U.S. Air Force Building Bitcoin Payment Gateway
U.S. Air Force Building Bitcoin Payment GatewayBitcoin Magazine / Brian Cohen / 1 Std. später
The United States Air Force has quietly been working on a Bitcoin payment gateway. Through an SBIR or Small Business Innovation Research grant to the Department of Defense, Utica New York based Critical Technologies Inc. has been working on a commercial product for the Air Force since applying for the grant back in 2012 (starting Fiscal Year 2013). Coincidentally, the Bitcoin Foundation began its grant proposal process in 2012 and also awarded its first grant in 2013.
SBIR further explains explains its grant program for small business conducting federal research and R&D on its website:
“{Grants are for} Federal Research/Research and Development that has the potential for commercialization. Through a competitive award process, SBIR enables small businesses to explore their technological potential and provides the incentive to profit from commercialization. By including qualified small businesses in the nation’s research and development (R&D) arena, high-tech innovation is stimulated, and the United States gains entrepreneurial spirit as it meets its specific R&D needs.”
Critical Technologies was granted awards totaling $899,611 for Phase I (technical merit, feasibility, and commercial potential) and Phase II (commercial potential proposal) for “Remote Attestation and Distributed Trust in Networks (RADTiN).” Phase II began on August 5th, 2013 and will continue through August 4th, 2015 before the Air Force decides whether or not to pursue commercialization objectives of phase II. However, SBIR does not fund Phase III awards. Phase III could potentially involve a contract directly with the Air Force but that remains to be seen.
The proposal has a lot of jargon such as “$SWAP constraints” and acronyms such as IoTaP (Internet of Things and People), MANET (Mobile ad hoc network), DAA (Direct Anonymous Attestation) and DAM3ON (Distributed Attestation for Mobile, Multicast & Multiple Operator Networks) that left me a bit flummoxed.
However, it was not difficult to find the objective behind this project:
“The goal is secure and trusted transactions in a distributed Network Centric Operations environment.”
Network Centric Operations, also known as “Network-centric warfare” is a type of military war theory pioneered by the Department of Defense. The Air Force’s military networking gateway for network-centric warfare known as BACN or Battlefield Airborne Communications Node, recently finished 5,000 combat missions. “Essentially, the BACN system has the capability to enable a soldier on the ground to use a cell phone to text message jet fighter and bomber pilots operating in his area” explained John Keller in Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine when the technology was first being deployed.
Getting back to the Air Force’s Bitcoin payment gateway, the award states that the project could enable a trusted gateway between bitcoin wallets and point of sales machines which would most likely include cash registers and vending machines:
“..the most unique commercialization opportunity is in the emerging digital currency/commerce marketplace. Using the team”s already existing reputation (as the enablers of the world”s first BitCoin/vending machine transaction) and relationships, the RADTiN/DAM3ON software will be demonstrated as a key enabling technology for the establishment of trust and the security of transactions between digital wallets and physical point-of-sale machines. The key to penetration in this emerging marketplace is to maximize automation (ease of operation), verified security of your smartphone and digital wallet, and trust in the sales machine, the protection of your data in motion (to the machine) and at rest (in the cloud). The ability to clearly attest to the security of your smartphone, your digital wallet, and your data before, during, and after the transaction will be of interest to the firms attempting to broaden this emerging economy. The demonstration of this technology will allow the team entry into these diverse marketplaces, and represent a unique potential commercialization opportunity for a DoD SBIR research effort.”
While Bitcoin is a trustless payment protocol, as layers are added to Bitcoin there is an increasing need for Bitcoin users to be able to trust the systems they are using. This technology appears to bridge this widening gap in trust.
No Stranger to Bitcoin
While I don’t think this means that combat troops will be beaming bitcoin to (and from) B52 bombers any time soon, there are some interesting connections between Bitcoin and the military industrial complex.
The Bitcoin Project at Bitcoin.org promotes that Bitcoin could potentially be used by the military by stating that “Bitcoin transactions are secured by military grade cryptography.” This is a reference to the SHA-256 hash algorithm. Moreover, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued a mandate which requires federal agencies to stop using SHA-1 certificates, effective January 1, 2014 (PDF). Department of Defense posted (PDF) its SHA-256 migration plans back in March 2011.
Further, the Critical Technologies grant states that:
“Warfighters need to be able to trust the systems on which their lives depend. Cases include an individual human trusting an individual computer, an individual computer trusting a server or network to which it is connecting, a server or network trusting an individual computer connecting to it, and (new here) one network trusting another with which it is inter-connecting.”
