From: xyan011@ec.auckland.ac.nz
Sent: Friday, 9 May 2003 12:13 p.m.
To: Clark David Thomborson
Subject: Assignment 2



Protecting Mobile Agent against Malicious Hosts Using A Time Limited Blackbox 
Approach


		Abstract
A mobile agent is autonomous software that can achieve a sequence of tasks 
automatically, such as a ticket booking system. The benefit of using it is to 
increase the network performance and utilization. As the Mobile Agent performs 
an important role in the e-commence world now days, the security problems rise 
rapidly: protecting mobile agent against malicious hosts; protecting mobile 
agent against others agent; protecting the hosts against malicious agent; 
protecting hosts against malicious agent; and protecting hosts against 
untrustworthy third party. This paper will focus on protecting mobile agent 
asainst malicious hosts, address the possible threats and describe the way to 
implement the solution. The approach to solve the problem is using a time- limited blackbox. A Time-limited blackbox is a new agent generated from the 
original agent. And [It will exist a while and] does the same job as the 
original agent did. The idea is during the time the time-limited blackbox 
exist, it is nearly impossible for the attacker to analysse and modify it, so 
the new agent is just like a blackbox for the outside world. 

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The words in [...] should not be there because it didn't give us a information 
about how long the blackbox exist. but the time that the blackbox exist is an 
important point for the time-limited blakbox, i should mention it.

very brief reference:

Collberg, C.S.; Thomborson, C. Watermarking, tamper-proofing, and obfuscation - 
tools for software protection 

F. Hohl, ?ime Limited Blackbox Security: Protecting Mobile Agents from 
Malicious Hosts
[also the article he wrote in 1997]

T. Sander and C.F. Tschudin, ?rotecting Mobile Agents against Malicious Hosts ....

i will give you the fully reference later. ______________________________________________________________________________
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Outline:
  Introduction:
     Introduce mobile agent system and moile agent. What is mobile agent 
system? What is moible agent? Address the security problems for  mobile agent 
system in general.What's the benifit of using mobile agent system. what kind of 
the mobile agent system already exist?
  Architecture of mobile agent system:
     Describe the architecture of mobile agent system.
  Malicious Hosts:
     What's Malicious Hosts, how do they attact agents.
  Protecting Mobile Agent against Malicious Hosts:
     Give the question this paper focus on and analyse it.
  Possible threats:
     Analysing the possible threats under the condition we addressed before.
  Time-limited blackbox solution:
     Analysing the solution for the security problem.
  Comment and other possible solution:
     some comment.
  Conclusion:

  Acknolodge:

  Reference: