Scenario: Bounty Hunters with Automatic Multisign Contract Execution Using Off-Chain Events

Context:

A decentralized platform aims to incentivize bug hunters (bounty hunters) to identify and report security vulnerabilities. The platform uses smart contracts to manage bounty payouts and automates the process using off-chain events to trigger on-chain actions.

Key Components:

  1. Smart Contract: Manages bounty offers, submissions, evaluations, and payouts.
  2. Off-Chain Event Listener: Monitors external events (e.g., vulnerability reports, approval by maintainers) and triggers on-chain actions.
  3. Bounty Hunters: Individuals who find and report bugs.
  4. Maintainers: Trusted individuals or entities who verify the validity of bug reports.
  5. Multisign Wallet: Requires multiple signatures from trusted maintainers for approval of payouts.

Workflow:

  1. Bounty Creation:

    • A project maintainer creates a bounty on the platform, specifying the reward amount and criteria for bug submissions.
    • The smart contract locks the specified bounty amount in escrow.
  2. Bug Submission:

    • A bounty hunter finds a bug and submits a report through an off-chain platform (e.g., a web portal).
    • The off-chain platform generates an event indicating a new bug submission.
  3. Event Listener:

    • The off-chain event listener detects the new bug submission event.
    • It verifies the authenticity and completeness of the submission.
  4. Bug Verification:

    • The submission is forwarded to a group of maintainers for verification.
    • Each maintainer reviews the report and submits their approval or rejection off-chain.
  5. Multisign Contract Execution:

    • Once a predefined number of maintainers approve the bug report, an off-chain event is generated indicating the report’s approval.
    • The off-chain event listener picks up the approval event and triggers an on-chain transaction.
    • The multisign smart contract receives the transaction and verifies the signatures of the maintainers.
  6. Payout Execution:

    • Upon successful verification of the required signatures, the smart contract releases the bounty amount to the bounty hunter’s address.
    • An on-chain event is emitted indicating the successful payout.

Security Measures:

  • Threshold Signatures: Ensure that no single maintainer can unilaterally approve a payout.
  • Event Auditing: Maintain logs of all off-chain and on-chain events for transparency and auditing.
  • Time-Locked Contracts: Implement time locks to allow maintainers to dispute approvals if needed.

Benefits:

  • Automation: Reduces manual intervention and speeds up the bounty payout process.
  • Trustless: Leverages multisignature wallets to ensure that funds are only released with consensus.
  • Transparency: Provides clear and auditable trails of all actions taken during the process.

This scenario outlines an efficient and secure method for managing bug bounty programs using smart contracts and off-chain event triggers, enhancing trust and automation in the process.

Examples of Off-Chain Events for Smart Contract Execution

1. Google News Alerts:

  • Event Type: News about a specific company or topic.
  • Usage: Trigger actions based on news reports. For example, if a security vulnerability is reported in the news, an alert can trigger a review and potential bug bounty payout process.

2. GitHub Activity:

  • Event Type: Pull request, issue creation, or comment.
  • Usage: Automatically trigger reviews or bounty payouts when a bug is reported or a fix is proposed. If an issue tagged as “security” is opened, the event listener can notify maintainers and initiate the verification process.

3. Social Media Mentions:

  • Event Type: Tweets, posts, or comments mentioning specific keywords or handles.
  • Usage: Monitor mentions of security vulnerabilities or exploits. For example, if a vulnerability is tweeted by a reputable security researcher, it can trigger a review process.

4. Email Notifications:

  • Event Type: Specific emails received in a monitored inbox.
  • Usage: Trigger actions based on emails from specific sources. For example, if a bug report email is received from a trusted address, the event listener can initiate the verification process.

5. API Webhooks:

  • Event Type: Data updates from external services.
  • Usage: Use webhooks to monitor real-time data changes. For instance, if an external security service reports a new vulnerability via webhook, it can trigger the smart contract process.

6. IoT Sensor Alerts:

  • Event Type: Alerts from connected devices.
  • Usage: Trigger actions based on sensor data. For example, if a security camera detects unauthorized access, an alert can trigger a review for potential security breaches.

7. Blockchain Oracles:

  • Event Type: Data feeds from oracles (e.g., Chainlink).
  • Usage: Use oracles to bring off-chain data onto the blockchain. For instance, a weather oracle can trigger insurance payouts based on weather conditions.

