Interview with mu changchun: how did the first financial block chain standard come?

Article title: "interview with the head of the central bank research institute: how did the first financial block chain standard come about?"
Source: thepaper.cn

At the end of February, the people's bank of China issued the technical security specification for financial distributed ledger (hereinafter referred to as the "security specification"), which has been formally implemented since February 5. It is the first financial blockchain standard specification in China.

What is the starting point of safety specification? Why are specific security policies made? What is the impact on digital currencies? Will there be other financial blockchain standards in the future?

Around these issues, thepaper.cn interviewed the head of the digital currency research institute of the people's bank of China.

Thepaper.cn:What is the starting point and significance of safety specification?

Person in charge of the institute:For the implementation of the party and the state, and the planning of the People's Bank of China in accordance with the People's Bank of China issued by the "information technology" much starker choices-and graver consequences-in "China's financial sector development plan and the financial (FinTech) of science and technology development plan (2019-2021)" requirements, with support from the jinbiao committee and slurry sampling, digital currency institute put forward and the specific organization, the people's bank of industrial and commercial bank of China, agricultural bank of China, bank of China, China construction bank, China development bank and other units jointly participating in drafting the technical safety standards for the financial distributed books, The main goal is to standardize the application of distributed ledger technology in the financial field and improve the information security capability of distributed ledger technology.

With the development and application of distributed books and technology, the safety of the original specification is hard to apply to distributed books, mainly reflected in two aspects: one is distributed as a kind of new system form, books are usually deployed in multiple interest entities, different entities of the management system and safety risk considerations, is not conducive to distributed books system deployment and control; Second, the characteristics of distributed ledger system determine that its security is maintained by the common nodes in the system.

In order to solve the above problems and consider the application status and development trend of distributed ledger technology in China's financial industry, in the process of preparation, the application status and actual demand of domestic financial institutions in the distributed ledger technology security are fully investigated, so that the standard has good applicability, advancement and demonstration; In addition, through the safety codes, where the block chain play a number of research in the field of first mover advantage and practice accumulation, on the basis of the combination of numerous technical advantages of participation units, further study of the latest technology developments at home and abroad, the technology development trend to carry on the reasonable forecast, make the safety specification for a period of time to maintain the advanced nature and stability.

As China's financial industry the first block chain and distributed book standard specification, the safety norms to distributed books technology security system framework, can guide the financial industry, financial institutions shall, in accordance with the basic safety requirements for distributed books system deployment and maintenance, providing business support capability for large-scale distributed books technology application and information security risk constraint ability, form a positive role in promoting for industry applications.

Thepaper.cn:Most of the institutions involved in the formulation of the code are traditional financial institutions. Does the code also apply to non-traditional financial institutions? For example, blockchain companies and technology companies.

Person in charge of the institute:"Safety norms" combed the distributed books technology applied in the financial industry should satisfy the universality of the safety requirements, applicable to the financial sector is engaged in the distributed books or service operating mechanism, system construction is not limited to traditional financial institutions, chain blocks, and other technology companies as long as the books in the financial sector is engaged in the distributed system construction or service operation, also is applicable.

In fact, among those involved in the drafting are Internet Banks, Internet companies, institutions of higher learning, research institutions, testing institutions and technology companies. It is precisely because of the participation of different types of institutions that the safety specification can have multiple perspectives, cover multiple needs and adapt to multiple scenarios.

Thepaper.cn:Can the design of digital currency developed by the central bank learn from the "safety code"?

Person in charge of the institute:The people's bank of China is working on DC/EP. DC/EP is a controllable and anonymous digital RMB payment instrument system issued by the people's bank of China and operated by designated operating institutions and exchanged to the public. It is based on the generalized account system and supports the loose-coupling function of bank accounts.

In terms of technology selection, DC/EP adopts mature and robust technology and gives consideration to innovation. It integrates the advantages of traditional centralized architecture and block chain technology, draws on the core connotation and advantages of block chain technology, and avoids its shortcomings. Since the safety technology is interlinked, the DC/EP has referred to the relevant requirements in the safety specification when designing the safety.

The construction of DC/EP system is based on the principle of long-term evolution and continuous iteration, and does not preset or believe in any technical route. This practice with technical sensitivity and foresight, in turn, provides reference for the compilation and improvement of safety specification.

Thepaper.cn:You mentioned that blockchain lacks systematic security protection in terms of security. Will this safety specification eliminate or reduce these safety risks and operational issues?

Person in charge of the institute:The security specification comprehensively sorts out the security system framework of distributed ledger technology and puts forward specific security requirements for 12 aspects, which is conducive to eliminating or reducing security risks and operation and maintenance problems. Firstly, the basic security requirements for the application of distributed ledger technology in the financial field are clarified by combining relevant national laws and regulations, national security standards and industry security standards. Secondly, according to the characteristics of distributed ledger system, specific requirements are put forward. In particular, the operation and maintenance chapter of the safety specification comprehensively covers the key requirements of distributed ledger operation and maintenance on the basis of the basic requirements of isoguarantee.

The security specification can provide references and constraints for the security design and security testing of the financial blockchain system, but the specification itself cannot solve the security problems. Only by implementing the specification can the security capability of the system be improved and risks be reduced.

Thepaper.cn:In the security specification, the security system of financial distributed ledger technology is stipulated. There are 12 parts in total. Which part should we pay more attention to?

Person in charge of the institute:The security system framework put forward by the security specification is an organic whole, and the security requirements at each level are very important. It refers to and absorbs the achievements of relevant security standards such as information security level protection, and also contains new situations that have not been encountered in previous security standards. These contents can provide reference and constraint for the security design and security test of financial distributed ledger system. At the same time, in the process of the implementation of the safety code, financial institutions and technology companies in the industry will continue to summarize best practices, and will continue to improve the safety code.

Thepaper.cn:There is a mention of regulatory compliance in the security requirements of the consensus agreement. There are also special regulatory requirements behind, in distributed ledger technology supervision, whether there will be regulatory difficulties?

Person in charge of the institute:The regulatory nature of the consensus agreement mentioned in the safety specification mainly refers to that the historical records of the consensus process and the operation of the system should be auditable, regulatory, and unchangeable. This is required because distributed ledgers are not completely impossible to tamper with, they are simply hard to tamper with. For example, the consensus algorithm based on calculation power and equity proof will encounter 51% attack problem, that is, the block chain data can be rewritten under the condition that 51% of the calculation power or equity of the system is mastered. Coalition chains generally use consensus algorithms based on voting, and they also encounter the problem of "colluding to manipulate" data. Therefore, on the premise that this risk cannot be completely excluded, it is required to record all the historical records of the consensus process to meet the regulatory needs.

Thepaper.cn:Is there a conflict between real-name authentication and privacy protection? How to solve it?

Person in charge of the institute:There is no conflict between real-name authentication and privacy protection. Real-name authentication does not mean that everyone can see someone's account name. Financial distributed ledger system with privacy protection requirements can use anonymous identity authentication, but it should follow the principle of "front voluntary, real name of the background", the front USES anonymous identity, the background should be able to restore the registered entity's real name identity.

Thepaper.cn:In privacy protection, what are the differences between the hierarchical privacy protection policy proposed by the security specification, the low privacy protection policy and the high privacy protection policy?

Person in charge of the institute:The object of privacy protection is all kinds of sensitive information. The security specification proposes a hierarchical privacy protection policy, which corresponds to the classification of sensitive information. Distributed ledger system can make different level of policies and adopt different technical means according to different privacy protection requirements. The specific level of privacy protection policy and technical means to be implemented should be balanced between system execution efficiency and privacy protection requirements according to specific scenarios.

Thepaper.cn:There may be a conflict between the decentralized nature of distributed bookkeeping and the centralized management requirements of central Banks. How can this conflict be resolved?

Person in charge of the institute:In the institutional arrangement of the central bank, the centralized management mode is mainly reflected in the centralized deployment of applications and the centralized collection, storage and processing of data. It is easier to realize supervision in the centralized organization. However, each process in the distributed blockchain tends to pursue decentralized design. While gaining certain technological advantages, it is also easy to hide the abuse of power and hidden manipulation, and it is difficult to accurately locate the subject, resulting in blind spots of supervision, data leakage, privacy invasion, terrorist financing and other problems. Especially when there are large social problems and group events can not find the responsibility of the last pocket.

In fact, the decentralized advantage of blockchain is more reflected in the decentralized advantage of technology. Dogmatic advocates of comprehensive decentralization are often secretly trying to evolve into new centers. So pure to center and the central bank's centralized management requirement is there is a conflict, to avoid conflict and satisfy the requirement of centralized management, at the same time not deprived of the financial industry main body enjoy block chain technology innovation dividend, block chain as the underlying system of financial service tools and technology architecture, must make a corresponding transformation and upgrading, make its can take advantage of decentralized technology, also want to meet the requirements of centralized management. Therefore, by default, the requirements of regulation and privacy protection should be taken into account in the underlying design of the blockchain platform, such as the requirements of relevant contents in the security specification.

Thepaper.cn:In addition to the "security specification", is the central bank still studying and formulating other blockchain standards for the financial industry?

Person in charge of the institute:The people's bank of China has planned the technical standard system of blockchain and distributed ledger. The technical security standard of financial distributed ledger is an important part of it, which is the first standard standard of block chain and distributed ledger in China's financial industry.

Slurry sampling in addition, the People's Bank of China is put forward and organize promoted the financial distributed technology application reference architecture "books" financial distributed books technology evaluation system "specification of distributed book trade finance distributed books such as technical standards, is now led by institute of digital currency specific order advance preparation work.

Source link:https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_6534703

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