Stuart Card, PhD and Chief Scientist of Critical Technologies describes Critical in his LinkedIn profile:
“We develop and apply dual-use (military & commercial) technologies in the intersection of mobile wide area wireless, storage and sensor networking, ensuring high QoS, reliability and security of services despite resource constraints (think RAID, but across multiple communications, storage and sensor resource types). Lately we have begun work to bring the benefits of digital cash (e.g. Bitcoin) and true free markets to individuals and small organizations on the Internet.”
Mr. Card is no stranger to Bitcoin. On January 5th, 2012 Upstate Networks, Inc. (UNI) developer of BTCVend and DroidVend, released a proof of concept demonstration of the first-ever vending machine purchase using Bitcoins (with change returned in U.S. dollars). The video released on Youtube, shows Mr. Card purchasing a bag of popcorn using a QR code and a smartphone Bitcoin wallet.
The Military Industrial Complex
While it is uncertain exactly how the Air Force would use a bitcoin payment gateway there is certainly a need for the military to have the ability to use any currency in the theater of war.
This Youtube video from Air Combat Command “Finance Unit Deploys to Iraq” explained how the Air Force Financial Management Detachment joined the Army by filling joint taskings. An article from Grand Forks Air Force Base from May 2011 further explains how the Air Force finance units were used to transfer currency in “Airman delivers cash, military pay services to Soldiers at austere locations.”
There is a really interesting U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Textbook, Text ST 63-1, Division and Corps Logistics (1997), supporting core logistics instruction in the Command and General Staff Officers Course which explains in the chapter “Sustaining Soldiers and their Systems” that “Currency is like another class of supply, a commodity required to execute the battle”:
“Finance units disburse currency (cash/money) to battlefield commanders. Currency is like another class of supply, a commodity required to execute the battle. This commodity can alleviate shortages and timing problems related to procuring various classes of supply and services within the AO. Because of this, finance units can be a significant force multiplier. Therefore, finance unit commanders must be prepared to meet the twin challenges of providing support and surviving on the battlefield.”
It also explains how the finance unit provides “banking and currency support”:
“…. Currency support includes supplying US currency, foreign currencies, US Treasury checks, foreign military scrip, military payment certificates, and in some operations, precious metals (gold, silver) to US forces and allies in the theater. Because of the US and allied forces’ operating requirements, limited banking support may be needed. Liaison with the HN banking industry is essential due to the dependence on foreign currency.”
As well as the responsibility to ”control currency in the battlefield”:
“Stringent controls are enforced on the amounts of US currency, military payment certificates, and foreign currencies available and used on the battlefield. This is necessary to reduce black market activities, to secure individual soldiers’ money, and to help control problems related to either US or HN currency inflation.”
US currency controls have in part been addressed by prepaid access cards (also known as stored value cards) called Eagle Cash Cards. Master Sgt. Debra Clayton, U.S. Central Command quoted Juan DeJesus, a Department of the Army Eagle Cash manager in Military.com article “Eagle Cash Helps Manage Money”:
“The Eagle Cash card is … helping the military save money because it is expensive to transport U.S. currency overseas and costs money to provide security for the currency while in flight.”
and further:
“Every time a servicemember spends U.S. dollars in the Middle East theater, it’s potentially helping fund terrorism because the U.S. dollar has stronger market value in this region.”
A Tangled Web We Weave
While some might be surprised to learn the government is investing in a “bitcoin startup” like Critical Technologies, the military has been involved with more controversial financial technology. Perhaps most memorable in recent times was the so called “terrorism futures market.” In 2001, DARPA began experimenting with “market-based concepts to intelligence.” This included DARPA’s FutureMAP (Future Markets Applied to Prediction) which used prediction markets to predict terrorist attacks. DARPA, otherwise known as Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, commissions advanced research for the Department of Defense. Prediction markets should be familiar to those of you who follow bitcoin pundit Max Keiser who started one of the first, if not the first prediction market with HSX (Hollywood Stock Exchange) which he received patents for (including patents for virtual currencies).
The government’s use of currency in military operations was also exposed in Peter Joseph’s documentary Zeitgeist with the John Perkins “Confessions of an Economic Hitman” interview (extended video interview). If conspiracy theories are your thing, look no further than Reddit user nicolaosq’s controversial post in the r/conspiracy subreddit “Bitcoin was created by DARPA.”
Final Thoughts
While it is possible that the Air Force specifically wants a Bitcoin payment gateway with RADTiN, it is also possible what they are really after is a better way to feed Snickers bars (YouTube) to their servicemen. But in all seriousness, the grant and Critical Technologies seem to indicate that RADTiN is a dual use technology. That is to say, it is possible that its use as a Bitcoin payment gateway is incidental to its use with Network Centric Operations. While RADTiN can be used as a Bitcoin payment gateway, this within itself is not necessarily the reason why SBIR issued the grant.
