot Graph Analysis" is an ongoing research project investigating the dynamics of a cryptocurrency network through transaction graph analysis. The project involves extracting and analyzing data from the Polkadot blockchain to understand transaction patterns, network structure, and potential anomalies. The contributions will span a broad spectrum: Beginning with the definition and categorization of transactions in the Polkadot network, the project's main goal is to design and build the full transaction graph to support further analysis rooted in sound graph theory. This analytical approach will allow the application of several metrics, including degree distribution, strongly/weakly connected components, density, and various centrality measures that will be useful in assessing many properties of the Polkadot network.

About the Researcher

Roberto Di Pietro
Professor, Computer Science
Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Science and Engineering Division

Affiliations

Education Profile

  • Post-doc at the National Research Council ('04-'06), Pisa-Italy
  • Ph.D. in Computer Science ('04), University of Roma ""La Sapienza"", Italy.
  • Specialization Diploma in Operations Research and Strategic Decisions ('03), University of Roma ""La Sapienza"", Italy.
  • MS in informatics ('03), University of Pisa, Italy.
  • MS in Computer Science ('94). University of Pisa, Italy.

Research Interests

Professor Roberto's objective is to achieve excellence in cybersecurity research addressing both fundamental and applied challenges in the field, as well as to have impact and to generate innovation. In particular, Professor Roberto's research interests lie in the domain of security and privacy for distributed systems, with a special focus on systems supporting critical infrastructures. He is also interested (among others) in data science, on-line social networks, and application of AI techniques to solve security and privacy issues in current and future systems.

Selected Publications

  • Gabriele Oligeri, Savio Sciancalepore, Simone Raponi, Roberto Di Pietro: PAST-AI: Physical-Layer Authentication of Satellite Transmitters via Deep Learning. IEEE Trans. Inf. Forensics Secur. 18: 274-289 (2023)
  • Savio Sciancalepore, Pietro Tedeschi, Ahmed Aziz, Roberto Di Pietro: Auth-AIS: Secure, Flexible, and Backward-Compatible Authentication of Vessels AIS Broadcasts. IEEE Trans. Dependable Secur. Comput. 19(4): 2709-2726 (2022)
  • Roberto Di Pietro, Simone Raponi, Maurantonio Caprolu, Stefano Cresci: New Dimensions of Information Warfare. Advances in Information Security 84, Springer 2021, ISBN 978-3-030-60617-6, pp. 1-226
  • Pietro Tedeschi, Savio Sciancalepore, Roberto Di Pietro: ARID: Anonymous Remote IDentification of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. ACSAC 2021: 207-218
  • Andrea De Salve, Paolo Mori, Barbara Guidi, Laura Ricci, Roberto Di Pietro: Predicting Influential Users in Online Social Network Groups. ACM Trans. Knowl. Discov. Data 15(3): 35:1-35:50 (2021)

Desired Project Deliverables

The expected outcome of this project is twofold. The student is expected to investigate the complex Polkadot environment to categorize on-chain events and data. Secondly, the student will develop a novel tool to parse the Polkadot ledger efficiently and build the corresponding transaction graph.

Recommended Student Background

Final year or BS in Computer Science
Good network skills
Good programming skills
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