Disallowing unauthorized state changes of distributed shared objects

Abstract

Attaching digital signatures to state update messages in global distributed shared object (DSO) systems is not trivial. If the DSO consists of a number of autonomous local representative that use open, public networks for maintaining the state consistency, allowing a local representative to sign state update messages is not appropriate. More sophisticated schemes are required to prevent unauthorized state updates by malicious local representative or external parties. This paper examines the problem in detail, compares a number of possible solutions, and identifies the most suitable one and demonstrates how the state update messages can be signed using the identified solution.