Example Scenario Using Google News Alerts:

  1. Setup:

    • The platform sets up a Google News alert for keywords like “XYZ vulnerability” or “XYZ bug report” where “XYZ” is the name of the project or company.
  2. Event Detection:

    • Google News alerts the system via email or a webhook when relevant news is published.
  3. Event Listener:

    • The off-chain event listener detects the alert and verifies the news source’s credibility.
  4. Verification Process:

    • If the news report is credible, the event listener forwards the information to the maintainers for further investigation.
  5. Smart Contract Trigger:

    • Upon maintainers’ verification, an off-chain event is created, and the listener triggers the smart contract to release the bounty.
  6. Payout:

    • The multisign contract ensures multiple maintainers approve the payout, and once approved, the smart contract executes the payout to the bounty hunter.

This method ensures timely and accurate responses to real-world events, leveraging off-chain data to automate and secure on-chain transactions.

Scenario: Competitive Bounty Program with Automatic Execution

Context:

A decentralized platform hosts a competitive bounty program where multiple bounty hunters compete to find and report a specific bug. The bounty program uses smart contracts to manage registrations, track submissions, and automatically execute payouts based on off-chain event triggers.

Key Components:

  1. Smart Contract: Manages registrations, submissions, tracking, and payouts.
  2. Off-Chain Event Listener: Monitors external events and triggers on-chain actions.
  3. Bounty Hunters: Individuals competing to find and report the same bug.
  4. Maintainers: Trusted entities who verify the validity of bug reports.
  5. Unique Indicators: Each bounty hunter is assigned a unique identifier upon registration.

Workflow:

  1. Bounty Creation:

    • A project maintainer creates a bounty on the platform, specifying the reward amount and criteria for bug submissions.
    • The smart contract locks the specified bounty amount in escrow.
  2. Bounty Hunter Registration:

    • Bounty hunters pre-register for the competition through an off-chain portal.
    • Each registered bounty hunter receives a unique indicator (e.g., a unique ID).
  3. Bug Discovery and Submission:

    • Bounty hunters search for the bug and submit their reports through the off-chain portal.
    • Each submission includes the unique indicator of the submitting bounty hunter.
  4. Event Listener:

    • The off-chain event listener monitors the submission portal for new bug reports.
    • When a new bug report is detected, the event listener verifies the authenticity and completeness of the submission.
  5. Bug Verification:

    • The submission is forwarded to the maintainers for verification.
    • Each maintainer reviews the report and submits their approval or rejection off-chain.
  6. Multisign Contract Execution:

    • Once the required number of maintainers approve a bug report, an off-chain event is generated indicating the report’s approval.
    • The off-chain event listener picks up the approval event and triggers an on-chain transaction.
    • The smart contract verifies the approval and the unique indicator of the bounty hunter who submitted the report.
  7. Payout Execution:

    • The smart contract releases the bounty amount to the bounty hunter’s address associated with the unique indicator.
    • An on-chain event is emitted indicating the successful payout to the winning bounty hunter.

Example Off-Chain Events:

  1. Submission Event:

    • A new bug report is submitted by a bounty hunter with their unique indicator.
    • Example: “BountyHunter123 submitted a bug report at 2024-06-27 10:00 AM.”
  2. Verification Event:

    • Maintainers approve the bug report.
    • Example: “Maintainer1 approved BountyHunter123’s report at 2024-06-27 12:00 PM.”
  3. Approval Event:

    • Required number of approvals is met.
    • Example: “Bug report by BountyHunter123 approved by 3 maintainers at 2024-06-27 02:00 PM.”

Detailed Scenario Using Competitive Bounty Program:

  1. Setup:

    • The platform sets up a bounty competition for a known vulnerability type with a reward of $10,000.
    • Bounty hunters pre-register and receive unique indicators like “Hunter001”, “Hunter002”, etc.
  2. Bug Hunt:

    • Bounty hunters actively look for the specified bug. Hunter001 finds the bug and submits a report through the off-chain portal with their unique indicator.
  3. Event Detection:

    • The off-chain event listener detects Hunter001’s submission and forwards it to the maintainers for review.
  4. Verification Process:

    • Maintainers verify the report and approve it off-chain. The event listener records the approval event.
  5. Smart Contract Trigger:

    • Once the required number of maintainers (e.g., 3 out of 5) approve the report, an off-chain event is generated.
    • The event listener triggers the smart contract to release the bounty.
  6. Payout:

    • The smart contract verifies the unique indicator (Hunter001) and releases the $10,000 bounty to Hunter001’s address.
    • An on-chain event is emitted indicating the successful payout to Hunter001.