The post U.S. Air Force Building Bitcoin Payment Gateway appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine. {:2_225:} 美国空军部创建了比特币支付网关
转载自：Bitell 来源：www.5ywyx.com
3人看涨0人看跌你认为该新闻对比特币价格的影响我看涨我看跌 分享此文
USAF_bitcoin_logo.png
美国空军部已经悄无声息的创建了一个比特币支付网关。国防部已经通过SBIR(小企业创新研究计划）计划或对小型企业创新研究的拨款计划。总部位于纽约州尤蒂卡的关键技术公司自从2012年的申请获得拨款后（拨款开始于2013年）一直致力于为空军提供商品和服务。巧合的是，比特币基金会2012年开始接受捐赠，并且2013年获得了第一笔捐赠。
SBIR计划进一步解释说明了其目是小企业在其网站上为联邦政府进行创新研究。
（拨款的目的）联邦的研究|研究和发展具有商业化的潜力。通过竞争的授予过程，SBIR计划能挖掘小企业的技术潜力并且能带来商业利润。通过对全国的合格小企业的研究与发展(R&D)的资助，高科技创新将受到刺激，美国将获得创业精神，因为它符合特定研发的需求。
关键技术获得的第一阶段拨款奖项总资金为899,611美元（镜像（技术优点，可行性和商业潜力）；第二期（镜像）为远程认证和网络分布式信托（ RADTiN ）的（商业潜力研究）。第二阶段开始于2013年8月5日并且一直持续到2015年8月4日，在这之前空军部会决定是否去追求第二阶段的商业目标。然而，潜在的第三阶段可能涉及到个空军部的合同，但这还有待观察。
该建议有许多专业术语，例如，$SWAP constraints（限制美元互换 ）。还有一些简称，例如，IoTaP （互联网上的人和事） ， MANET（移动自组网络），DAA（直接匿名验证）和DAM3ON（分布式移动认证、多路广播和多个运营商网络）都让我有所困惑。
然而，这个项目背后的目的是不难发现的。
“我们的目标是在分布式网络中心的作战环境中保持安全和可以依赖的交易”。
网络中心作战，也被称为“网络中心战”是一种由美国国防部首创的军事战争理论。空军的网路网关（网络中心战）称为BACN或战场机载通信节点，最近完成了500次的战斗任务。“从本质上说，BACN系统有能力保证地面上的士兵在喷气式战斗轰炸机飞行员控制的分为内可以发短信”，John Keller在军事与航空航天电子杂志上解释说，该技术首次被部署。
再回到空军部比特币支付网关，该项目的目的是，这个项目能成为比特币钱包和机器销售点之间安全通道，它好像包括了收银机和自动售货机。
“.......最独特的商业机会是在新兴的数字货币/商业市场”。利用他们团队的信誉（作为世界上第一个比特币/自动售货机交易的推动者）和关系，RADTiN/DAM3ON技术将被证明是一个关键技术，它可以保证在数字钱包和物理的机器销售点之间建立信任和进行安全的交易。在这个新兴市场中渗透，关键是要最大限度地提高自动化（操作方便），验证你的智能手机和数字钱包的安全性，并且获得机器销售点的信任，在运行中（机器）和静止中（在云里）保护你的数据。它有能力证明你的智能手机，你的数字钱包，你之前（期间）的数据安全，并且交易后有兴趣的公司可能会试图扩大这个经济体。在该技术的演示中允许不同的组织进入不同的交易市场，并代表了美国国防部SBIR计划研究工作的唯一潜在商业机会。
而比特币是一种缺乏信任的协议，随着比特币协议的完善，比特币的用户将会增加并且更加信任比特币支付系统。这项技术的出现似乎弥补了信任的危机。
并不陌生的比特币
虽然我不认为这意味着作战部队使用B52轰炸机在任何不久的将来将会接受比特币支付，但是比特币和军工企业似乎有一些有趣的联系。
这个比特币项目在Bitcoin.org上被指出可能被用于军事：“比特币交易是由军用级加密保护。 ”这是一个引用的SHA -256散列算法。此外 ，美国国家标准与技术研究院（ NIST ）下达命令要求联邦机构停止使用SHA-1证书，有效期是到2014年1月1日（ PDF格式）。国防部早在2011年3月就公布（PDF格式）它的SHA- 256移民计划。
此外，关键技术公司接受国家拨款
作战人员需要的是一个能够信任和依赖的支付系统，它需要一台个人信任个人电脑连接到服务器上或连接到互联网上。服务器或网络连接到个人信任的电脑上，并且他们之间互相信任。
博士和关键技术首席科学家斯图尔特卡（Stuart Card）在LinkedIn上的个人资料中描述了Critical：