Security Measures:

  • Unique Indicators: Ensure correct attribution and prevent fraudulent claims.
  • Threshold Signatures: Require multiple maintainer approvals to prevent unilateral decisions.
  • Event Logging: Maintain a transparent log of all actions and events for auditing purposes.

This competitive scenario ensures fair play and timely payouts to deserving bounty hunters, leveraging off-chain event monitoring and smart contract automation for efficiency and security.

Example Smart Contract Using Google News as Off-Chain Event

Below is a simplified example of a Solidity smart contract for a bounty program that uses Google News alerts as off-chain events to trigger actions. This example assumes that off-chain events are processed and verified by an external system that interacts with the smart contract.

// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.0;

contract BountyProgram {
    address public owner;
    uint public bountyAmount;
    bool public bountyActive;
    mapping(address => bool) public maintainers;
    mapping(address => bool) public bountyHunters;
    address public winner;
    
    event BountyCreated(uint amount);
    event BountyHunterRegistered(address hunter);
    event BountySubmitted(address hunter, string bugReportUrl);
    event BountyVerified(address hunter, string newsSource);
    event BountyPaid(address winner, uint amount);

    modifier onlyOwner() {
        require(msg.sender == owner, "Not the owner");
        _;
    }

    modifier onlyMaintainer() {
        require(maintainers[msg.sender], "Not a maintainer");
        _;
    }

    modifier onlyBountyHunter() {
        require(bountyHunters[msg.sender], "Not a registered bounty hunter");
        _;
    }

    constructor(uint _bountyAmount) {
        owner = msg.sender;
        bountyAmount = _bountyAmount;
        bountyActive = true;
        emit BountyCreated(_bountyAmount);
    }

    function registerMaintainer(address _maintainer) external onlyOwner {
        maintainers[_maintainer] = true;
    }

    function registerBountyHunter(address _hunter) external {
        require(bountyActive, "Bounty not active");
        bountyHunters[_hunter] = true;
        emit BountyHunterRegistered(_hunter);
    }

    function submitBugReport(string memory bugReportUrl) external onlyBountyHunter {
        emit BountySubmitted(msg.sender, bugReportUrl);
    }

    function verifyBugReport(address _hunter, string memory newsSource) external onlyMaintainer {
        require(bountyHunters[_hunter], "Not a registered bounty hunter");
        winner = _hunter;
        bountyActive = false;
        emit BountyVerified(_hunter, newsSource);
    }

    function payBounty() external onlyOwner {
        require(winner != address(0), "No winner determined");
        payable(winner).transfer(bountyAmount);
        emit BountyPaid(winner, bountyAmount);
    }

    // Fallback function to receive funds
    receive() external payable {}
}

Explanation

  1. Contract Deployment:

    • The contract owner deploys the contract with a specified bounty amount.
    • Funds are transferred to the contract to cover the bounty.
  2. Maintainer and Bounty Hunter Registration:

    • The owner registers trusted maintainers who can verify bug reports.
    • Bounty hunters register themselves to participate in the competition.
  3. Bug Report Submission:

    • Registered bounty hunters submit their bug reports through the contract.
    • Each submission emits an event logging the hunter’s address and the bug report URL.
  4. Verification Process:

    • Maintainers verify the submitted bug reports.
    • Upon verification, a maintainer triggers the verifyBugReport function, indicating which hunter’s report was verified and referencing a news source.
    • This step deactivates the bounty and records the winner.
  5. Bounty Payout:

    • The owner can then call payBounty to transfer the bounty amount to the verified winner.
    • An event logs the payout details.

Off-Chain Integration

  • Google News Alert:

    • An external system monitors Google News for alerts related to the specified vulnerability or project.
    • Upon detecting a relevant news article, this system verifies the report and maintains a log.
  • Interaction with Smart Contract:

    • The external system or maintainer interacts with the smart contract by calling verifyBugReport with the hunter’s address and a reference to the news source.
    • This action triggers the contract’s verification and, eventually, the payout process.

This contract demonstrates a basic implementation for integrating off-chain events (Google News alerts) into a smart contract to manage a competitive bounty program.