我们开发和研究它有两种用途（军用和商业）：技术在移动广域无线、存储和传感器网路。保证高质量的QoS（网络的一种安全机制， 是用来解决网络延迟和阻塞等问题的一种技术）服务、可靠性和服务的安全性，尽管资源有限（考虑到RAID在多个通信，存储路口和传感器资源类型）（磁盘阵列（Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks，RAID），有“价格便宜具有冗余能力的磁盘阵列”之意。）。最近，我们已经开始使用数字现金进行工作（例如：比特币）并且互联网能成为个人和小组织真正的自由市场。
卡先生并不陌生比特币。在20121月15日上州网络公司（UNI）BTCVend和DroidVend的开发者演示了用比特币支付的第一台自动售货机（汇率随美元变化）。
在Youtube视频上，卡先生通过用智能手机扫描钱包二维码购买了一袋爆米花。
军工综合体
虽然目前尚不确定空军部将如何使用比特币支付网关，但可以肯定的是需要军方有能力在战区使用任何货币。
这个来自空军作战司令部“财务部部署到伊拉克”的Youtube视频解释了财务部支队是如何加入陆军执行联合行动的。2011年5月一篇来自福克斯空军基地的文章进一步解释了空军财务部是如何使用转移中的货币，在“士兵在严峻的地区使用空军提供现金支付军区提供的服务。
有一个非常有趣的美国陆军指挥与参谋学院教材ST 63-1，在本章中，在指挥和参谋人员课程上 ，一个师团后勤部队（1997）支持核心物流指令。维持士兵生活的系统，即”货币就像是另一种方式的供应，以执行战斗所需要的商品“
财务部把工资（现金/汇款）发到战场指挥官手上。货币就像是另一种方式的供应，以执行战斗所需要的商品。此商品可以缓解物资短缺和相AO（飞官太阳眼镜）内采购各种供应和服务的时序问题。正因为如此，财务部可以是一个显著的力量倍增器。因此，财务部指挥官必须做好准备，因为他们在战场上将面临完成供给和生存的双重挑战。
这也解释了财务部提供的“银行和货币支持”。
“......货币的支持主要包括提供美国的货币，战场上可使用的外国货币，军事付款证明。这是必须的。因为要去减少黑市活动、保证士兵钱的安全、帮助美国和洪都拉斯控制货币的通货膨胀。
美国的货币控制已经通过预付存取卡（储值卡）得到部分解决，它也被形象的称为鹰现金卡。美国中央司令部军士长Debra Clayton援引胡安德吉泽斯（Juan DeJesus）在军队的鹰现金管理部门的一篇文章”鹰现金卡帮助理财”。
鹰现金卡是...帮助军方节省资金，因为用它把美国货币转移到国外是昂贵的并且当它在途中的时候已经花钱为这种货币提供了安全保障。
进一步说
每次一个士兵在中东战区消费的美元都可能潜在的帮助了恐怖组织，因为美元在这一地区有很高的市场价值。
我们创造的纠结
虽然有些人可能会很惊讶，当得知政府正在投资一个“比特币的启动”项目，例如，关键技术（Critical Technologies）。军方曾参与多个有争议的金融技术。也许最近最令人难忘的是一次是被称为“恐怖主义期货市场”。在2001年， DARPA（美国国防部先进研究项目局）开始尝试“以市场为基础的情报概念”，这包括DARPA的FutureMAP（未来市场应用预测），它主要用来预测市场受到恐怖主义攻击。除DARPA以外，还有美国国防部高级研究计划局，国防部委托其进行前瞻性的研究。预测市场应该是你们很熟悉的，例如你跟随比特币权威人士Max Keise开始了一个第一，因为他是第一个预HSX（好莱坞证券交易所）市场的，所以他获得了专利（其中包括虚拟货币的发明专利）。
政府在军事中使用这种货币也在彼得·约瑟夫的纪录片“时代精神”和约翰·珀金斯“一个经济杀手的自白”被揭露出来。如果阴谋论是你的事，没有进一步看出Reddit（社交新闻网站）用户的nicolaosq是有争议的，张贴在subreddit上是一个阴谋“比特币是由DARPA创造的”。
最后思考：
虽然可能空军部特别想使用RADTiN（Radmin (Remote Administrator)是一款屡获殊荣的远程控制软件，它将远程控制、外包服务组件、以及网络监控结合到一个系统里，提供目前为止最快速、强健而安全的工具包）支持的比特币支付网关，也有可能是用一种最好的方式去用士力架酒吧养活他们的士兵。但从中也可以看出RADTiN具有双重作用的技术。也就是说他们可以把它作为一个比特币支付网关使用，也可以在网络中心作战使用。RADTiN作为一个比特币支付网关使用，这不是SBIR拨款的主要原因。
翻译：比特币之家：刘友—smile
原文：http://bitcoinmagazine.com/8531/ ... in-payment-gateway/
页:
[1]